[krmathis]

+1 on vacuum tubes (and I guess turntables)

 

[Arlekiin]

I have no idea what is the state of vacuum tubes? I have read that they still produce them for industrial use? In powerplants and high-power radars and radio equipment? But as far as consumer electronics?
In what state is vacuum tube production?

 

[fraseyboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arlekiin /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have no idea what is the state of vacuum tubes? I have read that they still produce them for industrial use? In powerplants and high-power radars and radio equipment? But as far as consumer electronics? In what state is vacuum tube production?

Well my Little Dot MK2 came with tubes and they must have been made somewhere

I'm pretty sure they're not pc any more since they probably use heaps of electricity.

 

[Skylab]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arlekiin /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have no idea what is the state of vacuum tubes? I have read that they still produce them for industrial use? In powerplants and high-power radars and radio equipment? But as far as consumer electronics? In what state is vacuum tube production?

Current vacuum tubes are mostly made in China and Russia, for a variety of applications, although there are a very few being made in the US and the UK for audio applications only.

One of the largest consumers of vacuum tubes are users of guitar amps - this is a much larger user base than home audio, although there are tubes produced just for the home audio market.

Of course, there is also a huge trade of NOS tubes, and there are lots and lots of NOS tubes still available. I just ran across an auction for qty. 1000 of the Mullard CV4010/6AK5, which are used by the LD amps - this is just one example.

 

[Spareribs]

The Western Eletric 202 telephone from the 1930's is easy to find on ebay and this phone is built to last forever. I paid $300 for the phone from ebay and it arrived in perfect restored condition with new cloth cables and repainted. Awesome phone and so beautiful too. If set on a nice wooden table, it also functions as a work of art too.

The Westclox Moonbeam is a 1950's bedroom clock and I have this in my room. I paid $25 on ebay and it keeps accurate time. It does have a minor hum but I was told that it's normal for these types of clocks and it's not a problem for me. Great clock and will probably last a long time.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazarus Short /img/forum/go_quote.gif A backstory on gasoline vs alcohol: Always remember that there is the reason-that-is-given, and then there is the real reason. In 1919 Prohibition came in with a lot of propaganda and a Constitutional amendment. It was called the Great Experiment, an experiment in public morals. Who could speak against that? However, was it just coincidence that the auto/oil industry was just seriously gearing up at that time? Further, was it just coincidence that by 1933, when prohibition ended, that the auto/oil industry had become entrenched and unassailable? The sheer timing impels me to connect the dots, and guess that the whole thing was a complex plot to nip the fuel alcohol industry in the bud. After the Arab Oil Embargo, another fuel alcohol startup was attempted, but that was foiled too. Fuel alcohol is allowed, but only as an additive to gasoline, so it's basically window dressing. It's really not too different from the demonization of hemp, as funded by the cotton industry.

Yes. The same folks also strangled public transportation in Los Angeles.

As much as LA has a rep for horrendous traffic, few realize that the sprawling suburbs were originally planned around a light rail line, the Pacific Electric Red Cars. Found a pic:

If you look at an old Red Car map, it almost makes you want to cry. If the system was still there, it looks like it was designed to solve all of the major traffic problems of 2009, but then you'll notice that the map was from 1932.

Even more frustrating, quite a few of the old Red Car rights-of-way still exist. If the system were reinstalled, traffic problems would end and no one would need to drive if they didn't want to.

Of course, common sense solutions are never possible. Even the existing light rail/subway (which I am a fan of) has a spur at one station for connection to LAX. Of course, the spur is totally unused, though it would kill traffic around LAX and make getting to the airport easier for everyone.

Anyhow, I think it would be a good idea to bring back a 19th century approach to public transportation. We've had the technology, then abandoned it. It's time for it to come back.

 

[Jeff E]

Quote:

Old technologies which deserve attention and usage

The irony is that sufficiently old technologies that remain in widespread use are no longer viewed as "technology". At the time of their introduction the pencil, the chair and paper certainly were technological advances. Who currently thinks of them as technology?

 

[Bojamijams]

Old technology that deserves usage? Headphones.

 

[Lazarus Short]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes. The same folks also strangled public transportation in Los Angeles. As much as LA has a rep for horrendous traffic, few realize that the sprawling suburbs were originally planned around a light rail line, the Pacific Electric Red Cars. Found a pic: If you look at an old Red Car map, it almost makes you want to cry. If the system was still there, it looks like it was designed to solve all of the major traffic problems of 2009, but then you'll notice that the map was from 1932. Even more frustrating, quite a few of the old Red Car rights-of-way still exist. If the system were reinstalled, traffic problems would end and no one would need to drive if they didn't want to. Of course, common sense solutions are never possible. Even the existing light rail/subway (which I am a fan of) has a spur at one station for connection to LAX. Of course, the spur is totally unused, though it would kill traffic around LAX and make getting to the airport easier for everyone. Anyhow, I think it would be a good idea to bring back a 19th century approach to public transportation. We've had the technology, then abandoned it. It's time for it to come back.

