MITx 6.002x – week 3: So what exactly is an “expo dweeb”?

It’s just before 11am on Saturday morning and I’m already through week 3 of the course, having successfully completed the homework assignments and the lab. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m now getting into the swing of the material, or because the course has moved onto digital logic and devices like transistors and diodes that I’m comfortable with, but it seems to have become considerably easier going this week. I certainly find it easier to conceptualize these things than simply chasing mathematical formulae around circuits consisting just of voltage and current sources, that’s for sure.

I’m not sure that I really understand why the hypothetical non-linear device that we were introduced to was called an “expo dweeb”. Perhaps it’s a cultural or age thing, but I just didn’t understand why it was called that. To my ears, “expo dweeb” sounds more like an insult than a name for a device. If someone can explain to me why it’s appropriate and/or funny, perhaps you could leave me a note in the comments!

Overall, the lecture sequence did rather drag in places this week and could certainly have used a little judicious editing to remove 20 or 30 minutes of spoken material which really didn’t add anything to its presentation. However, the video demonstration of how linking a non-linear to a linear circuit creates distortion by playing a Britney Spears track through it was certainly amusing. I’m of the opinion that the distortion probably made her sound better, rather than worse …

Onto week 4 I go – incremental circuit analysis, dependent sources and amplifiers are up next.