Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site petrus.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!petrus!karn From: karn@petrus.UUCP Newsgroups: net.audio Subject: Re: What's Heathkit coming to? Heathassembled? Message-ID: <256@petrus.UUCP> Date: Mon, 14-Jan-85 17:57:05 EST Article-I.D.: petrus.256 Posted: Mon Jan 14 17:57:05 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 15-Jan-85 02:29:36 EST References: <7180@brl-tgr.ARPA> <1080@ulysses.UUCP> Organization: Bell Communications Research, Inc Lines: 17 > Remember that the economics of kits have changed. In the days of tubes > and hand-wiring, there was a considerable savings in labor to be had > by building a kit. These days, what with automated part placement and > wave soldering, final assembly costs comparatively little -- but writing > and testing an instruction manual still costs a lot. This is very true. The most cost-effective kits are those that still require a lot of manual labor to assemble, either in a factory or at home. A good example is the Heath H-19 terminal; the digital board came preassembled but the kitbuilder built the monitor board (lots of large discrete components) and put all the subassemblies together. This seems to be an optimal practice, although one generally competes for the value of his time with workers in Hong Kong or Singapore, not the US. Phil