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The Ampex Sign Is Coming Down (fastcompany.com)
harrymcc writes: If you ever watched anything on videotape, you have Silicon Valley pioneer Ampex -- which invented the technology -- to thank. And for years, the company's vintage sign has stood alongside Highway 101 as a tribute to its historical significance. But Stanford University, which owns the land the sign sits on, is in the process of dismantling it -- an act which Redwood City could have prevented but didn't. I wrote about this dismaying example of cultural shortsightedness at Fast Company.
is a vast overestimate of the sign's importance. It's nothing more than a bloody advertisement, and we need fewer ads in our life, not more.
About 25 years ago, I worked for a radio station as a sound engineer. They used open-reel tape decks as their main recording medium, and we had loads of Ampex 456 reels in use.
Now most tape manufacturers sold their tape on plastic reels. Ampex however used reels with aluminium flanges. Because we were always in a hurry when doing live radio, we engineers had the habit of braking the reels by hand when rewinding them. When doing that on a plastic spool, the worst that could happen was overheated fingers from the friction. On the Ampex reels however you had to beware of the 3 large holes in the flange; if you caught one of those, the aluminium would cut right through your fingers.
They'll get round to using it again one day. Just like all those VHS tapes in my cupboard!
People and organizations do important things all the time, much with a long range impact on the world. But for the most part it will go unnoticed and forgotten in history, say for a vague footnote in a research paper, if lucky.
Also if you are studying the history of something you will often find, that it wasn't made in a vacuum, or out of the blue. However it was an idea built upon previous ideas from different people and organizations.
The Ampex sign, is a local landmark. While Ampex may had done some important innovation, I wouldn't deem it historic, worthy of presentation. Landmarks change. The blue barn was just painted red, The sports stadium had changed sponsors. Just because something is well known or had done important things, doesn't mean it needs to be preserved for prosperity.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Optical sensing has advanced greatly but professional camera lens technology has not. If you really look at some of the great images taken by Ansel Adams you see the levels of resolution he used to create his photographic art, digital up until now has paled in comparison.
In the same vein, some of the great recordings done in the in the late 1950 and early 1960 by DGG, Columbia Master Works and Phillips optical audio to film tape you see the same quality of detailed sound that is only starting to become possible now with digital recording.
The combination of great analogue tech that is not stagnant with digital is the way forward. For instance advanced large size reflex ribbon mics with miniature electronics are just starting to happen and become affordable for the pro as are large size high density and sensitivity ccd based cameras that can take large lenses and produce close to what Ansel Adams did. Ansel was certainly not alone and owed a dept to some of the great photographers that showed the way some of whom were American. Here we can clearly see that fine grained analogue photography was starting to make leaps and bounds until the first world war really screwed up things for a while. France, England, Germany started to take the technology and keep it secretly in the military. The same bullshit happened during the second world war and during the cold war. Both advanced miniaturized audio recording technology and miniaturized high resolution camera technology has if anything been held back by war.
The great analogue technologies which ampex helped introduce to the public, essentially during times of peace, are very important and the sign is a reminder of this fact. It should stay or at least not fade into the dust of what we perceive as progress! If the young of today and our antecedents cannot learn from the past then American society is doomed.
This message was not sent from an iPhone because Peter Sellers really was a deviated prevert without a dime for the call
My father was a truck driver for over 40 years. When teaching me how to dive as a kid he would state Landmarks change, street name change, route numbers same.
Just because it may mean something to you, what does it mean to society. A lighted sign with boring Helvetica Text like all other corporate logos.
Heck where I work, I am near a building with a 20 foot tall Nipper (the RCA Dog) on top. Now that is a landmark. For people who don't know what RCA is or what they did, they will still go, look a big dog. Still there is discussion every decade or so, weather or not to keep the dog. (Mostly because the building it is on is actually very ugly.)
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
While we're at it, can we take the blog that styles itself as a relevant media outlet called "Fast Company"? (I was surprised that thing survived the dotcom implosion - haven't heard anything from it in 15 years.)
