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Digital Generation, Analog Retro Chic
securitas writes "The New York Times' Juliet Chung writes about the latest technology trend: the growing popularity of analog technology with a generation that has grown up digital. 'Yesterday's technology designs are becoming popular among those in their teens and 20's eager to usher back a time they experienced only barely, if at all.' An MIT graduate student interviewed for the article, Ali Rahimi, was tired of the 'impersonal, unthinking' nature of modern technology, so he hacked an old telephone handset together with his mobile phone with the rationale, 'The handset has been going through about a hundred years of evolution in design and ... have the perfect shape.' According to Brown University technology historian Steven Lubar, 'When the available technology converges at a certain performance threshold ... consumers begin to base their choices on nontechnical considerations'. Chung also includes a sidebar that lists some of the new retro analog devices and interpretations, ranging from radio PC case mods to ancient clunker cell phones. Any other cool or interesting retro analog devices or hacks out there?" I've personally enjoyed owning tube amps on and off - the sound warmth, whether it be psychological or real, is definitely different then solid state amps.
And all of the ones I've built in the past 5 years have no cases - the tubes are exposed so you can see them. Real retro. Real power (400W/Ch). Real sound. Even makes 128kbps MP3s sound good!
Kenny P.
Visualize Whirled P.'s
It's all psychological. Or settings. I've heard a few people say they didn't care for their CD systems' sound. Turns out, they aren't using their equalizers for anything.
Turn up the bass, and poof, sounds warmer.
Analog clocks are the best, because they go "tick tick" to let you know when each second of your life expires.
Analog still rules the cell phone airwaves, because when you're out in the middle of the boonies(not on the interstate), you'll be glad your have a dual or tri band phone(US).
I preferred my "analog" carbuerator to fuel injection as well. It felt better to be able to actually look at what mixed my air and gas and be able to mess with it, even though I am car-ignorant.
Chris
Certainly there has been a resurgence of old lately, but you will find this trend among any time where there has been a mass revolution in the way things are. For instance, the whole arts and crafts (Gustav Stickly, Morris, Green and Green, etc....etc...etc...) movement which in some part was a reaction or rebelling against the industrial movement of the early 19th century and celebrated the individual craftsman, designer and artist.
Right now we certainly have a rebellion against the "digital world" in many senses with a resurgence of what is warm and old including the use of tubes in stereo equipment and musical instruments to growing popularity of "old phone styles", to automobile designs borrowed from older elements and Hollywood has been borrowing every theme and idea from movies in the past for many of its current releases in an effort to come up with something successful.
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Or valves, as British people prefer saying, are making a comeback. Some people tend to prefer the warm sound produced by tubes. Of course, tubes were always there in the audio production end, however, tubes are increasingly being used on the playback end. Some manufacturers are still selling tube gear, and they appear to be quite popular.
Although not very cheap, I think that tubes look pretty cool.
Go to compusa or any computer store and try to find a dial control ( you know like the one used in games like Tempest or Pong ). I've been looking for years for a $20+ dial control that would allow me to navigate through horizontal menu's and play games like Breakout! and they don't exist unless you look from an old retro-fitted junk from ebay or some 200 Dlls over-kill X-Arcade control set.
Bring back the dial control.
Now I just counted to three and made my peace.
- these are not the droids you are looking for -
I keep hearing this statement about tube-amps being better than digital amps because of their warmer sound etc etc. Why doesn't someone do a spectral sound analysis for tube amps that outlines the differences with digital amps and settles the argument once and for all? Is there such an analysis somewhere out there already? I would do it myself except that I don't have access to either tube amps or spectral analyzers...
In a lot of cases, analog is better.
There are reel-to-reel tape recorders from the 60s that still sound better than a CD. And the best digital cameras are lightyears from the best optical ones.
Besides that, there's the matter of how the signals behave when being degraded, which is the best thing about analog.
Take analog TV.. You can have a ridiculously weak signal, and still have something watchable. The static manifests itself as white fuzz, but you can still see the image and hear the voices. I know because I watched plenty of New York TV when I lived in Toronto.
A digital signal just cuts out. You either recieve it or you dont. It's either stuttery sound, blocky movement or gone altogether.
I've had rabbit ears and DirecTV. I'll tell you, if there was some sort of catastrophic weather thing going on (tornados or hurricanes or typhoons, whatver), I know I'd have my rabbit ears hooked up to get my updates.
