RX: (Showing off a photorealistic rendering of a digital audio measurement device I want to get for work) "Isn't this kewl?"
Tam: "The buttons and knobs are very skeumorphic."
RX: "That's 'cos they actually do things."
Tam: "I said 'skeumorphic.'"
RX: "They're real."
Tam: "And...?"
RX: "I mean, they're physical controls. Mechanical."
Tam: (With a look that suggests I have admitted my employer uses steam locomotives) "Oh. Quaint."
She and I live in the future a lot of the time. It's not always the same future.
People are always confused that TUBES are still in use. I run into them most often in Ham radio amps, but there are also a couple of cool-looking (though the sound isn't up to par) headphone amps on Amazon that have tubes prominently displayed.
ReplyDeleteThat and the fact that the "best" gaming keyboards are mechanical...
ReplyDeleteThe reintroduction of vinyl records.
The mania for hand-made goods (a la Etsy).
Craft beers, and breads, etc. Organic stuff...
The future ain't what it used to be.
IMO, the best keyboards in general are mechanical. I just like them; I run a standard Unicomp 104-key (or is it 105?) one on my main computer and have the Qwerkywriter for any machine that does Bluetooth.
ReplyDeleteI *like* that we got the hippie future, with lots of hands-on, high-skill items being valued. When you can crank out mass-production stuff with a desktop 3-D printer or laser-cutter, "handmade" picks up a whole new appeal. I *like* that we got the libertarian future, with the funding for small-scale manufacturing and other ventures being crowdsourced, often with little regard for borders. I don't like that we got the "let somebody else do the dirty work" future, with dead lakes and worse in China and the Third World. Why are we even still doing those things on-planet? Isn't there a perfectly good Moon for that kind of mess?
Or in orbit. Get out to a leading or trailing LaGrange point and enjoy continuous solar power, 1.3 KW per square meter with no weather or long Moon nights to worry about...
ReplyDeleteLOL, old school STILL works a lot of the time. The insides may be updated, but plain old dials and switches STILL are the way to go.
ReplyDeleteAmen to that. Analog gauges rule when you want to do a "quick look" to monitor a complex system... Once you know what the panel should look like an wonky reading jumps out at you. Digital readouts just don't provide the same speed.
ReplyDeleteWhat Rick T said!
ReplyDeleteOld NFO, I'll have to post a link to this thing. It's a digital instrument with analog functionality, a really nice piece of design.