Laser Monkeys

"If you have enough monkeys banging randomly on typewriters, they will eventually recreate the works of William Shakespeare."

I feel this quote fits our forum perfectly. Having read CPF for the past 8 months now I can recall a half-dozen projects which members have attempted to spearhead in that time-- and we have yet to recreate a single sonnet.

Not to be taken as an insult by any of my co-members here, but why is it that we, as hobbyists, are unable to come up with a single project that doesn't involve simply dismantling an existing laser and randomly soldering crap to it until someone discovers desired results?

I've been worried since December that the feds are going to restrict our access to quality and affordable laser optics and technology, but judging by several threads it seems that we've never had such access. And yet people like Wicked-Chris and IFix-Dwight seem to have no problem obtaining these parts.

What do we need as a forum-- as a gang of crazed luminous enthusiast monkeys-- to make our hobby one that produces a Hamlet or Macbeth? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

You'd need shakespeare ... unless your time is infinite on earth and you can just wait it out to happen like this ... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Usually the greatest achievements are made by single unique people. Design by committee is teamwork, and teamwork is collective lazyness /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif ... and a slowdown.
In my experience it is better to have a leader and a few consultants who can give their expertise if needed.

What follows are the copy-cats ... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

But then again ... monkeys are around on this planet just as long as we are, I won't give up hope for them just yet /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

bernhard

I think most of us don't have the sufficient funds, or even if we do we don't have to the will to invest it in laser parts because, let's face it, lasers' usefullness is finally very limited to us. It's just a hobby.
If such ressources were available to us, getting parts wouldn't be a challenge at all; as you noticed that professionals who can afford to buy in bulk seem to have no trouble at all obtaining their stuff.
Now, when I get my dream lathe in my dream workshop, I'll be sure to make my dream laser with my dream bank account...
BTW, I believe the popular quote is that if we were to make a million monkeys type randomly on a million typewriters for a milion years, they'll eventually recreate the entire works of shakespeare; this quote was meant to illustrate probabilities ways our universe was shaped. Physics professors love that quote because it fits so many situations.

All hobbies require investment in materials. I don't expect everyone here to personally afford a bulk order of parts just so they can assemble a kit themselves. But we DO have people with the money to afford such an order, and that's what we have group buys for.

My point is that the individuals mentioned above have successfully obtained the diodes and optics to make some pretty mean lasers. We have individuals on this forum who can machine housings and print custom driver boards. There is no reason why we can't put it all together and formulate some "laser kit" like SuperBert and others have been trying to do for months. I'm at awe that these efforts have proven fruitless, almost as if someone is intentionally stopping them.

The monkey quote doesn't seem to have any solid origin or source, and there are a half dozen accepted variations adopted to a half dozen different fields. I know it as a quote used by staticians to explain random theory. Another similar quote explains that all of shakespeare's works can be found in Pi. Or that all copyrighted works can be found in Pi and are thus inherently public domain. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif