I've been getting into electronics lately and really loving it! My inspiration was my new Atreus keyboard[1] (first one ever sold!) and the epiphany while playing Minecraft that making your own (useful) stuff is tons of fun and super rewarding. And it doesn't have to be computer programming anymore!
So I booked it to Radio Shack and bought the Make: Electronics book and the accompanying kit. (I could have scoured for the individual parts, this book lists them and recommends it, but it was a nice convenience to have a pre-made kit by the same company, and presumably the same author.) And so far I've only learned about resistors, capacitors, and other basic circuitry, and it's a bit math-heavy, but it's really exciting!
I also have a serious electronics project in mind that acts as really good useful motivation. It's a toy that's probably relevant to HN, and if I ever accomplish it, I plan to share it here.
Hobbyist electronics is really fun, and so far I recommend it! (That said, I have no ambitions about inventing the next great CPU or memory chip -- you probably need decades of college-level education and experience on this to be able to innovate at any serious level these days.)
So I booked it to Radio Shack and bought the Make: Electronics book and the accompanying kit. (I could have scoured for the individual parts, this book lists them and recommends it, but it was a nice convenience to have a pre-made kit by the same company, and presumably the same author.) And so far I've only learned about resistors, capacitors, and other basic circuitry, and it's a bit math-heavy, but it's really exciting!
I also have a serious electronics project in mind that acts as really good useful motivation. It's a toy that's probably relevant to HN, and if I ever accomplish it, I plan to share it here.
Hobbyist electronics is really fun, and so far I recommend it! (That said, I have no ambitions about inventing the next great CPU or memory chip -- you probably need decades of college-level education and experience on this to be able to innovate at any serious level these days.)
[1]: http://atreus.technomancy.us/