Technology was more reliable 54 years ago.

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IsabellaLinton
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10 Oct 2022, 9:59 pm

Matrix Glitch wrote:

If you went back in time and handed them a budget smartphone built 10 years ago, their jaws would hit the ground and they'd have heart attacks. It would be like super advanced alien technology to them, way beyond their capabilities.

I agree with you.

I think the issue is that everything is getting more complicated with computer involvement.
Everything has a computer in it from coffee makers to telephones to cars and home lighting.
People think they're really smart because someone else invented a computer code.

Give most people today a regular coffee maker, car, or electrical job and they can't fix it.
Chances are most of today's people can't fix the current tech versions either.
That's why everything is constantly scrapped and upgraded.

I just spent ten minutes trying to open my freaking garage door on an electronic signal.
It couldn't be done even though it works fine manually.

People don't seem to know hands-on skills and trades like they once did.
Understanding a computer is not the same as understanding how to build things, or fix them.

*My granddad was an aerospace engineer so I'm not a conspiracy theorist about the moon.
I just think people today (even STEM-engineers) don't know half of what previous generations did.
Today's people can't think on their feet or problem solve without checking a computer manual.
I knew a mechanical engineer in a Master's program who didn't know multiplication without a calculator.

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Matrix Glitch
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10 Oct 2022, 10:09 pm

r00tb33r wrote:

Matrix Glitch wrote:

CockneyRebel wrote:

I have fantasies that us WP regulars are sitting around a Christmas tree having a retro Christmas where we each give each other a piece of technology from the 50s to the 80s that we're very fond of. Maybe I will get that 1965 colour TV after all. :idea:

There's plenty for sale I'm sure. One in working order would be a problem, because I doubt they make replacement tubes anymore. I remember around 1985 having a TV set that was old enough to still have tubes, rather than solid state tech. And there was a Thrifty drug store that still sold TV tubes and even had an old tube tester machine like this one:

Most would probably be NOS, meaning fewer and fewer left.
The only common new ones are primarily for audio applications.

More recently I had come across a portable tube amplifier project that used low voltage automotive tubes. Apparently there was a large NOS supply of those.

I hadn't thought about NOS. I see there's a pretty good stockpile of TV vacuum tubes, even still in the box, on the market. And only $3 each from one Ebay seller. I remember paying $13 for one in '85. They're used a lot in Steampunk creations.

Matrix Glitch
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10 Oct 2022, 10:35 pm

CockneyRebel wrote:

How about a Steampunk TV?

I'm half tempted to build something like that. Although it would probably end up as nonfunctioning art.

Last edited by Matrix Glitch on 10 Oct 2022, 10:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

IsabellaLinton
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10 Oct 2022, 10:37 pm

I can't deal with those kinds of lightbulbs.
They look nice but the any exposed light gives me blinding migraines, for days.

I love the dials.

Can you find me a radio with a dial-tuner that would have decent sound?
Nothing digital at all?

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Matrix Glitch
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10 Oct 2022, 10:47 pm

IsabellaLinton wrote:

The actual vintage tubes don't light up all that much. I know what you mean about light. I have a single 40 watt incandescent bulb lighting my place, and that's only because my last 25 watt bulb burned out.

Anyways check Ebay. There's a ton of old dial tuner radios for sale there.

IsabellaLinton
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10 Oct 2022, 10:49 pm

We can't buy incandescent lights here anymore.
Can you?

I have major issues with lighting.
I can't do anything in the daytime because of daylight.
I can't do anything at night because of LED lights.

At night I mostly use candles but I can't do anything.
I can't clean because I can't see.

I'll check eBay for radios.
Thanks for that.

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Matrix Glitch
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10 Oct 2022, 11:07 pm

IsabellaLinton wrote:

I'll check eBay for radios.
Thanks for that.

I recently bought two 40 watt incandescent soft white light bulbs at Lowes Hardware. Although I meant to get the 25 watt. I'm sure you can order them online from many sources like that. Unless there's some law against it wherever you live. Ordering online would save you from having to enter a fluorescent light hell hardware store.

https://www.amazon.com/GE-97492-White-L ... %3D&sr=8-5

I've found I can find anything I want if I google it enough.

IsabellaLinton
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10 Oct 2022, 11:13 pm

We can get halogen or LED, or those corkscrew kinds ($30 each).
Incandescent isn't allowed because of environmental reasons.
The actual electronics (lamps) we buy won't work on incandescent.

I managed to get some incandescent from USA.
They cost a fortune with shipping.
They wouldn't work in my bathroom or on any dimmers.

I put one of them in my basement but it buzzed so loudly I had to take it out.
My laundry room light fixture will only work with LED.
I called an electrician and he said that was normal.

A lot of light fixtures just have those tiny little square computer chips.

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naturalplastic
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11 Oct 2022, 2:37 am

Matrix Glitch wrote:

naturalplastic wrote:

Matrix Glitch wrote:

naturalplastic wrote:

IsabellaLinton wrote:

It does make you wonder. ^

Why?
.

Why don't you try a more contemporary comparison analogy like 135 Space Shuttle missions? They can launch 135 crews into orbit, but never again, until 2022 even work on getting one more crew past Earth's orbit. The actual 21st century moon landing via Artemis 3, probably won't really take place until 2027. In other words, we who watched the moon landings on TV as kids, might die of old age before this one finally takes place.

Not sure what your point is, but- yes -sending dozens of manned missions into low earth orbit (like 200 miles up) gets us more science for less money than sending a handful manned missions 238 thousand miles up to the moon did.

And sending Unmanned probes billions of miles into interplanetary space (way beyond moon, to even Pluto) during the same decades was ALSO more cost effective than sending a few humans to the Moon was.

And the same with sending the Hubble, and the James Webb, unmanned space telescopes, into high earth orbit ( about a million miles up) to peer into intersteller space and beyond.

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11 Oct 2022, 3:00 am

IsabellaLinton wrote:

Matrix Glitch wrote:

Chances are most of today's people can't fix the current tech versions either.
That's why everything is constantly scrapped and upgraded.
I knew a mechanical engineer in a Master's program who didn't know multiplication without a calculator.

Yes. I count inventory in stores. A coworker with a degree in engineering couldnt figure out the 'each' price on an item with a price tag that said "three for eight dollars". I blurted out "two dollars and sixty seven cents" in a single heartbeat...even though I dont know his engineering calculus from a hole in the ground.

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11 Oct 2022, 4:05 am

naturalplastic wrote:

This is a circular argument, because if cost has always been the reason, then no moon mission should ever take place again, until it can be done economically.

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11 Oct 2022, 2:40 pm

IsabellaLinton wrote:

Northpoint AM/FM Portable Vintage Radio with Best Reception, Circa 1960's Design, 3" AA Battery Operated Radio, Tuning, Volume and On/Off Knob, Green and Silver https://a.co/d/9aqF8jj

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CockneyRebel
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11 Oct 2022, 8:30 pm

Matrix Glitch wrote:

CockneyRebel wrote:

How about a Steampunk TV?

I'm half tempted to build something like that. Although it would probably end up as nonfunctioning art.

That would be very cool.

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Matrix Glitch
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12 Oct 2022, 5:08 am

Misslizard wrote:

IsabellaLinton wrote:

Northpoint AM/FM Portable Vintage Radio with Best Reception, Circa 1960's Design, 3" AA Battery Operated Radio, Tuning, Volume and On/Off Knob, Green and Silver https://a.co/d/9aqF8jj

I like it a lot. But I'd prefer it in either white or black.

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