Just saw this interesting article about Akizuki Denshi (秋月電子通商トップページ), an 50+ years old electronics shop in Japan.
Original Medium link: https://fabscene.medium.com/publishing-schematics-before-open-source-was-a-word-55-years-of-akizuki-denshi-japans-be7ca9629704
In addition to parts, they sell electronics kits with full schematics, decades before “open source” became a term of art.
Interesting read!
Great article, Pen, thanks for sharing. Certainly, in the world of electronics, open source used to be the norm. If you read any datasheet for an IC, you’ll see many well-documented applications.
I also remember when I was a student at the faculty of electronic engineering, the lab was equipped with instruments by HAMEG: oscilloscopes, bipolar power supplies, signal generators, and so on. Every instrument came with its datasheet and full schematics. You could easily repair any piece of equipment if you knew how to read a schematic. At some point in history, companies changed their minds and decided that closing things off would be more profitable. Instead of sharing schematics and detailed documentation, they began treating repair information as proprietary. That shift made it harder for users to fix their own equipment and encouraged a culture of replacement over repair. In my view, that was a step backward for engineering, sustainability, and common sense.
Thanks @pablocremades I couldn’t have said it better than you!
BTW I looked up this shop’s official website. I love it’s simple design: