#420 – An Interview with Joe Long

Comments

1. Cool Business Bro says

   December 28, 2018 at 2:29 pm

   Looks like just another subscription service which sells cheap Chinese stuff direct. Physiological manipulation of selling a surprise and ignored periodic costs aside, doesn’t appear to have much value.

   I see a $60 kit with just stickers, a beanie hat, a $1 USB adapter, and an opensource PCB kit which Sparkfun sells for $8. Looks like if you go with a $44 monthly plan, most kits have a $10 to $30 markup just for the convenience of finding and ordering it for you.

   Interesting FAQ. No returns allowed. If you feel the kit was not worth it or you made a mistake building the kit…. feel free to unsubscribe, no refund, pick a different hobby. No exaggeration, read the FAQ.

   Patents were intended to prevent information loss, first. Rewarding ‘inventors’ was just the mechanism to accomplish that. The patent system doesn’t work when the patent holder lack funds though. Enter NPE (patent trolls). They’re useful because it’s often the only way a small patent holder can get rewarded. NPEs are morally neutral. The core issue occurs when shit patent attorneys grant patents which should never have been granted or allows ‘updates’ to an older patent with new claims.

   High first pass patent rejection is ENTIRELY due to fund PTO fund generation. There were leaked emails proving this. MOST granted patents can easily be defeated because they contain claims that were previously patented. So, NO, patent attorneys are not just rejecting everything because they’re thorough.

   IMHO patenting software is BS. Software shouldn’t even be covered under copyright. It’s no different than a cooking recipe or maths formula.

   • Erik Burman says

     December 30, 2018 at 5:13 pm

     Looks like just another comment from a jaded curmudgeon who thinks far more of himself than anyone else does. I’m curious, what have you managed to achieve in your life so far?

   • Chaotic Good says

     December 31, 2018 at 9:05 am

     Cool Bro, it seems like you’re a little confused.

     “An opensource PCB kit which Sparkfun sells for $8” – Actually, no, that HackerBox includes five opensource PCB kits, plus another exclusive PCB designed just for that box. It also includes three breakout modules, eight cables, and two speakers that you did not list. There are two entirely separate projects to build and several other experiments. You don’t even seem to understand what you are looking at. Thousands of us have found HackerBoxes to be an extremely great deal and an amazing learning opportunity. If you don’t like it, or don’t understand it, you shouldn’t buy it.

     “Interesting FAQ. No returns allowed.” – Why would you ever return a kit? Would you return a box of cake mix if you burned the cake? Would you subscribe to magazine, but then expect to return the April edition because you didn’t like it? Did you even listen to these guys? You learn more when you fail. It’s about learning, not returning things. If you took some classes at a college, would you expect to be able to return your courses? Would you complain that the professors just ordered chalk form China and marked it up 50,000% to “sell the cheap stuff direct” while presenting lectures? Do you always miss the point entirely?

     “The core issue occurs when shit patent attorneys grant patents which should never have been granted” – Examiners grant patents, not Attorneys. Attorneys represent the application “against” the grating authority. Your ideas here are not only incorrect in spirit, they are entirely backwards.

     “Software shouldn’t even be covered under copyright. It’s no different than a cooking recipe or maths formula.” – Actually recipes and math are covered under copyright. Again, your knowledge is so badly formed, it’s confusing to capture how wrong it is. Regarding what can be patented, the US legal system, including the SCOTUS, disagrees with you. That shouldn’t surprise anyone since you don’t seem to even understand the words you are using.

     Instead of arguing against everything you hear, you’d do well to open up, listen, and learn.

2. jaded curmudgeon says

   January 3, 2019 at 12:16 pm

   Joe?,

   I don’t see a counterpoint to argue.

   What knowledge is “badly formed”? I think you mean my opinion was badly formed, correct?
   Recipes and math formulas not covered under copyright:
   https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-protect.html
   https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2015/03/24/recipes-copyright-and-plagiarism/
   https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ31.pdf
   https://paleoflourish.com/recipe-copyright/

   People outside of the “grating authority” don’t bother to differentiate between examiners and attorneys. Not sure how that is important to your point though. Please explain which idea is incorrect or backwards. I would love to learn.

   HackerBox#0037:
   https://hackerboxes.com/collections/past-hackerboxes/products/hackerbox-0037-waverunner
   I see a signal generator board, amp board, LED audio indicator board, a couple breakout boards, and some other cheap junk for $60. Is there more I’m missing?

   Returning items which didn’t live up to marketing or even expectations is a customer satisfaction thing. Since your customers are learning about electronics, they don’t understand a kit’s worth even if they knew which one they were getting. They don’t know if $60 for that box is good value. Because of this, most of these ‘surprise’ learning kit companies have good return policies. Something like “Satisfaction Guaranteed”. Although this is outside of customer screw ups, most include the ‘consumption of the kit’. To that point, why are no additional $0.001 components included?

   I’m glad you’ve had success with their/your products and are comfortable with that price though. Best wishes learning more about electronics.

   Here is a great resource I put together to help:
   https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/
   It has amazing value.