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What "old" technologies do we still use today?

post #1 of 41
10/18/09 at 7:55pm
Thread Starter 
I'm planning on doing an engineering research project on reinventing a common electronic appliance that has not changed for a long time. Since I'd need to complete it in two years, I felt this would be much easier than creating a new type of invention. Similar to what Dyson has done with the fan, vacuum cleaner, and hand dryer, I want to reinvent a long unchanged electronic device, but I can't think of any. Any suggestions on something common that hasn't changed for more than half a decade? If I find it appealing, I'll do my research project on it. I'd prefer it be more mechanical than technological.

Innovative new reinventions (these are already invented):
1. Electronic E-book that sets braile on the fly for blind readers.
2. IEMs!(who knew?)
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post #2 of 41
10/18/09 at 9:00pm
Paper, thousands of years old, and it's not changed a bit.
Cameras, the concept of lens, shutter and a sheet of chemical/sensor after it has been the same since 1800's
Car engine, that is still the same.
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post #3 of 41
10/18/09 at 9:50pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by raymondlin View Post
Paper, thousands of years old, and it's not changed a bit.
Cameras, the concept of lens, shutter and a sheet of chemical/sensor after it has been the same since 1800's
Car engine, that is still the same.
I wonder though, does Paper really need reinventing? What can you really do it that has not already been done? Make it a gas and put it in an aerogel? Braille ink?

For Cameras, THIS was developed. I was thinking about doing an silicon-esque lens that can be modified at will and use ANY aperture, by building it with muscle wire.

As for the car engine, is that really true? That would be a nice research project.
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post #4 of 41
10/18/09 at 10:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by blackbird View Post
As for the car engine, is that really true? That would be a nice research project.
REALLY depends on what his definition of a "car engine" is. There have been lots of different machines which have propelled cars.
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post #5 of 41
10/18/09 at 10:17pm
Tubes!
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post #6 of 41
10/18/09 at 10:53pm
X2 on tubes. They are still widely used - even commercially. Research on them stopped around the mid-1960s. Tubes have never benefitted from computer modelling, the vastly improved metallurgy we have today nor modern manufacturing methods.

I might argue about Dyson, as well. Especially that fan. The best fans ever made were, and still are, the single-bearing models by Emerson. The best ones were made from the early twenties through the early fifties. I've seen ones left outside for a couple of decades run with a fresh oiling. As for efficiency, the models with the big capacitors draw about as much power as a 25W lightbulb. I've used them almost exclusively for the past ten or so years and nothing betters them for reliability, efficiency and durability. They don't throw oil, either.

If anything, it would be better to resurrect some of the products built before planned obsolescence took hold after WW II. Old gear that is designed to be serviced instead of being replaced is inherently better than what we have today.

Personally, I'd look into applying modern manufacturing techniques to designs that were designed to last a lifetime. Which is one reason I'm bonkers about old tube gear. Caps and resistors back in the day weren't anywhere as good as they are now. So when you update a classic piece with modern parts, you have a bulletproof piece of gear.
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post #7 of 41
10/18/09 at 10:58pm
Shoes you tie. Belts you buckle. I guess that velcro could be called the future for both of them.

Spoons, knives, and forks are basically unchanged. 'Sporks' hardly made it.
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post #8 of 41
10/18/09 at 11:00pm
Balanced Armature technology for sound. It's 70-80 years old.

Zips as well.
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post #9 of 41
10/18/09 at 11:20pm
Radio....
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post #10 of 41
10/18/09 at 11:35pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Erik View Post
X2 on tubes. They are still widely used - even commercially. Research on them stopped around the mid-1960s. Tubes have never benefited from computer modeling, the vastly improved metallurgy we have today nor modern manufacturing methods.

I might argue about Dyson, as well. Especially that fan. The best fans ever made were, and still are, the single-bearing models by Emerson. The best ones were made from the early twenties through the early fifties. I've seen ones left outside for a couple of decades run with a fresh oiling. As for efficiency, the models with the big capacitors draw about as much power as a 25W lightbulb. I've used them almost exclusively for the past ten or so years and nothing betters them for reliability, efficiency and durability. They don't throw oil, either.

If anything, it would be better to resurrect some of the products built before planned obsolescence took hold after WW II. Old gear that is designed to be serviced instead of being replaced is inherently better than what we have today.

Personally, I'd look into applying modern manufacturing techniques to designs that were designed to last a lifetime. Which is one reason I'm bonkers about old tube gear. Caps and resistors back in the day weren't anywhere as good as they are now. So when you update a classic piece with modern parts, you have a bulletproof piece of gear.
Well, I guess remanufacturing is also "redesigning", since using an old design would probably "increase" the efficiency and performance of an electronic or mechanic mechanism. Also, for the lack of better language, What the hell are tubes? At first I thought that was a joke.

Preferably, I'd like to do something that is a safety hazard, or seriously needs to be redesigned because of planned obsolescence, poor performance, or high cost(Any suggestions?). Also, most likely i'd be more interested if it was somewhat based on electronics. That zipper redesign sounds like it would be useless, because its not like it is inefficient. I don't want to do things that are simply a novelty, like expanding pillows. Maybe Irons, Hair Dryers?

It may be helpful to note I go to the Bronx High School of Science.
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post #11 of 41
10/18/09 at 11:42pm
POTS! Plain old telephone service!
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post #12 of 41
10/19/09 at 12:05am
Almost any musical instrument. Have any of them changed in the past 100 years or so?
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post #13 of 41
10/19/09 at 1:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by blackbird View Post
Also, for the lack of better language, What the hell are tubes? At first I thought that was a joke.
After a bit of headscratching myself (it's been a really long nightshift), I think they mean vacuum tubes, as in what goes in the likes of a Darkvoice 3322.

How about a lawn mower, invented in 1830 and with petrol engines since the 1890s.
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post #14 of 41
10/19/09 at 2:06am
How about the electric blanket? Myself, I would skip the reinventing and concentrate on a superconductor that maintains zero resistance no matter the temperature.
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post #15 of 41
10/19/09 at 2:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by blackbird View Post
Also, for the lack of better language, What the hell are tubes? At first I thought that was a joke.
Tubes, or thermionic valves, were electronic components used widely before the advent of transistors. They pass current one way across a vacuum, and they sound wonderful.
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