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The Jason Bourne Aesthetic

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Re: The Jason Bourne Aesthetic

#51

Post by VLM »

ginko wrote: post #44
JohnBooty wrote: post #43

Understand that PCs were end-user fixable and upgradeable by accident. The intention was never for you, the person who bought your computer, to be able to pop a new CPU into your Compaq five years later. Standardized, modular parts were always all about the OEMs, who were all trying to build an industry by cloning the IBM PC. They could have a variety of manufacturers making various components and as long as everybod…

>Almost no other category of consumer good works in the modular way that we nerds wish that everything would. One exception I can think of are bicycles.

Hi Fi stereo sound is strongly out of cultural favor, tinny little speakers and 64K mp3 quality means you're conspicuously consuming smartphones, which is more important. However, component hi-fi stereo or 80s era home entertainment systems were a very modular thing in the past. From my wife's point of view its one octopus like appliance, but to mine it was a collection of amp, speakers, and legacy media players.

Re: The Jason Bourne Aesthetic

#52

Post by leonroy »

jevgeni wrote: post #19

I can see the point. My hobby is photography. I love my Nikon D5300 to bits, but after a year of usage two buttons are stuck and the eyecup needs replacing. And then there are people using twin reflex cameras from the 50s and they run like butter...

Having had one of these old cameras I can tell you they are not immune from the ravages of age! They do need a good service periodically!

Re: The Jason Bourne Aesthetic

#53

Post by JustSomeNobody »

triangleman wrote: post #7

Can today's Thinkpads still hang with the best of them? (typed on a recently-upgraded late 2006 MBP)

I use a W530 for work. It's a true beast of a machine. But I cannot stand the way all the plastic flexes. It feels cheap. I had to replace the keyboard the first week I had it due to a defective key (it happens, no big deal), but there's a little plastic strip at the top that was way to easy to bend and so now it's just ... there. reminding me of it's cheapness.

Re: The Jason Bourne Aesthetic

#54

Post by bryanlarsen »

userbinator wrote: post #49
JohnBooty wrote: post #43

Understand that PCs were end-user fixable and upgradeable by accident. The intention was never for you, the person who bought your computer, to be able to pop a new CPU into your Compaq five years later. Standardized, modular parts were always all about the OEMs, who were all trying to build an industry by cloning the IBM PC. They could have a variety of manufacturers making various components and as long as everybod…

"Understand that PCs were end-user fixable and upgradeable by accident. " I think if that were the case, IBM would not have released such complete documentation with the PC, XT, and AT. They could've just as well kept it to themselves, like they started to do with the MCA-based systems (PS/2).

The IBM PC design was a fabulously successful attempt to co-opt the much more accidental S-100 eco system. S-100 software and hardware could be easily ported to the PC, solving the chicken / egg problem inherent in creating a new ecosystem to compete with established ones.

The one mistake they made was assuming they could keep control by controlling the BIOS.

Re: The Jason Bourne Aesthetic

#55

Post by marrs »

VLM wrote: post #51
ginko wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Almost no other category of consumer good works in the modular way that we nerds wish that everything would. One exception I can think of are bicycles.

Hi Fi stereo sound is strongly out of cultural favor, tinny little speakers and 64K mp3 quality means you're conspicuously consuming smartphones, which is more important. However, component hi-fi stereo or 80s era home entertainment systems were a very modular thing in the past. From my wife's point of view its one octopus like appliance, but to mine it was a collection of amp, speakers, and legacy media players.

Can't imagine why you've been down voted for this completely accurate observation.

Re: The Jason Bourne Aesthetic

#56

Post by cujo »

jbl wrote: post #50
ginko wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Almost no other category of consumer good works in the modular way that we nerds wish that everything would. One exception I can think of are bicycles.

Although, even bicycles (at least those designed for racing) are starting to become more and more proprietary. Try mixing and matching Shimano and Campagnolo shifters and derailleurs or using a seatpost from an aerodynamic frame in another one.

