# Old Books, New Tricks - Iterant Inscription Irrationality

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2015-02-27
- Length: 1h 04m
- Episode: 238
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-02-27-old-books-new-tricks-iterant-inscription-irrationality
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/238-old-books-new-tricks-iterant-inscription-irrationality/

## Summary

Dave Jones and Chris Gammell discuss the high cost and poor practices of modern textbook publishing, contrasting it with the valuable oral history project Silicon Genesis which preserves the stories of semiconductor pioneers like Jim Williams and Bob Pease. They review new Kickstarter products including the Spark Electron cellular module and the Pebble Time smartwatch, while Jones details the rigorous safety protocols required for powering up $100,000 military-grade PCBs. The conversation concludes with a look at niche retro-computing hardware, specifically the RCA CDP-1802 processor, and the ongoing debate between using Altium versus KiCad for PCB design.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-02-27-old-books-new-tricks-iterant-inscription-irrationality#t=0) Introduction: Analog Aficionados and Silicon Valley History
- [7:23](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-02-27-old-books-new-tricks-iterant-inscription-irrationality#t=443) Textbook Industry Critique and The Art of Electronics
- [17:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-02-27-old-books-new-tricks-iterant-inscription-irrationality#t=1021) Silicon Genesis: Preserving Semiconductor History
- [20:37](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-02-27-old-books-new-tricks-iterant-inscription-irrationality#t=1237) IBM Hard Drive History and Magnetic Storage Physics
- [26:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-02-27-old-books-new-tricks-iterant-inscription-irrationality#t=1561) Spark Electron and Pebble Time Kickstarter Reviews
- [37:25](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-02-27-old-books-new-tricks-iterant-inscription-irrationality#t=2245) Keithley 2400 SMU and $100K Board Power-Up Protocols
- [49:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-02-27-old-books-new-tricks-iterant-inscription-irrationality#t=2981) RCA CDP-1802 Retro Project and PCB Design Tools

## Topics

- [Chips, FPGAs & semiconductors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/chips-and-fpgas)
- [PCB design & layout](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pcb-design)
- [Crowdfunding & preorders](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/crowdfunding)
- [Test & measurement](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/test-and-measurement)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Microcontrollers & dev platforms](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/microcontrollers-and-platforms)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Silicon Genesis (other)
- Spark Electron (product)
- Pebble Time (product)
- Keithley 2400 (tool)
- RCA CDP-1802 (chip)
- Altium (tool)
- KiCad (tool)
- Intersil (company)
- Maxim (company)
- Analog Devices (company)
- Fairchild (company)
- Intel (company)
- NVIDIA (company)
- Texas Instruments (company)
- Blue Gecko (chip)
- TI-CC2650 (chip)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [100: Unintentional Radiator](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2015-05-06-100-unintentional-radiator) (Embedded.fm)
- [The Spark Gap - Episode 24](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-spark-gap/2015-01-07-the-spark-gap-episode-24) (The Spark Gap)
- [123: Banished from Running Linux](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2015-10-28-123-banished-from-running-linux) (Embedded.fm)
- [026 - You Can Lose in so Many Colors!](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/unnamed-reverse-engineering-podcast/2019-08-31-026-you-can-lose-in-so-many-colors) (Unnamed Reverse Engineering Podcast)
- [Ep020: Slaying the Dragon of EL, Siege Weapon Physics, Dis-entangled Charlieplex, Laser Internet](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2019-05-24-ep020-slaying-the-dragon-of-el-siege-weapon-physics-dis-entangled-charlieplex-la) (Hackaday Podcast)

## Citing this page

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