this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2024

443 points (98.7% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26570 readers

1488 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected]. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

443

What's a technology that was cooler in its older iterations? (pawb.social)

submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

471 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I don't mean BETTER. That's a different conversation. I mean cooler.

An old CRT display was literally a small scale particle accelerator, firing angry electron beams at light speed towards the viewers, bent by an electromagnet that alternates at an ultra high frequency, stopped by a rounded rectangle of glowing phosphors.

If a CRT goes bad it can actually make people sick.

That's just. Conceptually a lot COOLER than a modern LED panel, which really is just a bajillion very tiny lightbulbs.

top 50 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

I dunno about you, but I have a hankering for the mid-to-late-80s aesthetic, but specifically that taken into sci-fi. I'm talking Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star etc. 80s tech but... Future!

Everything's so chunky and functional. It looks like you could hit it with a sledgehammer and it would still work!

Basically, BUTTONS! Gimme buttons, lots of big buttons! I want things that go click so I can be sure I've pressed them. I don't want a tiddly little touchpanel for my washing machine, I want a button that goes CLACK when I press it!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 hours ago

That's extremely the aesthetic I love about cyberpunk. Sure the story in Blade Runner is great but look at all the neat shit!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 hours ago

I remember getting a hand-me-down digital 'black book' to store phone numbers during the age of the palm pilot. It had a 'dial' button and a speaker on the back. You could pick up the phone, put the speaker against the phone's mouthpiece and it would 'dial' by playing the correct tones. Blew. My. Mind.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Clarke's third law is that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. I have the notion that any technology becomes uninteresting and not cool once reaches the level of magic. We are tactile and inquisitive creatures, so objects that appeal to our hands and perceptions are cool. Once we can no longer grasp the parts, literally or metaphorically, they're no longer alluring.

Phones, cars, screens, computers, anything. Why is Amiga HAM mode fascinating to many people still, even when they're emulating it on a 32-bit-depth screen that can concurrently play high-quality video streamed over the Internet? That's why.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 hours ago

At least for the Amiga it’s because its very simple to code on. Today when developing a game you need to depend onnso much shit and everything is a lot more complicated.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 hours ago

cars

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 hours ago

Phones. From anytime up to and including rotary phones.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

dial-up modem-router noises when connecting to the Internet

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 hours ago

It is entertaining to consider that modems were just computers screaming at each other in shrill voices.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Ooh, rotary phone switches. This YouTube channel (THIS MUSEUM IS NOT OBSOLETE) has a bunch of videos on them. I can only imagine how a massive exchange full of them must have sounded. They're so satisfyingly mechanical.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKnS0AB2CTN_eu8k8rgaOW0PWFH2Qv9Ui

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Sam is a treasure. I wonder if I would ever afford to travel, but I’d sure love to visit his museum.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 hours ago

So true. He has such an energetic personality. I feel like just spending a day in the museum with him nerding out about everything would be so amazing.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 13 hours ago

The internet

load more comments