Well said, Uncle Erik! The same thing happened here in Kansas City, as the old Interurban electrics which once connected KC with St Joseph, Excelsior Springs, Johnson County, etc, closed down in the early thirties. When I was a kid, the old road beds were still easy to see. In the early 1950's, the downtown streetcars were closed down, and I barely remember them. Sadly, people today would think, if given the opportunity: "But...I'll be on foot when I get there - horrors!"

 

[billybob_jcv]

Here's a great site to see how many times plans have been proposed and abandoned for improving Los Angeles transit. I'm a Metrolink rider and even with the uncomfortable seats on long rides, it is still better than driving - as long as you have a station near where you are trying to go.

Check out the suspended monorail concept proposed back in 1954!



Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes. The same folks also strangled public transportation in Los Angeles. As much as LA has a rep for horrendous traffic, few realize that the sprawling suburbs were originally planned around a light rail line, the Pacific Electric Red Cars. Found a pic: If you look at an old Red Car map, it almost makes you want to cry. If the system was still there, it looks like it was designed to solve all of the major traffic problems of 2009, but then you'll notice that the map was from 1932. Even more frustrating, quite a few of the old Red Car rights-of-way still exist. If the system were reinstalled, traffic problems would end and no one would need to drive if they didn't want to. Of course, common sense solutions are never possible. Even the existing light rail/subway (which I am a fan of) has a spur at one station for connection to LAX. Of course, the spur is totally unused, though it would kill traffic around LAX and make getting to the airport easier for everyone. Anyhow, I think it would be a good idea to bring back a 19th century approach to public transportation. We've had the technology, then abandoned it. It's time for it to come back.

 

[billybob_jcv]

The problem with the bicycle is that it forces the population to live within a fairly small distance to their jobs. That just isn't going to work in cities like Los Angeles unless there is a radical change to the entire city. Nor does it work in cities like San Francisco - unless everyone has legs & lungs like Lance Armstrong.

To the poster that said that the hunter-gather lifestyle was self-sustaining for hundreds of millions of years - that's true, but the individual life-span was also *very* short, and for that brief life, every minute of every day was spent on survival. There wasn't much time left over for art, music, sports, politics, charities or social causes. It wasn't until technology allowed the shift to a more agrarian society that our ancestors starting seeing some available free time.

I would like to see simpler cars with less electronics. However I would also like to see fuel cells replace internal combustion engines. Produces electricity with the byproduct of clean water!

 

[marvin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazarus Short /img/forum/go_quote.gif A backstory on gasoline vs alcohol: Always remember that there is the reason-that-is-given, and then there is the real reason. In 1919 Prohibition came in with a lot of propaganda and a Constitutional amendment. It was called the Great Experiment, an experiment in public morals. Who could speak against that? However, was it just coincidence that the auto/oil industry was just seriously gearing up at that time? Further, was it just coincidence that by 1933, when prohibition ended, that the auto/oil industry had become entrenched and unassailable? The sheer timing impels me to connect the dots, and guess that the whole thing was a complex plot to nip the fuel alcohol industry in the bud. After the Arab Oil Embargo, another fuel alcohol startup was attempted, but that was foiled too. Fuel alcohol is allowed, but only as an additive to gasoline, so it's basically window dressing.

That theory doesn't work out for a few reasons.

Europe did not have the same social conditions that lead to prohibition in the US. Rather, there was rather intense promotion of ethanol as a fuel source through subsidies and mandates in Europe during early 1900's. They also discontinued serious use of ethanol as a fuel source around the time the US did after it became cost ineffective in the late '30s.

That wasn't the end of the ethanol as fuel industry in the US though. WWII rolled around and ethanol-gasoline blends came back into the picture to stretch the limited gasoline supply for the war effort. That died out soon after the war ended though as cheap gasoline significantly undercut ethanol until the '70s rolled around. Same for the ethanol boom in the '80s. High oil prices due to limited supplies encouraged ethanol production, promoted oil exploration, and increased the use of alternate energy sources (nukes, natural gas). Increased oil production from non-OPEC members and alternate energy sources killed off (profitable) ethanol production at the same time that they broke OPEC's stranglehold on the energy market. Unprofitable ethanol production was kept staggering along with government subsidies to corn growers.

And really, it's a a bit of a stretch to say that the government 'allows' fuel alcohol. Lately, they've been doing everything in their power to subsidize and mandate its use regardless of cost effectiveness in order to prop up corn producers. And judging by the economic health of ethanol producers, they're still failing.

 

[billybob_jcv]

I think the bottom line with Ethanol is that it's more profitable to use corn to make cheetos and feed cows than it is to make it into Ethanol.

 

[Spareribs]

The mortar and pestle is old and I use it to gring my spices since I have been experimenting with Indian cooking. I used to have an electric spice grinder but it died within a couple weeks. So now, I love the mortar and pestle and it looks beautiful too like a work of art.

 

[Spareribs]

You can also use a mortar and pestle to chop up your walnuts to garnish your ice cream sundae. Great technology as well.