WAYNE CHIRNSIDE wrote in a message to ROY J. TELLASON:

-> True,  I used to make a living at that sort of thing,  and don't
-> see a way to
-> do that currently.  And this isn't right.

WC> what can we do in this mechanized plug and place component
WC> and wave soldered universe :-(

WC> Remember point to point wiring on terminal strips with real wire 
WC> and components you could hold in you hand not blow away in a light 
WC> breeze?

Sure.  I even *have* a bunch of those terminal strips...

But not too many of the parts I have will have wires long enough to use with them!

-> TW> And for electronics just how many, even amongst the Die Hard 
-> TW> Home Electronics Hobbist, realy had adequate skills in Surface
-> TW> mount technology.

-> That's something to contend with,  for sure.  Personally I've
-> decided that I just don't want to go there.

 WC> when it first came on the scene there were kits to get you up to 
 WC> speed on surface mount but they started at 180 dollars on up :-(

There are these adapters available now to let you use surface-mount chips
(I guess for those instances where they're not available in any other kind
of package),  but the ads don't mention a price and I haven't felt it worth
following up on it to find out how much those cost.  :-( 

---