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> Try taking apart a modern cellphone or a laptop computer. > Assuming you can even figure out how to pry it open, the > inside is as mysterious and inscrutab
by socket0 11y ago
> Try taking apart a modern cellphone or a laptop computer.
> Assuming you can even figure out how to pry it open, the
> inside is as mysterious and inscrutable as the outside.
I remember taking apart old radios as a child in the 70s, marvelling at the colourful transistors and resistors. But I had no way of knowing what exactly these were, and even less of a clue as to how it all worked. So sure, it's hard to intuit how a smartphone or a computer works just by looking at the insides. But today's budding scientists have the world's knowledge at their fingertips, and will be able to find diagrams and schematics for a lot of devices, and a large number of sites explaining what every component is and how it works. You don't raise scientists, you give them interesting toys to play with, and they simply raise themselves.
- adaml_623 11y agoI disagree a little bit with you. One clock radio I pulled apart had a mechanical time display and while the radio was indeed an inscrutable PCB covered in components it matched the level of complexity I expected to see. Nowadays the complexity is hidden under a smooth patch of black plastic that can have smart phone levels of complexity internally and no hint at the that from the outside. Obviously it's swings and roundabouts since you can indeed find a wealth of information online about any of these subjects but sometimes it feels like it's harder to kindle the initial fire of curiosity.
- TeMPOraL 11y agoICs are literal magic black boxes. The same-looking square can be the brain of a device, a stone that knows where it is, a full-blown radar[0], or just two capacitors and an op amp. And you can't tell by just looking at it; the only visual difference is in the magic runes written on the dark stone. [0] - https://www.google.com/atap/project-soli/ https://www.google.com/atap/project-soli/
- xorcist 11y agoThat's partially true. One important difference is that a lot of electronics had schematics available. I know for a fact our TV had one, taped to the inside of the chassis. I was deeply fascinated by the intricate schematics at the time. I could spend hours designing my own, copying from the symbol language, but putting them together in ways I thought was beautiful.