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Topic: I've Given Up Keeping Up with Technology |
Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 13 Oct 2014 12:30 pm |
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That's a really funny video, Lane. In a few years there won't be anyone around who can see the funny side of it. 
There used to be all sorts of home remedies as to what to do with warped records. One was to put them between two pieces of glass with a weight on top and pop them in the oven. If you got it just right the record would flatten out. But you had to pull it out at the right time, before burning yourself, and by that time it would be soft, so you would have to remove the top piece of glass and stand it flat until the record had cooled off and gone solid again. If you left it in the oven too long the grooves would start to disappear as the vinyl melted.
Do you remember when 78s were disappearing? There were lots of do-it-yourself articles on how you could heat them and turn them into flower pots, etc.
For those of you who haven't handled 45s, the centres were removable because juke boxes had a big centre boss on the turntable, and even some home record players did. To remove the centre you had to push hard and they popped out. Push too hard and the whole record would split. I lived in England at the time, and I noticed that American imports came with removable plastic inserts, which English issues didn't. When you bought a turntable they always came with a plastic collar that you could put on the turntable so that you could play 45s that had the centre removed.
Years ago I worked for a company in San Franciso that was located at the bottom of a cliff, with a housing estate on the hill above. The local kids, apart from deriving fun by mooning us below, also had a game where they would skim their parents' LP collections over the cliff to see how many could go right over the factory and land in the parking lot. Most didn't make it, and we had to send someone up onto the roof from time to time to collect up all the bits of LPs and dispose of them. I can't imagine what the kids' parents thought had happened to their disappearing record collections.  |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 13 Oct 2014 1:24 pm
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At the dinner the night before my wedding, I had to take a picture of the entire wedding party. A handful of teens, 5 between 45 and 51, my dad's gf (a bit younger than him, but I'm not about to ask her age) and my 73 year old dad. Only Tom was on his smartphone...
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 13 Oct 2014 2:38 pm
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| Lane Gray wrote: |
| ...Only Tom was on his smartphone... |
...and Tom is your Grandfather? |
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Robert Leaman
From:
Murphy, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 13 Oct 2014 6:42 pm My Favorite 1937 Model 812 Cord
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I bought this from a small used car dealer in 1950. I spent a bit on restoration and drove the car during my time at college. Pennsylvania made me give up standard licensing since there were no turn signals and it could not pass inspection. That made it eligible only for an antique license which severely cutailed when I could put it on the road. I sold it in 1978, an action which I sorely regret. It had features that were not repeated until after WW2. My Dad's 1951 Mercury is in the back ground.
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Jeff Scott Brown
From:
O'Fallon Missouri, USA
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Posted 13 Oct 2014 9:19 pm Re: I've Given Up Keeping Up with Technology
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| Alan Brookes wrote: |
...it's becoming more and more clear to me that you don't have to keep up with all the latest gadgets in order to lead a happy life.  |
Was there really a time when you thought otherwise?
_________________
GFI Ultra S10 Keyless
Peavey Nashville 112
Goodrich L120, BJS, Peterson StroboPlus HD |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 14 Oct 2014 10:22 am
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Tom's my dad. 73 years old and still playing the bass.
And facebooking at dinner.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 14 Oct 2014 11:08 am Re: I've Given Up Keeping Up with Technology
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| Jeff Scott Brown wrote: |
| Alan Brookes wrote: |
| ...it's becoming more and more clear to me that you don't have to keep up with all the latest gadgets in order to lead a happy life. |
Was there really a time when you thought otherwise? |
Yes, when computers were new and the company I was working for paid me to keep up with technology. I was even one of the volunteers to test Windows 95 for Microsoft before it was issued. Ironically, the trial version was much better than the production version, which omitted many of the features. Those omitted features were put back in with Windows 98 but the customer had to pay to correct Microsoft's omissions and errors by purchasing the update. 
I also bought a BetaMax video recorder and a quadraphonic 8-track player. 
(No, I'm not old enough to have bought an Edsel.)