Same goes for radio. How well would XM come in when the skies pitch black from tornados?
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
I remember a section of the story from William Gibson's "Idoru" where one of the main characters has a retro styled computer made by "Harley Davidson". Ever since reading that book I have been waiting for a company to start designing electronics that doesn't look like another piece of hardware. Considering how much I use my MP3 player and digital camera, you would think more companies would have a range of styles. Basically I want "retro styling" to be a step towards be getting my mp3 player to look like my watch.
Three years ago, I would have laughed at you. That was until my friend (we'll call him analog-freak) sat me down in his listening chair and asked me to close my eyes.
He started playing music - it was very clear, so I figured it was a CD. It sounded amazing, though. Then I heard him click the A/B switch. The whole room seemed to open up and I could have sworn it was a live show, synchronized with the CD. I knew right away that this was vinyl; there were a few clicks and pops, but the sound was undeniably better than the CD. He switched back and forth a few times to let me hear the difference.
Now hear's the kicker: he's got a ridiculous system in house. He writes reviews for audiophile magazines, invests most of his free time and money in this stuff, and could sell his home system and pay off the house. The record he played was virgin, perfect vinyl - it was heavier than any record I've held. He said he paid just over $100 for the thing on eBay.
Since most of my listening is through my Honda Civic factory-installed CD player or through mp3s on my computer's crappy sound card, I don't get the opportunity to experience these amazing sound differences. So few people have the kind of equipment, knowledge, or money required to enjoy it at that level that I wouldn't even argue about it. Of course, this is Slashdot and audiophiles are an especially argumentative group of geeks.
Be sure to check out the analog computer museum, among others
And don't forget about relay logic
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
Well, it's true you don't know me but I haven't worn a watch in about five years. I feel a lot less stressed without one, and I'm still able to keep track of time. I need to know when to leave the house - my ordinary clocks will tell me that (as will my body clock), I need to know what time it is at work - my computer will tell me that. I need to know what time it is to catch my train - the station clocks will tell me that. And, if it any moment I need to know the time I can look at my mobile phone, or simply ask someone if my phone isn't charged.
I imagine there'll always be someone for whom it's absolutely vital, but for the rest of you - try this for a while. Feels odd at firt, but you soon find it quite liberating not caring if you're running 1 minute 23 seconds late as compared to yesterday. Relaxation is sure to follow.
Cheers,
Ian
I was wondering this the other day when I read some random posting on the internet about a guy who cleaned out a 1930's era RCA radio and crammed a miniITX board inside. What happened to the radio? He threw it in the trash.
This worries me because that radio was created during a time when Analog sets were state-of-the-art and cost upwards of hundreds of dollars. The PC components he placed inside that wooden case probably cost the same, but will be obsolete in a few years due to the speed at which we are updating technology these days. The radio however, was probably in use for well over 20+ years until a tube burned out and the previous owner could no longer get a replacement.
20+ years Vs. 2-3 years. I prefer keeping vintage electronics whole and in one piece. There are tons of resources out there for people who would love to get their hands on old sets and get them working again. The PC in an RCA case will probably be forgotten and discarded not soon after it's internals are considered yesterdays news. Much like it was decades ago, only that much sooner.
There is no spork.
After my grandmother died, the only thing I wanted to inherit was her old standard-issue GPO rotary-dial telephone. My grandparent's house was built at the tail end of the 1960s, and the phone was installed new in that house. My grandmother died at the tail end of last year. Since I want to keep it original (it's a reminder of my grandparents every time I use it) I haven't even changed the little paper disc in the dial that has their phone number and the usual 'Emergency: Fire, Police, Ambulance: 999' bit at the top.
The phone is one of these and anyone who grew up in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s will remember them (and there's still quite a few around that have never been changed out for modern phones).
They are pretty much indestructable, having an electromechanical ringer and solidly-made mechanical parts (including the clockwork dial mechanism with generates the LD pulses). So as I didn't even have to change the wire that goes from the telephone to my modern RJ-45 jack - originally I had planned to just crimp on an RJ-45 plug to the cable - I managed to obtain an old GPO junction box from the same era. You just need to screw down the little connectors on the end of the telephone cable into one end, then crimp on some of those little fork-connectors to the free end of a piece of Cat5 with an RJ-45 at the other end, which you then screw down into the original junction box - then plug into the socket.
