The Random Comic Strip

The Random Comic Strip

Words to live by...

"How beautiful it is to do nothing, and to rest afterward."

[Spanish Proverb]

Ius luxuriae publice datum est

(The right to looseness has been officially given)

"Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders," wrote Ludwig von Mises, "no one is relieved of his share of responsibility by others. And no one can find a safe way for himself if society is sweeping towards destruction. Therefore everyone, in his own interest, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle."

Apparently, the crossword puzzle that disappeared from the blog, came back.


Friday, March 9, 2012

On clocks and change


As I wander through the internet and, especially, Google News I often find ideas for blog posts. Today (Thursday) was no exception.  I came across an article about a clock repairman [link].

Clocks are interesting things... and useful. I have had a long love-hate relationship with them. A necessary evil, I think. Human beings are fascinated by time, I suppose, since the beginning of... well, time. Maybe not that long since the beginning of time supposedly dates from  shortly after the (theoretical) Big Bang and humans have only been around a couple of million years or so and timekeeping only within the last 3000 or 4000 years. I mean timekeeping in terms of hours, not days. I am sure methods for tracking days goes well back into the the Stone Age.

Water clocks, sun dials, various devices that use the flow of sand all preceded the mechanical clocks which provided more and more accuracy in time measurement. Accuracy in time measurement is important for more than getting to work on time. It is vital in navigation, for instance, and that is probably what drove most the advancements in timekeeping... once the concept of navigating by the stars was invented.



The article spoke of repairing mechanical clocks, mostly antiques. I grew up before battery operated and digital clocks were popular. We wound the clocks in our house. The heavy clock with chimes that would have sat on the mantle (if we had had a fireplace) but sat on a chest of drawers instead, the alarm clock in my parents' bedroom, the "grandfather" clock in the upstairs hallway. All had to be wound, some more than once a day. My father took care of these, as I recall.

Wrist watches had to be wound, also. A difficult thing to do with that tiny stem and knob.

Me? I ignored clocks. My parents made sure I was up and dressed in time for school, made sure I arrived on time to wherever I was supposed to be, and generally were my timekeepers. Otherwise, I just paid attention to where the sun was in the sky and the length of shadows on the ground.

I never wore a wrist watch for more than a few days at a time. Hated them. Still do. I still don't wear one. I won't wear one. Don't need them. Plenty of other people wear them and I have a fairly accurate clock in my car and there are clocks in stores and offices and on my computer and my cell phone. With so many places to get the time from, why do I need something on my wrist?

I don't think I wore a watch in the entire time I was in the Navy (clocks were everywhere on board ship and all the various buildings ashore) nor during my 34 years with the Bell System.

There is a line in the article that caught my fancy:

They don't know that these machines need periodic cleaning and oiling, and their children can't always read an analog dial.

When my son was about 5 or 6, he and his friend Chris were about to leave for the friend's house. I wanted him back by 5 PM and told him.

I asked him to keep an eye on the clock but he said didn't know how to read one.That's when Chris piped up and said he knew how to tell time. I said, "Really? What time is it now?" and pointed at the wall clock in the kitchen.

"Oh, I can't tell time on one of those. Just on the ones with the numbers that light up," Chris responded.



And then I came across an interesting ZDNet article about the iPad and the evolution of portable computing. Is the tablet the battery powered digital clock of the computing industry? PC upgrade cycle

Life is change, is it not?

7 comments:

Torggil said...

In answer to your query, I'd actually argue the cellphone is.  But then there are those that may claim that the tablet is the future of the phone.  I think its the other way around.

I remember actually being taught in school how to read an analog clock, also watching Sesame St. segments on it when I was kid.  Not that it mattered though.  My father used to repair the old clocks for a living, and he is still good at it.

Manofroma said...

Interesting that scientists now think time does not exist.

Douglas4517 said...

 The smart phone could be the future but won't be. Main reason is size of display. Eyesight does not improve with age, it deteriorates. In my opinion, tablets will eventually replace laptops. Desktops will remain a viable computing product well into the future.

Douglas4517 said...

 Are you speaking of this: http://discovermagazine.com/2007/jun/in-no-time

Seems to me they are having a problem resolving contradictions in our current understanding of time and the physical realities we are now able to observe. Our concept of time is rather old and primitive. But I do not think time itself does not exist. Rather, I see time as an essential dimension without which nothing actually exists.

Douglas4517 said...

 Are you speaking of this: http://discovermagazine.com/20...

Seems to me they are having a problem resolving contradictions in our
current understanding of time and the physical realities we are now
able to observe. Our concept of time is rather old and primitive. But I
do not think time itself does not exist. Rather, I see time as an
essential dimension without which nothing actually exists.

Torggil said...

It comes down to portability, the phone has the tablet beat.  Hard to stick a tablet in your pocket.

Douglas4517 said...

 If it comes down to portability then the smart phone has the advantage. I am not sure that portability is that important. At least, not to the extent that a 4" screen will be overcome. Perhaps the 7" tablet format will be the reasonable compromise.