Prof George said: “We’ve got a lost generation that has grown up with factory electronics that just work all of the time.
“All of these things in our home do seem to work most of the time and because they don’t break we just get used to them. They have almost become like Black Boxes which never die. And when they do we throw them away and buy something new.
“But there is now a big maker community who are thinking hard about what we do with all of these gadgets. They are remaking and repurposing things.
“I talked to someone who had used some LEDs on his bike so that he could put up a message as he was cycling.”
12 comments:
Do young people engage in any hobbies anymore? All I ever see them doing is
gaming or texting.
They seem to have problems thinking, too.
It wasn't particularly character building to darn socks or patch kettles. Does anyone remember having their shoes resoled. They were stiff and unfcomfortable,worse than when they were new......The world is a better place now than when we were all frugal and self reliant.
I think youngsters get a bad rap. From what I see they're incredibly curious, and about things you have no idea.
Just yesterday I was looking at sous vide and wondering why so many received bad reviews. What went wrong? Why didn't you simply fix it? Was it impossible? What is so hard about controlling temperature and creating a current in water? It all seems so easy.
Sure enough, on YouTube there were all sorts of do-it-yourself sous vide apparatuses using such things as "project boxes" the likes of which I've not encountered. But there they are. One guy got the temperature control thing down but failed to provide for water circulation. An oversight, I suppose. His steak turned out blotchy but no less delicious. He didn't grasp the whole idea.
Extravagant Christmas lights set to music are another handy example.
Jail breaking ipods and phones is another example.
Computer hacking another.
My nephew, a dummkopf by any measure has in intense interest in electronics that comes naturally from wanting to get his grubby little mitts on anything within reach. He's become an automotive mechanic and quite a good one besides. If you met him you'd think he's a perfect idiot devoid of social grace, and yet he is not. Below the surface he is quite inquisitive and quite able besides.
When I speak with young people I find they are actually attentive and interested and participative. We find each other interesting. If even a little odd.
Did I mention I was talking about plants. About a specific philodendron right there in the waiting room by a window. I admired its foliage, the way the leaves come straight up like a dagger, then a spear, as a rocket straight out of the dirt and into a new reality, defying gravity aggressively thrusting upward and claiming its space and unraveling in appearance to a rocket ship and unfolding gracefully extending flatly to collect light and use it.
Oops. Too long.
The young man laughed at my description. Then stood up from his chair and walked over to the plant and peered inside its center to see it for himself. That's curiosity.
Another time I spoke to a similar group of captive listeners and mentioned legislation relating to smells. Probably the Srirachi incident. I gave a few examples of unpleasant smells that define the character of a a place, the stock yards at rodeo time, the Purina pet food factory, a noodle factory in Japan for examples. To my surprise the group of strangers were sufficiently interested to agree the legislation was taking things too far in actually damaging their own economy by being such pricks and they generated their own examples of things I hadn't thought of, places I was unfamiliar, in Grand Junction, and other places. They were altogether surprisingly interested and engaging when they had no real reason to be.
Conversely, a girlfriend of mine some 10 years my senior was actually fearful of taking apart her vacuum cleaner to discover a problem.
"What are you looking for?"
"Ideally I see a wire disengaged and an obvious spot for a wire to be, the distance the length of the wire. Sort of saying, "Hellos, I shouild go here." "
"Oh."
Lo, and behold, a loose wire dangling in space, and an obvious receptacle for a wire, the distance of the wire.
She was amazed. And completely uncurious. Smart as she was, she felt women are incapable of such analytical thinking. All that belongs to male realm. And she considered herself feminist.
The same thing with aligning her headlights. They were badly out of whack. At night we parked her car in front of a wall an turned on the lights. I adjusted the screws holding the lights until the beams adjusted to something reasonable. No computers involved. No special equipment necessary. Never did any such thing before but figured it out on the spot. Smart as she was, and I mean SMART!, she could not figure something out simple as that. Due not to stupidity, rather, due to incuriosity based on her own expectations. Good Lord, she was a basket case of misplaced expectations, even negative expectations like, "What? I'm a woman! I'm not supposed to consider such things."
I think that knowing me changed her a bit. We argued a lot. We didn't last.
Indeed.
(And, also, this is not new "news." Not in any part, including the Maker movement reference.)
Also: factory electronics work all the time? LOL. The hell they do. Heh. Dead giveaway, there.
Build a clothesline pulley from those old Sherman tank thrust bearings.
Keep bulbs in all the light sockets lest the electricity leak out.
A James Thurber example of grandmother-thinking.
Ignore any home repair article that starts with "Remove roof and temporarily set aside."
Women do not like to think about how things work, so they don't.
They like social workings.
"You're not going out dressed like that, are you?"
Now now, rhhardian, don't generalize :-)
In our household, we have two divisions of repair and fix-its. I'm the electronic, technical go to for fixing and installing equipment, fixing computers, changing video cards and other components, wi fi set ups and repairing small appliances and assisting with some simple automotive maintenance tasks. Because my close up vision is really good (can't see squat in the distance, but I can see how many angels are dancing on the head of a pin)and my fingers are little, I tend to get the tasks that require fine motor skills. PLUS ....I read the instructions first before assembly and keep the manuals for the appliances that generally have schematics. LOL
Dumbplumber is in charge of the more MANLY things requiring construction knowledge, big tools, strength, welding, soldering, lumber cutting, climbing on ladders (which I have a phobia about) etc.
We both have the mindset that was handed down from our grandparents who survived the Depression.
Better not throw that whoosit or thingamabob away because we might need it some day. It could be useful
Hence the cans of screws and nails. Copper parts, copper and metal sheeting, old cast iron pipe, electrical wire, old tin roofing, wooden sash hung windows. You name it we probably got it. AND----we have used that stuff in some sort of a repair or art projects for the yard. The fountain that Dumbplumber is making out of old rusty plow discs, lava rocks and copper piping will be looking good come spring.
But...to generalize, it really does seem that many people just don't have the skills or desire to repair things and would rather throw away and get new.
Planned obsolescence is also built into the equation.
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