Have Compagnolo components ever been compatible with other maker's parts? As far as I know Shimano and SRAM are compatible, and most of the smaller players work in the same way. Compagnolo, AFAIK, is the only outlier here.

As for the seat post, it's these molded carbon frames that seem to be built for short use and then the trash that are problematic in my eyes. They're just wasteful and most of the people buying them are doing it just to buy some time for their various races.

Having gotten in to triathlons a bit lately, I'm constantly annoyed that someone can literally buy gear to make themselves minutes faster, even though our engines may be comparable. I wish the organizing bodies would standardize the equipment for competition.

Re: The Jason Bourne Aesthetic

#57

Post by ghaff »

marrs wrote: post #55
VLM wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi Fi stereo sound is strongly out of cultural favor, tinny little speakers and 64K mp3 quality means you're conspicuously consuming smartphones, which is more important. However, component hi-fi stereo or 80s era home entertainment systems were a very modular thing in the past. From my wife's point of view its one octopus like appliance, but to mine it was a collection of amp, speakers, and legacy media players.

Can't imagine why you've been down voted for this completely accurate observation.

Probably because the observation is accurate but it's mixed in with snark like "conspicuously consuming smartphones." Component systems were certainly modular although I honestly don't know if I were starting over today I'd go with a big multi-speaker stereo system over something like a Sonos.

Re: The Jason Bourne Aesthetic

#58

Post by Cthulhu_ »

VLM wrote: post #51
ginko wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Almost no other category of consumer good works in the modular way that we nerds wish that everything would. One exception I can think of are bicycles.

Hi Fi stereo sound is strongly out of cultural favor, tinny little speakers and 64K mp3 quality means you're conspicuously consuming smartphones, which is more important. However, component hi-fi stereo or 80s era home entertainment systems were a very modular thing in the past. From my wife's point of view its one octopus like appliance, but to mine it was a collection of amp, speakers, and legacy media players.

I remember seeing a vintage studio recorder at one point; the manual it came with included all of the schematics of the electrics, so that you could make your own replacement parts. That's some future proofing right there - the device's creator (probably Philips) knew they wouldn't last forever, while their device probably would. It did cost a fortune back when though, I have to add.

Re: The Jason Bourne Aesthetic

#59

Post by eitally »

cujo wrote: post #56
jbl wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Although, even bicycles (at least those designed for racing) are starting to become more and more proprietary. Try mixing and matching Shimano and Campagnolo shifters and derailleurs or using a seatpost from an aerodynamic frame in another one.

Have Compagnolo components ever been compatible with other maker's parts? As far as I know Shimano and SRAM are compatible, and most of the smaller players work in the same way. Compagnolo, AFAIK, is the only outlier here. As for the seat post, it's these molded carbon frames that seem to be built for short use and then the trash that are problematic in my eyes. They're just wasteful and most of the people buying the…

The flip side to this (triathlon gear) is ITU draft legal racing, where it's basically like a criterion and requires the same UCI compliant bike setups as a road race would. This solves the problem in one way but creates a new one. Take a look at the world standings (for women, especially). Gwen Jorgensen is a beast, for sure, but she wins because she's a ridiculously strong runner who managed to get her swim good enough so she could hang with the leaders. On the bike she just has to ride with the pack. ... then, like Mirinda Carfrae in Ironman, leaves everyone in her dust on the run. I'm not sure this is fairer or not.

Re: The Jason Bourne Aesthetic

#60

Post by legulere »

Modularity has advantages (repairability, upgradability, switching out manufacturers) and also disadvantages (cost, design constraints).

The way I'm seeing it technological advance is changing how big those are. I still remember how soldered on cpus were seen as a problem with laptops. I don't know anyone who ever upgraded their cpu (might be that it was more common earlier). Laptop batteries today are way better than what they used to be. They used to hold maybe 2 or 3 years before having unusable usage times. The development in RAM is stagnating.

And of course Apple now is so big that they can just dictate proprietary connectors.

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