I'd also like an Ericofon, but I don't think without soldering resistors to the ringers of the phones to increase the impedance, the ringer current just won't make two phones with a real bell ring at the same time...and I don't want to modify the phones.
Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
I bought one recently, in fact I'm using it now. Accept no substitutes as an iTunes control (volume, scrolling through lists, pausing etc.) or movie editor. And it's great for Tempest under MAME.
Cheers,
Ian
The good old desk phone handset was designed to fit the human hand and head. The contemporary cell phone is designed to be as small as they can make it, to win cool-points. But engineering will eventually triumph over decoration when people settle down and *use* these artifacts. I think that more people are beginning to realize that machines should first of all be fit for their function.
Some of the new stuff is much better than the old. I would never willingly go back to the old LC FM tuners now that I've used PLL types. But I want a radio that's big enough for my hands to operate, no matter what is inside. The use of pinheads masquerading as switch buttons is the opposite of engineering.
I love my old rotary phone. It funny to see someone try to figure out how to dial it. They keep pushing the "buttons" in the dial. Silly kids.
I do have to hit the mouth piece every so often to loosen up the carbon in the mic.
It's even more retro in that it's a Commodore phone that came with my VIC modem.
Learn grammer
Perhaps he'll learn grammar when you've learned spelling
You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. The impossible just takes a little longer.
But I still use good old fashioned records all the time, partly it's because it's the best way to DJ, but even outside of the clubs I'm a vinyl fan.
I've just been at my mother in law's this weekend digging through furniture, toys and other nik naks to stocky my new house. I found this ancient 'show n' tell' toy - basically a player for little 7" records and an associated slide show - usually kids stories or mini documentaries. I'm feeling a strange fascination towards this 1950's predecessor to 'Encarta' - at least the hardware doesn't blue screen (although I guess it needs a bulb replaced from time to time).
Anyway, the best find is a 1951 Sunbeam toaster, all automatic, drop the toast in and it lowers itself, toasts, and pops up slowly (and silently). Sure, most toasters these days aren't digital (except for that java driven weather forecast toaster) but this 'fully automated' device feels more high tech than many modern variations.
I've got a bunch of 50 year old vinyl (33 rpm 'microgroove') records that I can't wait to listen to when I get back, I wonder how many of my CD's will still be working 50 years after buying them.
" If the producer wanted you to hear it like that, he'd have added it to the recording."
Not really.
The modern producer has to realize the works he puts out have to be played on a number of systems.
For instance, while most of us have our high end 'impress the clients' systems, most of our mix down speakers / monitors are incredibly cheap sounding. Why? Because we have to produce for the lowest common denominator.
I've got a high end JBL system that sounds killer for that warm sound. I've got another system, BlueSkys, for the high end precision clear sound. And I keep around a pair of industry standard, any producer worth his salts can walk in and recognize the qualities of this shitty box and mix accordingly speakers.
Its all a compromise. Nothing is how we would have wanted it to be recorded unless we just have no sense of aesthetics or vision. Personally -- I'd release everything in 5.1 or higher -- much easier to mix, the sounds don't need as much equalization to keep specific sounds from clobbering each other, and instead of trying to set a three dimensional soundstage on 2 dimensional speaker, you can approximate everything more accurately if the others are using an industry standard positional setup.
So no, just because something isn't in a recording, that doesn't mean the producer specifically didn't want it.
I just recently bought a used Fender Twin Reverb II amp...all tube. The guitar tone is just fantastic. My home amp is a little, very price friendly, amp I got off the web. I got the SE84C and have been VERY happy with it. But, you gotta have extremely efficient speakers...I have Klipschorns which are pretty retro too...as that the design of these hasn't really changed since about 1940.
Also pretty cool...are the nixie clocks I've seen around...just trying to find one that is reasonably priced...and not made with tubes that are rapidly becoming unavailable.
But, if nothing else....electronics that 'glow' are cool...
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Umm. You do know that Rolexes have been around for a LONG time as status symbols, right? A high quality, hand made, mechanical watch, made of gold and diamonds has been a status symbol for longer than there have *been* cars.
Similarly, hand-tailored clothing, custom architecture and anything else time consuming and one of a kind have been exceedingly expensive and sought out by the wealthy and emulated by those who aren't. Cheap wallpaper and faux finishes are a decorating trend to emulate the fabric finishes and hand-plastered looks in wealthy homes. It's all around you and has been going on for a very long time.
