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Mechanical Watch

ciechanow.ski

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Re: Mechanical Watch

#21

Post by causi »

aliljet wrote: post #4

This may not be the most valuable comment, but my goodness, the quality of this writeup and it's interactive descriptions of complex mechanical components AND their interactions is radically impressive. The treatment of complex topics in deeply visual and partially interactive ways, for me at least, is a remarkably helpful way to learn.

True multimedia is a lost art. We had it back in the 90s when software came on discs and it was a high-density, polished product that combined text, audio, video, and interactive elements on the same page. The internet taking over turned everything back into text, and then as bandwidth grew the only thing we thought to use it on was higher and higher bitrate video.

When I was a kid I thought the future was going to be fully-integrated data. Like I would be able to pause a movie and click on anything I was seeing to get more information. Click an actor, get his bio and interviews about the movie and bloopers. Click a vehicle and get its model. Click a special effect and see how it was done or an animal and learn about that animal. Imagine watching Lord of the Rings and being able to instantly read the original lore of any object, location, or character just by clicking/tapping it. Hell, even the smallest things can radically change your experience. Imagine if Wikipedia articles had appropriate background music. I guess there's just no market.

Re: Mechanical Watch

#26

Post by criddell »

99_00 wrote: post #14

How difficult is it to bootstrap the ability to manufacture mechanical watch parts? It was only in 2017 that China joined the elite club of countries capable of making ballpoint pens. Is it that hard? https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/01/18...

That depends on how many parts you want to make and to what tolerances.

https://www.gearpatrol.com/watches/a636135/greubel-forsey-ha...

Re: Mechanical Watch

#29

Post by snemvalts »

criddell wrote: post #17
_fat_santa wrote: post #2

There's something magical about mechanical watches. Maybe it's just knowing that you have this perpetually winding machine on your hand (in the case of "automatic" mechanical watches). Also knowing that the thing will last forever, take care of it and it will probably outlive you. Can't say that about an Apple Watch. If you want a good mechanical watch that won't break the bank I suggest picking up a Seiko SKX (thoug…

A mechanical watch needs regular service which is usually just cleaning, lubricating, replacing seals and springs. Eventually it will need replacement parts and that is probably the end of life for the watch. There are a some brands that will service every watch they've ever made, fabricating new parts as needed. Few of us can afford one of those.

A solar quartz fits this more. Those don't even require movement or correcting as often as with mechanical watches. Just light

Re: Mechanical Watch

#30

Post by remarkEon »

aliljet wrote: post #4

This may not be the most valuable comment, but my goodness, the quality of this writeup and it's interactive descriptions of complex mechanical components AND their interactions is radically impressive. The treatment of complex topics in deeply visual and partially interactive ways, for me at least, is a remarkably helpful way to learn.

1000%.

Sent this to my dad, and can't wait to talk this weekend. When I was a kid we would tinker around with watches in the basement but, alas, I had different interests and never really got around to truly understanding these mechanisms. I don't really know web development beyond setting up basic pages, but how the CAD was integrated into this is wonderful and I'd love to see more posts going through things like human joints or ICE, or maybe weapons ... other things where we kind of intuitively grasp how they work, but don't know the details. This entire blog seems to do a lot of that. So cool.

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