My feelings are: why can't Ampex put their advertising sign on their own building?
Stanford shouldn't be beholden to advertise some private company for them. Surely there are better landmarks around there than a billboard.. As you said, not worthy of historical preservation. Sure, take a photo of it and put it in a film museum, but no need to keep the sign up.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
I can't see it from Alabama . . .
We are Dead Stars looking back Up at the Sky
The future should not be held hostage by the past. Otherwise we become Italy.
E Proelio Veritas.
You can't see anything from Alabama - it's been proven by modern science. It's sort of like there not really being a South Dakota. I mean, anyone who's seen North Dakota knows you only need ONE Dakota and they made up the other one. And don't get me started on Indiana.
That is all.
Then go buy it. It's going into storage.
Oh, doesn't mean that much to you now, does it, Anonymous Coward?
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
Don't worry. It's not there anymore, and it was never a big deal.
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
Are you paid by the comma?
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
Actually I think that might make for a rather neat attraction; especially given American's historic car culture.
I think it would be pretty neat if someone 1) bought some land in the AZ desert (affordable and the climate will keep the signs for deteriorating) 2) paved 20 or 40 miles of road thru it 3) Acquired historic signage from culturally significant organizations defunct and not 4) Made one of the GPS phone apps that reads out a little historic information about each sign when you get near it for people to download. 5) Charged a little toll to support / profit on the thing for folks that want to drive down it.
Wish I had the capital
Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
No that isn't what I meant.
History is important. However we cannot and shouldn't preserve all historic things.
200 years in the future. People see an Ampex sign? They will go what is that, some crazed historian will tell about magnetic media.
So Rust on Scotch Tape, Got it.
Now what history needs more then a random sign, is basically the archives of the R&D work. Vs. a Helvetica font logo like all others on a road.
I live in a Historic Town, a lot of historic buildings, however very few of them kept their old logos. And the ones that did, probably had been erased then repopulated again to look like it.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Not to seem snide but since I don't live there and have never even heard of the company, please explain to me why I (or anyone else) should care about some random bit of signage for a company just because it's been there a long time. I looked up some pictures and whatever significance this thing has to locals is utterly lost on me. It looks like a typical boring and wasteful company sign. Is this another example of people on the coasts thinking what happens in their city is somehow special and important even to people who don't live there? (NYC is notorious for this...)
And what doom will we face by this sign going down? What historical importance does the sign hold?
Y,e,s, b,u,t, I, d,o,n,',t, s,e,e, a,n,y, p,a,r,t,i,c,u,l,a,r, r,e,l,e,v,a,n,c,e, i,n, t,h,a,t, f,a,c,t,
Now that you pointed it out, all of Jellomizer's posts are really annoying to read.
Jellomizer:
A comma is used when you have a complete sentence and add a few additional words the clarify the sentence (but not completely change the meaning). The "few additional words" can't be a sentence on their own. Those two parts are called the "independent clause" (independent sentence) and the "dependent clause" (added words).
If the two parts are each complete sentences you separate them with a period. Occasionally you can use a semicolon when grammatically they could be separate but you want to put them together.
For example only one of commas should be there
--
The Ampex sign, is a local landmark. While Ampex may had done some important innovation, I wouldn't deem it historic, worthy of presentation. Landmarks change. The blue barn was just painted red, The sports stadium had changed sponsors. Just because something is well known or had done important things, doesn't mean it needs to be preserved for prosperity.
--
"The Ampex sign is a local landmark."
Not
"The Ampex sign, is a local landmark."
That's because neither "the Ampex sign" nor "is a local landmark" is a sentence.
"change. The blue barn was just painted red, The sports stadium had changed sponsors."
Two separate sentences. Use a period. The parallel structure here indicates this might be intended to be basically a short poem so a semicolon could be used to separate the two "lines" of the poem.
"While Ampex may had done some important innovation, I wouldn't deem it historic, worthy of presentation."
Here is the one place a comma makes sense. "While Ampex may had done some important innovation, I wouldn't deem it historic" is a complete sentence. Adding "worthy of presentation" enhances the meaning so it should be separated by a comma.
