# A House of FR4

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2018-10-28
- Length: 1h 02m
- Episode: 413
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-10-28-a-house-of-fr4
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/413-a-house-of-fr4/

## Summary

Dave Jones and Chris Gammell discuss the decline of PIC microcontrollers in the hobbyist market due to the rise of Arduino and other abstracted platforms, noting that while PICs remain dominant in industry, the barrier to entry for hobbyists has shifted. They also debunk the Water Abundance XPRIZE and the Fontas water bottle as impractical solutions to water scarcity, arguing that infrastructure is a more effective approach than high-tech gadgets. Additionally, they cover Boldport's business model change from subscription to pay-per-kit, share April Fools' jokes from Dick Smith's Electronics Australia magazine, and discuss the importance of practical soldering skills.

## Chapters

- [0:30](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-10-28-a-house-of-fr4#t=30) Lab Move and Productivity
- [10:27](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-10-28-a-house-of-fr4#t=627) Debunking Water Abundance XPRIZE and Fontas
- [24:07](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-10-28-a-house-of-fr4#t=1447) Boldport Business Model Change
- [30:40](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-10-28-a-house-of-fr4#t=1840) Dick Smith April Fools' Jokes
- [35:13](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-10-28-a-house-of-fr4#t=2113) The Fall of PIC Microcontrollers
- [51:32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-10-28-a-house-of-fr4#t=3092) Engineering Education and Community

## Topics

- [Microcontrollers & dev platforms](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/microcontrollers-and-platforms)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Maker community & events](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/maker-community)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Sourcing & supply chain](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sourcing-and-supply-chain)

## Most relevant to

makers and hobbyists

## Mentioned

- Water Abundance XPRIZE (other)
- Fontas (product)
- Boldport (company)
- PIC (chip)
- Arduino (product)
- Atmel (company)
- Microchip (company)
- Dick Smith (other)
- Electronics Australia (other)
- B-Sides (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [The Spark Gap - Episode 1](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-spark-gap/2014-06-16-the-spark-gap-episode-1) (The Spark Gap)
- [372: The Motivation of Creativity](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2021-05-06-372-the-motivation-of-creativity) (Embedded.fm)
- [144: Asking For Clippy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-03-23-144-asking-for-clippy) (Embedded.fm)
- [Ep067: Winking Out of IoT, Seas of LEDs, Stuffing PCBs, and Vectrex is Awesome](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2020-05-15-ep067-winking-out-of-iot-seas-of-leds-stuffing-pcbs-and-vectrex-is-awesome) (Hackaday Podcast)
- [303: Kids, Turn in Your Chips](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-09-19-303-kids-turn-in-your-chips) (Embedded.fm)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-10-28-a-house-of-fr4. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to The Amp Hour.