<VV> professional tinkering

[Chris & Bill Strickland]

The differences between tinkering and engineering as described seem more 
philosophical than actual -- when a couple guys from work sit around the 
bar after a hard day dreaming up an easier/better way to to that same 
job they'd just busted their behinds on, is that really any diffenent 
than  a couple engineers doing "damn decent theoretical work after hours 
in a local watering hole" ?

The only reason Tim Leatherman's tool wasn't "tinkered" into existance 
would be, from the pint of view of some of our brethern, that Tim 
already had an engineering degree, meaning he "engineered" it through 
perseverance and evaluation instead of mere "tinkereing", even though he 
did not have a firm grasp of what he wanted the final product to be -- 
just that he wanted pliers in his Boy Scout knife while on that European 
trip.  A look at the cardboard prototypes sure gives the appearance of  
a tinkerer at work.

Wonder whether that spring loaded idler gizmo that The Underground sells 
was "tinkered" or "engineered" -- doesn't make much difference to the 
average end user I suppose, but I'll bet the final product came after a 
series of prototypes that each received sufficient testing and 
subsequently further modification.

I really don't think it is important whether a product was "engineered" 
or "tinkered", as long as it adequately serves a useful purpose, be it  
tungsten filaments or plier-knife gadets.  It may make a difference to 
the guy/gal that did it, depending on how and/or if he/she gets paid, 
and the esteem one is held in by one's coleagues and one's Self.

 If the difference between tinkering and engineering is knowing the 
results ahead of time versus seeing what the results are, I know which 
one offers more excitement! 

So, when I board an airplane, I am trusting some engineers to not 
provide any excitement in my life, but if I go to a car show, I want to 
see something that excites me, sort of like those Cadillac ads -- even 
better if they take them out to the autoX course and display some 
excitement!  We still need races to settle the question of who's 
engineering or tinkering is best.

Bill Strickland