Don't feel bad. I bought 166 LM-307 Hi-performance Op Amps (normally $3.95) for 25 cents each and at the time I had no clue what an op amp was. All I knew was that it was some kind of chip that was so versatile that people wrote thick books about it with seemly endless variety of circuits possible with the little buggers. I was a restaurant cook trying to learn electronics at home on my off time so I thought $40 or so bucks for a lifetime supply of op amps sounded like a good deal. Thirty years and about 50 or 60 op amp circuits later I only had 66 of the little round critters (round can) left and gave them away to some young student learning electronics. I told him "See this little thing ? You can do anything with this. It's like magic. Here's a lifetime supply. Enjoy !"