...but I did have the foresight to hold onto my LP collection, and I now have over 3,000 of them. |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 14 Oct 2014 11:18 am
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I don't know why this has been moved into the Computers section. Computers are only one small part of the discussion. The discussion relates to all new technology, including steel guitars, amplifiers, recorders. By moving it to the Computers section most steel guitarists won't bother to open it. Please move it BACK to the right section. Few people open the Computers section.   |
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Jeff Scott Brown
From:
O'Fallon Missouri, USA
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Posted 14 Oct 2014 8:04 pm Re: I've Given Up Keeping Up with Technology
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| Alan Brookes wrote: |
| Jeff Scott Brown wrote: |
| Alan Brookes wrote: |
| ...it's becoming more and more clear to me that you don't have to keep up with all the latest gadgets in order to lead a happy life. |
Was there really a time when you thought otherwise? |
Yes |
That surprises me. I appreciate the honesty though. My unsolicited 2 cents on that is that I believe that your current philosophy on the matter will serve you better than the one that you used to have. 
| Alan Brookes wrote: |
| ...when computers were new and the company I was working for paid me to keep up with technology. |
I am a technologist. I am not paid to keep up with technology, but as a practical matter I have to keep up with technology to do what I am paid to do. I do have a lot of gadgets and I enjoy them most of the time, but I have never been in a position where I felt like I had to have the latest gadgets in order to live a happy life. I do often find it interesting to know how other folks relate to technology, which is why I asked the question (when I asked, I didn't know you too were a technologist). Usually when folks make a claim like the one I asked about they really mean something else and asking about that often leads to interesting discoveries. It is like when people say something like "Money won't solve all of your problems.". Everyone knows that is true so it isn't particularly interesting. Likewise a claim like "you don't have to keep up with all the latest gadgets in order to lead a happy life" often is used in a kind of non-sincere way. This is why I was surprised by your response.
So far off topic that I can't even see the road from here. I will stop now.
_________________
GFI Ultra S10 Keyless
Peavey Nashville 112
Goodrich L120, BJS, Peterson StroboPlus HD |
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Niels Andrews
From:
Salinas, California, USA
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Posted 15 Oct 2014 5:45 am
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I run a technology division for a company. I some times lust for an old weissenborn, and a whale oil lamp, aboard an old schooner. Bound for the spice islands.
_________________
Die with Memories. Not Dreams.
Good Stuff like Zum S-12, Wolfe Resoport
MSA SS-12, Telonics Combo. |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 15 Oct 2014 11:04 am
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| Niels Andrews wrote: |
| ...I sometimes lust for an old Weissenborn, and a whale oil lamp, aboard an old schooner, bound for the Spice Islands. |
Well we're on the right side of the country to start the voyage. There are plenty of boats around here and a wide ocean just waiting to be explored, so let's go for it. 
(By the way, I can't swim.) |
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Tony Smart
From:
Harlow. Essex. England
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Posted 15 Oct 2014 12:23 pm
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| I've Given Up Keeping Up with Technology |
Let's face it - who needs the wheel? - and the price as well. The last one cost me a camel, herd of goats and a mother in law.
I miss my camel....... |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 15 Oct 2014 12:34 pm
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| Tony Smart wrote: |
| ...I miss my camel... |
Well it was probably a bit out of place in Essex, anyway. |
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Dale Gray
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 20 Oct 2014 1:30 pm Tech?
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Believe it or not, I am typing this reply on an old Underwood typewriter.
_________________
GFI SD10.Vegas 400, Oblong pedal, Rocket Scientist. |
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Daryl Thisdelle
From:
New Brunswick, Canada
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Posted 25 Oct 2014 3:52 pm Technology
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The nice thing about getting older is, you get to chose what you want to use and from what period it came from. There is good and bad about everything. It all depends on what you want to settle for and what you actually like.
Daryl
_________________
Williams 700 Keyless SD 12 String Universal Lacguer Body Wood Neck Alumitone Pick Up GD Walker Stereo Steel Amp Preamp Combo With 2x15 inch JBL Speakers In Tuned Cabinets, Hilton Digital Sustain Pedal, Telonics Volume Pedal. Steel Seat With Back Rest And Swivel And Adjustable Legs. George L Cables. BJS Bar. Nookies Thumb Pick National Finger Picks. Jagwires Petterson Strobo Plus HD Tuner |
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