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LEDs are cheap. It would be awesome to replace them in many applications with a cheap, reliable indicator which doesn't emit light but to my knowledge somethin
by 01100011 6y ago
LEDs are cheap. It would be awesome to replace them in many applications with a cheap, reliable indicator which doesn't emit light but to my knowledge something like this doesn't exist. Flip discs don't seem like they'd be reliable or cheap enough for a consumer product. What you'd want is almost something like a single pixel e-Ink dot. AFAIK, no one makes such a thing, and even if they did, it probably would cost 4-5x an LED.
- jjoonathan 6y ago> It would be awesome to replace ... Replace? You're thinking too hard! Just delete the lights! Delete all the buttons, too, except for one! Make the user enter morse code into the button for all operations without any indication whatsoever of internal device state except a nondescript failure 30 seconds later! User experience! Design!
- Sohcahtoa82 6y agoI see you're familiar with the Apple design paradigm. Remove functionality and call it a feature. Have you reserved your MacBook Wheel yet? https://youtu.be/9BnLbv6QYcA https://youtu.be/9BnLbv6QYcA
- adrianmonk 6y agoNon-backlit LCD is a possibility. If you need several indicators, you can combine them into one LCD. The downside is they are hard to read, especially cheap ones and especially at weird angles.
- Marsymars 6y agoI'm sure I own some product with a non-backlit LCD where you can push a button to have the backlight turn on, which times out after some time. Can't for the life of me remember what product that's in though.
- adrianmonk 6y agoYeah, that's pretty common. I have an Opus BT-C2000 battery charger that does exactly that. Pressing any button causes the backlight to come on for about 30 seconds. Also a Garmin Forerunner FR220 running watch which has a dedicated button for this (with a light bulb icon). LCD is a good choice for it since it's used outdoors a lot and LED (or AMOLED) wouldn't be readable in direct sun.
- reaperducer 6y agoa cheap, reliable indicator which doesn't emit light but to my knowledge something like this doesn't exist. In the decades before LEDs, VFDs, and vacuum tube indicators existed, there were plenty of these. The ones I disassembled operated with magnets. When current was applied, the magnet held the indicator behind the viewing window. When the current went off, gravity pulled the notification into the viewing window. The indicator was usually something like a solid yellow block of plastic, or yellow diagonal stripes with the word FAIL in the middle. They were super common, but I don't know if there's a specific word for them.
- VLM 6y agoSomething like this already exists and is cheaper than red LEDs. At least it used to be cheaper. IR LEDs. Invisible to the naked eye. If you want to see the nifty status LEDs, simply hold your cellphone camera (which is IR sensitive) and look at the phone. Bonus you can take a pix of the lights and file it with a trouble ticket or whatever. For a good laugh start up your cellphone camera and hold it in front of a IR (not RF) remote control and push a remote button, it'll light up in a big way on camera. Some TV remotes are practically IR flashlights as in light up the room, cheap ones not as bright.
- jeffbee 6y agoSpeaking of remotes, the OP incorrectly associates the LED with the invention of the remote control, but in fact the remote control predates LEDs and solid-state electronics entirely. The first remote control (I owned one!) was acoustic. It had ultrasonic chimes and buttons. Each button hammered a chime. There were circuits in the TV that were excited by the acoustic wave, which changed the channel and all that. The Zenith "Space Command" ultrasonic remote control appeared on the market in 1956.