Just what crucial information will be lost in time by the removal of this sign from the side of the 101 freeway? What important historical event are we doomed to repeat because of the removal of a corporate logo that the corporation that owns the mark doesn't even give a shit if it's there or not?
This whole thing is a tempest in a teapot, and doesn't deserve to have anything said about it, other than it being a footnote of history - Ampex used to be here, when they did something significant in advancing the state of the art in audio and video recording technology.
Now it's just a hunk of metal that past and present owners can't give a fuck about.
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
I live in flyover country now and people here are if anything more obsessed with propping up obsolete historical or otherwise noteable knickknacks.
Perhaps but they don't waste the time of a bunch of people posting stories about local news on a globally read website. While I'm sure slashdot has a fair number of bay area readers, I'm comfortable stating that almost everyone here has never heard of the sign or probably the company. I cannot imagine why the slashdot editors thought this would be of general interest to slashdot readers...
Interstate exits actually are numbered by mile marker. Go over a state border on a main (1 or 2 digit interstate route) and the exit numbering resets all of a sudden, because the mile markers are measured from state borders.
This is why in cities you have exit 12A 12B 12C etc - they all exist within road mile 12.
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
I drive past this sign fairly regularly and always liked the fact that it remained the same as I remember it from when I was a kid in the 1970s driving up 101 with my family. I'll be a little bit sad that a landmark from my younger days is gone, but not heartbroken.
What really makes me sad is the loss of Docktown Marina, on the other side of the freeway, where houseboat residents are being evicted. The Docktown Marina sign is still there, though not for long.
Who cares? Are we supposed to hold on to everything, forever, because it tickles some neurons of your memory from 40 years ago? Again, WTF cares? They're dead, not relevant, didn't mean shit, didn't do shit, good riddance. What are we gonna do next, reminisce at all those CBS outdoor billboards next? Ooooohhh, there's another one! Remember when it had the advert for Captain Morgan on it last year? Sigh... those were the days. :(
From the late 1940s to about 2005, Ampex DID "do shit", they WERE undeniably relevant, as every utterance and every image that was recorded on magnetic tape from that SIX DECADE time period owes its very existence to the pioneering research spearheaded and financed by singer Bing Crosby and perfected by the scientists at Ampex; but unfortunately for them, recording tape has all but been replaced by other forms of storage media. But if you were more than 12 years old, you'd understand why people believe that their contribution to technological history deserves to be remembered.
I drive past this sign fairly regularly
I do as well. Actually I drive to the site several times a month. But the reason I go is to drive my wife to the Stanford Health clinic which was built on the property and now is in the process of greatly expanding. Given that her chemo seems to have saved her life I am OK with taking the sign down to get more facility to save others in similar situation.
But if you were more than 12 years old, you'd understand why people believe that their contribution to technological history deserves to be remembered.
WTF does that have to do with the stupid sign? If their contributions to technology were significant then they will stand on their own merits. We don't need a billboard to remind us of that fact long after the company has faded from relevance and memory. There are better ways to remind ourselves of our heritage than preserving irrelevant street signs.
I recall many years ago (I think early 70s) listening to a radio program that announced that the richest actor in Hollywood turned out to be Fred MacMurray. The reason was that he was an early investor in Ampex.
However looking now (wikipedia, etc) I see no mention of this. Can anyone here say if that is true or if I just mis-remembered it somehow?
People don't care what other people care about.
People care about what other people care about enough to PAY for.
How much are YOU willing to pay Stanford University to keep the sign up? Do you have ANY IDEA what the cost of land in Silicon Valley is?
The Ampex operation there is gone. The site is now one of the major multi-spcialized-clinic complexes of the Stanford Hospital. (The sleep clinic, where I had my severe sleep apnea diagnosed and treated, is one of them.) What are they expected to do if they need more room to treat more sick people?
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
"I resisted the temptation to chain myself to the baseâ"I wish Iâ(TM)d thought to bring the necessary equipmentâ"but did pay my respects and take some photos."
