Talk:Tinker

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[edit] Irish and Scottish ARE NOT the same thing

I changed the page to say that Tinker is a derogatory term used to describe Irish Travellers, not from Scottish Travellers like it said before. I've never heard of Scottish Travellers, but I am a Tinker and I can assure you I'm IRISH and not SCOTTISH. Furthermore, there is no "Scottish Traveller" page, and the first line of the "Irish Traveller" page mentions that we are called Tinkers.

[edit] New Page?

On the disambiguation page, Tinker, "Tinker (profession)" is listed. Shouldn't there also be a "Tinker (hobby)" page as well?

I propose this new page detail the past and present state of consumer-level modifications, i.e. Hobbyist Tinkerers.

[edit] This is a Stub

This would include the early days of consumer electronics and the way manufactures marketed products as serviceable via field replaceable parts. A couple examples of such CE devices would be vintage Cathode-Ray Televisions and AM Radios. The product could be opened easily and trouble-shot in the consumers home by a repair technician. The faulty component would be replaced (vacuum-tube, electron-gun, etc.) and the consumer pays the price of the repair rather then buying a new unit. This was an effective business model because early consumer electronics were rather expensive by today's standards. Most families would not be able to afford to buy a replacement upon product failure. Thus, a service industry was born. The service industry profits off the repairs while buying replacement parts from manufacturer. This gives the manufacturer and supplementary income they needed to be profitable. This mirrors the OEM parts market for automobiles.

Sometimes, the consumer tries to improve on the original product beyond what the manufacture expected. If the modification is desirable and/or marketable, the manufacture may decide to incorporate the modification into future products, occasionally buying the rights from the inventor. [Add Examples]

Today, intellectual property laws in the form of patents and copyrights, have all but put a stop to the open Consumer-Supplier cycle of innovation. Many times, manufacturers look down on individuals who "Hack" [Link to "Hacker" page] their products. Sometimes, even legal action. Many "tinkerers" only post their work over the Internet anonymously, because of the fear of litigation.