its internal chronometer:
Posted on 04/15/2006 9:43:24 AM PDT by zeugma
Not computer related but cool. Do y'all know of any general technology ping lists?
Television is just a fad.
The telephone is on its way out.
I agree. So is this computer thingy.
Well Shows is called the tech ping, so it would probablly be his right now..
Cell phones are like CB's....a fad.
Yea but reminds me of the old Main Frame "Refrigerator type" reel to reel data tape units.... what a vacuum column, pain in the ass, to work on
Japan bought one...
This is a little off-topic, but my grandfather ran the RCA factory making radios in the 20's. He said that televisions were about to be produced but the executives at RCA saw the depression coming and cancelled the project. My grandfather was peeved and had words with his boss, not believing a depression was coming.
Here's another interesting tidbit: he got his start working for "Tommy" Edison at the shop in NJ. With only a grammar school education, he was self-taught on building backyard transistor radios.
Hard to believe that those free-wheeling, creative years for this country are gone. Imagine anyone getting hired by an Edison with no diploma today!
Unlikely. An inventor/developer with that education level would have to "deliver" a breakthrough product/development/innovation first, and probably negotiate a lousy deal to boot.
Even in the old days, industry bullied competitors, stole designs, etc.
History is filled with inventors who got raw deals or at the very least ignored by history.
No one used video tape more creatively in those days than Ernie Kovacs.
He was a genius.
RIP
You're right. Grandpa was an inventor and worked on a wide-range of projects. Again, somehow, I never even asked, he worked during WWII on the first radio controlled bomb, the one that helped American pilots in Europe win the war.
What he did tell me that provides insight is this: he said the college boys upstairs at RCA would send down the blueprints for their new inventions. However, it was thanks to him that the blueprints became a reality because what the "bright boys" sent him was often unworkable.
BTW, he never had a hint of bitterness. He loved his work.
LOL. You win the prize for the most appropriate use of the blink tag ever!
Years ago, I saw an interview with a football game director. He claimed he came up with the idea of "instant replay" by
marking a tape at the start of a play, and then rewinding to that mark. At that time, they had to put up
the notice of "Instant Replay!". It's been ubiquitous for so long, it's now expected from every angle after every play.
And speaking of which, I believe the most replayed "event" according to TIVO, was the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction.
At least that the time.
We kept a spray can of that (bad! bad! Bad!) freon nearby. When the playback image started to tear, sometimes it would be due to a microscopic speck of dirt picked up by one of the four heads. We'd spray the freon in there--while on the air--and often it would clear up.
This was before electronic editing, so we had a 2-inch splicing block (must have weighed about 100 pounds) which had a microscope attached. You put the rough-cut ends of the tape in the block and clamped them down. Then you brushed on some magic foo-foo dust fluid on the edges of the two pieces. (Actually, it was a suspension of fine magnetic particles.) This allowed you to see, under the microscope, the synchronizing pulses on the edge of the tape. Using a micrometer drive, you inched, or should I say microned, the tape to and fro until the control tracks from the two ends matched up in phase. Then you cut the tapes and joined them with a thin aluminum-backed splicing tape.
Years later, I got involved somewhat with steam locomotives (the real, full-size kind). In the complexity of operation, general fickleness and finickyness, and amount of upkeep, these early VTRs were kindred spirits.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.