ROFL at the lunacy.
From the late 1940s to about 2005, Ampex DID "do shit", they WERE undeniably relevant, as every utterance and every image that was recorded on magnetic tape from that SIX DECADE time period owes its very existence to the pioneering research spearheaded and financed by singer Bing Crosby and perfected by the scientists at Ampex; but unfortunately for them, recording tape has all but been replaced by other forms of storage media. But if you were more than 12 years old, you'd understand why people believe that their contribution to technological history deserves to be remembered.
Not only that, not only the vast legacy of classic songs recorded on 406 and 456 tape, but computers used tape as backing store until the 80s. Digital audio was only viable because of their videotape systems - it was the only medium we had with enough capacity and bandwidth to make it work. And while we have since moved on to better things, none of this would have happened without the intermediate step that Ampex made possible.
I rather doubt we'd have an internet to discuss and argue on without Ampex.
A university in Toronto tore down the historic Sam The Record Man building, and promised to reinstall its beloved sign elsewhere. It took them 8 years, but they finally installed it over a major public square.
Does it make you happy you're so strange?
Historic in that it really was the first big high tech company in the Bay Area that wasn't a government contractor. Also that sign had been prominent along Highway 101 for half a century.
But if you were more than 12 years old, you'd understand why people believe that their contribution to technological history deserves to be remembered.
WTF does that have to do with the stupid sign? If their contributions to technology were significant then they will stand on their own merits. We don't need a billboard to remind us of that fact long after the company has faded from relevance and memory. There are better ways to remind ourselves of our heritage than preserving irrelevant street signs.
Name 3.
From the late 1940s to about 2005, Ampex DID "do shit", they WERE undeniably relevant, as every utterance and every image that was recorded on magnetic tape from that SIX DECADE time period owes its very existence to the pioneering research spearheaded and financed by singer Bing Crosby and perfected by the scientists at Ampex; but unfortunately for them, recording tape has all but been replaced by other forms of storage media. But if you were more than 12 years old, you'd understand why people believe that their contribution to technological history deserves to be remembered.
Not only that, not only the vast legacy of classic songs recorded on 406 and 456 tape, but computers used tape as backing store until the 80s. Digital audio was only viable because of their videotape systems - it was the only medium we had with enough capacity and bandwidth to make it work. And while we have since moved on to better things, none of this would have happened without the intermediate step that Ampex made possible.
I rather doubt we'd have an internet to discuss and argue on without Ampex.
I quite agree.
Heck, DAT tapes and DLP Cartridges (what a joke THE DLP tapes were!) were used as Computer Backups WELL into the 1990s!
Some people just don't get it.
Technically I think Stanford was the most influential about this, and probably Shockley being at Stanford. But Ampex was a big place for engineers that wasn't a defense contractor and it probably made it much more likely to see the area as a viable place for technology, and an alternative to the tech hubs on the east coast.
Up here in LA, where the 101 runs through City of Industry, Tascam had an office and repair center with an enormous sign you could see from the fwy. Several years ago it was changed to advertise a cleaning supply company (while keeping the same shape). Obv reflecting the new tenants of the bldg. Closer to my house is a run-down sign next to a strip mall for a bank that hasn't been there for 20+ yrs. I hope it stays up forever.
Does Stanford University need to pay for the sign to be there? Are they going to build something right on top of it with no possibility of that something being somewhere else?
No clue.
My wife's a historian and we love to look at the old stuff - ghost towns, historic structures, "old roads" where newer highway alignments or freeway bypasses carry the current traffic, etc.
But we realize that it costs to keep this stuff in repair, and that keeping it all around for posterity would mean posterity would have a shortage of resources, because the whole world, including all the valuable and useful stuff, would be locked up and turned into previous generatons' attics.
The Ampex sign was sowing its age - big time - for the last couple decades. With nobody willing to pay for its preservation and restoration - including paying the current owners for taking its value from them - it doesn't get preserved. Sad, but real-world.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way