A friend of mine at work started a conversation on "old digital clocks" today. The type of "early" digital clocks, years ago, that had "plates" with the numbers printed on them. Every hour they would click or clack as the plate flipped over and the new number came to view.
We chuckled about that for a while, and even reminded each other about the rotary dial that was used to show the seconds. And how the motor would grind away as the dial constantly turned.
He got this started by talking about a "Barbie Learn to Tell Time Clock" he bought for a neice. But that is another story.
We also discussed the issues of transitioning from even "older" analog faced watches to the true digital age. I had to agree with him that there was a perspective shift in reading digital. With the analog face, there was a round dial face and you got a "visual feel" for the time by the position of the hands. You didn't even have to read the time, you could get a reference to "when" things were in the world just by where the hands were.
The sterile display of digital gives no visual reference to the "placement" of time. The display "5:20" tells you the time, but a visual of the "minute hand" and the "hour hand" SHOWS you that there is more than half of an hour left to that hour. (Following with me so far?)
During this "walk down memory lane" one of the younger people listening in on it says, "You mean you had alarm clocks that you had to read and then calculate the time in hours and minutes?"
Does this make anyone else feel like a fossil? I felt like saying, "Yes. And my old calculator was a series of colored beads on wires, and we slid them back and forth to do the math for our time. Here's your sign!"
Kids! They just won't let you drown them anymore. Hurumph.
Oh, thanks - just fossilize me!
Posted by: bogie | August 29, 2003 at 05:26 AM
Are you forgetting those of us who had to estimate the amount of sand in the bottom of the hourglass in order to figure the passage of time and who could only guess at the time of day when it was cloudy?
Posted by: Cop Car | August 29, 2003 at 06:25 AM
Or those of us who need sunshine to make our sun dials work??
Posted by: Buffy | August 31, 2003 at 12:05 AM
At night you use a flashlight to make the sundial work. Don't laugh, it works if you know what you're doing.
Posted by: Wichi Dude | August 31, 2003 at 01:11 AM