Why The Fascination With Circuit Boards?

     What is it about a circuit board that is so fascinating to techies, geeks, and engineers?

     In the world of modern technology, virtually everything has a circuit board in it. Light bulbs, toys, robots, phones… the list is long. Since so many different types of people work with circuit boards, even if not directly, they understand the importance of circuit boards and how common they are in their world. Circuit boards are complicated, interesting, and just downright cool!

     Who works with circuit boards? Pretty much anyone who works with technology. Computer engineers need them to build the desktops and laptops we all use on a daily basis. Cell phone companies need them to build the iPhones and Androids we all use on an hourly basis. They’re even used in industries we don’t normally think of when we think of technology such as handguns, smoothie blenders, and running shoes. But somewhere along the way, we ALL use circuit boards whether we realize it or not. Even software engineers and app designers use circuit boards because they’re necessary for programming.

     For those who have had some experience soldering components onto a circuit board to make some kind of assembly that performs some kind of a task, they understand how exciting it can be to finally get everything soldered and flip that power switch on. One of three things will happen next:  It will work perfectly; it will sorta-kinda work but will still need some tweaking; or it blows up in your face and forces you to open the window due to the nastiest smell of burned resistors and blown capacitors. But no matter which scenario comes into play, there is always a respect for the circuit board that helped make it all happen.

     When looking at a circuit board, they appear chaotic and confusing and we wonder who made them, how they’re made, and why. Even though millions of circuit boards are produced annually for all kinds of industries, they’re still considered a mystery to most. PCB (Printed Circuit Board) designers aren’t the lead singers of the digital band, they’re usually the ones flipping switches behind the stage curtain while the guitarist receives all the applause after their solo. Every circuit board has been designed by a PCB designer, yet we almost never hear about them. This adds to the mystery behind their complexity and origin.

     People are also fascinated with circuit boards because of the eerie contrast between their unique green background and bright shiny tin plated component pads. They’re just begging to have little black components soldered to them and after doing so, they come alive with lights, sounds, haptics, digital displays, electromagnetism, etc. It’s not the actual circuit board itself that causes everything to work properly, but it’s the foundation holding up the components that get electrified into action.

     Circuit boards are fascinating because they’re mysterious. And they’re shiny. And they look great. And in our opinion, they make the coolest looking plaques and signs!