EE Times article online

[Jack Crenshaw]

Brian Wood wrote:

> I found that EE TImes article online that someone mentioned a while back.
> The URL is http://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?EET20001002S0155
>
> It pretty much lays out the whole sordid tale of acquisition and betrayal.
> Hmmm...sounds like a good movie theme...

Brian, I'm not sure I understand what you mean.  Who do you think betrayed whom?

A few comments:

(1) I thought the first Heath Parasol had a Model A Ford engine in it. Lots of them are
still flying that way.

(2) I could have sworn the first electronic Heathkit was a 3" scope, not a 5".  The price
of $39.95 also sounds high.

(3) It was interesting to read the story of the Anthonys, Daystrom, etc.  I didn't know
the background there.  I also never knew about the acquisition by Groupe Bull, or the
(triumphal?) return back to Benton Harbor.  Re the acquisitions by Schlumberger and
Zenith, however, there was a _TON_ of history and manipulations that went on in between.

(4) Building a Heathkit in 1991 (or 1975, for that matter) was not "almost as costly as
buying a manufactured instrument."  It was _MORE_ costly.  Kits were a lot cheaper to
build when the product was labor intensive, involving hand-wired, point-to-point wiring
between tube sockets. It was not nearly as much cheaper after PCB's came along, and was
more expensive once machines were developed to automatically stuff and solder the PCB's.

What's more, a kit tended to be bigger, more bulky, and more expensive because the thing
had to be hand-assemblable using simple hand tools.  Production manufacturers could use
all kinds of tricks like spot-welding, crimping, mounting without sockets (sockets are
_EXPENSIVE_), etc.  So the end product is not only more expensive, but also not as
compact and elegant-looking as a production-line unit.

Finally, the cost of the kit involves the not-inconsiderable cost of writing and
proof-building from a manual.  Robots only need to be programmed once.

(5) I was at Heathkit for a brief time, in 1978-79.  I was involved with the computer
line.  You wanna talk about your tales of betrayal, the story of the computer line would
make a book all on its own.  IMO, the story of the acquisitions by Zenith, etc., had very
much to do with the ups and downs in the fortunes of the computer line.  There can be no
doubt that Heathkit was already in trouble from the likes of Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer,
etc., especially in the audio line. But, again IMO, it was mistakes made in the computer
line that brought the company down.

Jack

>
>
> Brian, W0DZ
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