The Glass is Too Big: My Take on Things
In any case, I through college with a traditional, heavy clunky desk phone. People found that very odd. Now I would love to have just the handset of that phone as my cellphone. You could fit some large batteries in there. And it would be loud enough to hear! I would not mind a larger phone if the sound quality and signal quality were better. Somehow current phones are getting smaller rather than better.
Lasers Controlled Games!
That is because digital design is essentially an abstraction of analog design. All the problems above are those that deviate from this abstraction.
Or a fuel cell and methonal tank that would run it for a year!
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
I've looked at the retro-styled phones (like you can find at Pottery Barn or whatnot), but they get the whole concept wrong (big surprise). I don't want a phone that has a keypad shaped like a rotary dial, I want a real rotary dial that has buttons beneath the dial (where the numbers are).
That way, I can retro-dial anywhere, but have the option of pressing a button when I have to. I'd make that "button" simply be touch-sensitive plastic that has a built-in delay (press and hold for a second). I'd be just as happy with a pure-rotary dial if I had some sort of switch that would allow the phone to send a touch-tone signal when I dialed a number ("Please dial '9' for more assistance.")
...use both technologies. We go for tube amps or transistor amps with digital modelling of tube amp characteristics. Effects are also a mixture of both, with classic analog devices like tape echoes often replaced by digital simulators for lower cost, higher reliability, programmability and so on, but admittedly not for improved "tone". Our guitars are another story altogether: hardly anyone plays anything that isn't made of wood, despite more "practical" alternatives. In fact, there is more appreciation than ever of the qualities of fine tone woods. Finally, electric guitarists have been slow to adopt digital pickups, guitar synthesizer systems and so on. Give us our Gibson '59 PAFs and mic our acoustics!
This appreciation for retro or analog things is one of the themes of Neil Stephenson's book, The Diamond Age. It's really an interesting idea. At the point when technologically nearly anything is possible to create in the blink of an eye, what do you then consider to be valuable? The value of something is no longer determinied by scarcity or technological difficulty. For the Vicky's (Victorian's), one of the phyles in Stephenson's book, they value hand-made, primitive things like hand-made papers and quill pens.
I'm really into photography and can understand the excitement about digital photography. It's great for 95% of people because it's easy, convenient, cheap and gives instantaneous feedback. But it's not for me. And I fear that the analog, silver-based photography industry is going to go through some really hard times in the next decade. As a consumer of their products I just fear how much is going to stop being produced. But eventually, I'm hoping the companies will shake out and there will still be left a couple of photography companies producing fine-art materials. Analog, silver-based photography will become something of a black art and most likely real silver based photographs will command a much higher price.
I was responding mostly to the content where the poster mentioned that the trend of high priced watches was going on for a decade. That indicated a lack of perspective that I had to respond to.
However, overall, I agree with *you* 100%. All of my "luxury" items fall into the categories you listed. I have many of my garments hand tailored to ensure that they actually fit me (at 6'4" and 270lbs) and generally seek out high quality merchandise when I can afford it, but NEVER as a status symbol. It needs to work better, be built better, last longer or look MUCH better for me to be willing to pay the extra premium.
The Glass is Too Big: My Take on Things
I recently pulled some of my old analog keyboards (Korg Poly 6, Roland JX3P) out of storage to compare them to emulated VST versions that have been released over the last year or so. What a difference... sure you can program the same patches on both versions, but there is no comparison from a sonic standpoint and nothing compares to a bank of knobs and switches that you can actually grab with your hands instead of tweaking with a mouse. Of course there are advantages like being able to save a patch with the track you are working on but I think one of the great things about the old synths was that they forced you to be spontaneous... they sounded different every time you turned them on!
For those interested in retro tech where music production is concerned tapeop.com is the best free magazine around.
How much thought went into designing that hockey puck mouse or the current one ovoid one? Both of those were, in my mind, defective products, dangerous to the health of their users and productivity killers in the office. Apple has often chosen to go with flashy designs, sometimes at the expense of the lifespan of the product or the convenience of the user. How many burnt out, overheated "cubes", dangerous mice, broken "sunflower" arms or un/difficult to upgrade products will it take for the consumer base to realise they are not being well served? Apple has a history of poor design. That is why their products make up such a small share of the market. Hopefully they will be able to make the transition to linux distro and continue the excellent work they have done with BSD in the past few years.