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To: Drew68

Interesting how many technologies that dominated the 20th century are dying or have died in front of our eyes: film photography, analog audio recordings, land-line telephones. Lots of changes, mostly for the good.


12 posted on 05/25/2006 10:19:22 AM PDT by AnotherUnixGeek
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To: AnotherUnixGeek
Interesting how many technologies that dominated the 20th century are dying or have died in front of our eyes: film photography, analog audio recordings, land-line telephones. Lots of changes, mostly for the good.

And it is happening so fast! The last time I had a land-line telephone was specifically so that I could use dial-up internet service. Now I don't even have that. I just can't foresee a need for a land-line phone anymore.

AS far as the other technologies you mentioned, I think of the music and movie industries. People can already record studio quality music in their bedrooms with inexpensive software and recording equipment. Soon, people will be making studio-quality, feature-length films complete with high-tech special effects and downloading them on the internet for people to burn onto a dvd.

The entertainment industry will need to be radically overhauled to deal with these new challenges to their hegemony.

20 posted on 05/25/2006 10:26:58 AM PDT by Drew68
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To: AnotherUnixGeek
I'm not so sure it's mostly for the good.

Many of the younger folk don't appreciate basic performance quality; they would rather have speed and gizmos instead.

I could be nuts, but I think that although my old 78 records sound scratchier, they still sound better in other ways than do my CDs.

And people who talk to me on cell phones or portable phones are most annoying, because their signal fades in and out and is often not the clearest.

I haven't experienced digital photography yet, so I cannot comment on that.

Speaking of land-line phones, for the quality of basic feature--ruggedness, sound quality, efficient and practical use--no one's yet beat the old Western Electrics Phones. They remain the best.

They even had concave faces on their buttons to ensure more accurate dialing, unlike most crap being sold today, which have convex buttons (probably only because they look good to the moron public).

And where there's the option on a radio, I always switch-off stereo reception. I never saw the point to stereo to begin with, and stereo reception is often not as clear as mono.

47 posted on 05/25/2006 11:51:14 AM PDT by Age of Reason
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