Re: OT -- Because...

Wilbur Slice wrote:

MBarnett wrote:

I'm not laughing at you, Wilbur, nor implying that what you're saying is
impossible or improbable. I've worked in electronics since 1972, and I *like*
technology. The Kindle is a great-looking piece of technology, and devices like
it will most certainly become a part of modern life. That being said, this type
of device is not without notable limitations and requirements that printed
material is not encumbered with.

Like what? Seriously - I'm not trying to be dismissive, I'm really
interested in what could be a perceived advantage to paper books. I
can thoink of only one - no power requirements. But with battery
technology advancing as it is, that seems a small concern now, and
will be even less in the future.

Drop a book on a concrete surface and kick it into a wall as you step forward to pick it up. Does it break? Does it sustain *any* damage beyond some scuffs, bends, tears, or (at worst) a broken binding? Do the same thing with a electronic "book" (or a cell phone, mp3 player, portable PC, etc.). Books are more hardy, more durable, and less likely to fail under the conditions that we humans put them through.

And I can list all sorts of HUGE advantages to digital format, as I
have in other posts. The largest of which might be that this device
(and the Kindle isn't it, yet) will be virtually ANY book or magazine
EVER published anywhere in the world throughout history in any
language, etc.

Agreed. The ability to store and recall an immense amount of data is certainly a huge advantage.

Digital technology is wonderful stuff, but much of it has many more variables
for failure than similar analog technology, power requirements and durability
being the ones that come immediately to mind. Our propensity to embrace the
"gee-whiz" aspects of new technology often causes us to overlook the practical
aspects of sticking with older technology. All technology has limitations, but
modern technology (and here I'm speaking primarily of electronics), has a far
greater tendency to fail catastrophically with little or no warning ....
whereas older "analog" electronic devices seem to wear out gradually, and
provide more symptoms and warnings prior to failure. Not only that, they're
usually easier to repair, rather than just throwing them away and buying a new
one. :-|

Throwing them out and buying a new one is an *advantage*. That's why
we do it. If it were better to fix old stuff (like we used to do),
we'd still be doing it. But for a number of reasons, it's better to
update than to repair.

I can see the modern logic in that, but I generally look at it from a different perspective. I'd rather buy a well-made tool and use it for decades than buy a cheap tool that has to be replaced more often simply because of inferior materials and craftsmanship. The VCR I bought in 1983 cost over $300 and we sold it (still working) at a garage sale in 2003. I replaced an idler arm and a few belts along the way, but it kept doing what it was designed to do. In the three years subsequent to that, I spent around $200 (total) on three other VCRs, all of which crapped out and were unrepairable. I still have a number of VHS tapes, but I'm not spending money on another piece of junk VCR. The modern consumer-grade electronics available to the general public are not designed to last. They're junk compared to older electronics. They don't *have* to be, but they are.

Same with the other points - wearing out gradually, etc. If it's
cheap enough to have a brand new spare, then who wants an old wanky
device that is going bad gradually? I'd rather have it fail
catastrophically and I'll switch to the brand-new perfect replacement.

Cheaper isn't necessarily better, as my VCR example exhibited. I'd much prefer the old wanky device that is repairable than just adding another piece of crap to the landfill. These brand-new perfect replacements are far from perfect. The modern attitude is to throw the old piece away and get the newer, faster, more-bells-and-whistles version, even if it technically does pretty much the same thing as the old one, and that attitude is fueled by industry advances and marketing which cater to and *foster* that attitude. It's a case of the addict keeping the dealer in business by buying whatever newest, most spectacular drug he has available, and the dealer going to great lengths to keep coming up with newer drugs to keep the addict coming back for more.

"Analog" devices I don't want to do without:

Alarm clock.

All my alarm clocks are digital.

I had a digital alarm years ago, but reverted to a wind-up Baby Ben to keep from showing up to work late, missing flights, etc., if the power went out. I know: Batteries .... but the wind-up just keeps working!

Books.

Yes, so far. I read a lot of paper books, and I have a fairly large
library. But I think that's going to go the way of my music library.
I used to have thousands of vinyl records that I had accumulated, but
when I got divorced last year and had to move to a new house, I tossed
almost all the records away (I kept some for sentimental reasons) and
now I have loaded even all my CD's onto hard disks and now my entire
music collection is available to me almost instantly any time I want -
I just point and click on iTunes. And I can search and sort by
preference and all sorts of things. Plus - I can carry my ENTIRE
music collection with me on my iPod, in my shirt pocket. I'm never
going back to vinyl.

Some things have made great strides. Recorded music being one. I still have 200 or so LPs and a bunch of cassettes, but most of my music is on CD, hard drive, or mp3 player. Even so, I can hear the difference between digital music and vinyl, the same way I can hear the difference between tubes & transistor guitar amps, and analog or digital reverb.

Acoustic guitar.

Yes. Althoug, I must say that I have a few electric guitars, too.

Me, too. There's some things you just hafta have an electric for! :-)

Toothbrush.

You should switch to the SonicCare electric toothbrush. Highly
recommended by dentists, they do a FAR better job of cleaning your
teeth and keeping your gums healthy. Seriously- check into it. And
not just any "electric" toothbrush - check into the SonicCare.

We have the SonicCare, and it *is* great, but I still have an analog toothbrush, too. It's more portable *and* it doesn't need power. :-)

Tube guitar amp (Okay, it *does* need power, but it sounds better than
transistor or digital amps, lasts far longer, is easier to repair, and it's not
as susceptible to EMP. Besides: They're fun to build!)


I have a tube amp, too. And I like it. But I dread the day the tubes
die and I have to find replacements. You can't go down to the grocery
store to get them anymore...

But this is a perfect example of another time when people said "Oh, your old (insert anachronistic device here) is on its way out". I've been hearing about the demise of tube amps for decades. They were going to be made obsolete by transistor amps, and then modeling amps, but they're still around, and people are still manufacturing tubes. You can't get tubes at the drug or grocery store any more, but I can drive 2 miles to my local music store & buy them, or I can order *any* audio tube or amp part I need online and have it in the mail in as little as two days. Any time I hear people talk about the (perceived) unreliability of tube amps or availability of tubes, I have to laugh. It's simply a ridiculous notion that has no basis in fact. Do tube amps require periodic maintenance? Yep, although it's very infrequent. Are they difficult or expensive to maintain? Nope. Are they, in the long term, less expensive and more reliable than their transistor or modeling counterparts? Absolutely!

I suppose we could debate this 'til we're blue in the face and still disagree on certain points. I have no doubt that electronic "books" will become more and more popular, and that people will happily buy the iBook, iBook Plus, iBook Video, iBook Nano, and whatever the newest-bestest version-of-the-year happens to be. Is that a good thing? It depends upon the current definition of "good".


Monte


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