6 ms·
Claude Shannon defined information in part by its ability to distinguish from noise. Certain objects are so ubiquitous and their signaling so minimal, it’s to
by paulgerhardt 6y ago
Claude Shannon defined information in part by its ability to distinguish from noise.
Certain objects are so ubiquitous and their signaling so minimal, it’s to the point of background noise and contextlessness.
The Casio F-91W is one such object.
The monobloc chair is another[1].
The community jokes a CIA analyst looking at a gritty Polaroid of a monobloc will have no ability to discern if the picture was taken in Djibouti or Denmark.
In a certain, Cayce Pollard / William Gibson “CPU” aesthetic, there is cachet and delight in signalling contextlessness - and a small cult has grown around these objects. They collectively call objects that share this anonymous property “monoblocs“ for short and their is a bit of fun in acquiring the most base form (counter to our every instinct!)
I liked your article’s tangent on incompressibility. As, like fluid, noise is incompressible and by reinforcing your F-91W, you have made it doubly so.
[1] http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2011/04/06/those-white-plastic-chairs-the-monobloc-and-the-context-free-object/ http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2011/04/06/those-white-pl...
- dvt 6y agoThis is an awesome comment, thank you! I had no idea of this new "monobloc" trend, but I feel like you're on to something. When I wear, say, my Longines Diver and I look at my wrist, I feel that my watch is communicating: it's an intricate, hand-built machine telling me the time. I need to wind it and breathe new life into it. I get complimented on it: "new watch?" or "nice watch, what is it?" It's an accessory. A deliberate choice. When I look down at my F-91W, it's as if it's not even there. I'm the one telling the time. Everyone ignores it, no one mentions it, no one brings it up: it's there but it's not. Just like a monobloc chair or a #2 pencil.
- shoo 6y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cayce_Pollard#Apparel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cayce_Pollard#Apparel
- rozab 6y agoThere is a YouTube channel called Bryan Ropar's Plastic Chair World[0]. Bryan is an expert when it comes to these monobloc chairs, and can name every model by sight and tell you where it was produced. I think we often underestimate how much depth there is to subjects we are only casually familiar with, and I'm sure a CIA analyst could glean a great deal of information from a still of a plastic chair. [0]: https://youtu.be/yCotpBAqJho https://youtu.be/yCotpBAqJho
- moolcool 6y agoI LOVE Bryan Ropar's Plastic Chair World. I never thought I'd see it called out on hackernews!
- jl6 6y agoNew fan here. I'm always really happy to see real people with real niche interests publishing online, in a totally non-commercial context.
- domador 6y agoThat's the kind of video countdown I like: quick and over in less than two minutes. No long, overdrawn filler in between each item. At the same time, I'd like to see an article that explains why he considers one plastic chair superior to a different one, or what was the basis for ranking the chairs in the order he did.
- dirtyid 6y agoI've been trying to refind this channel for years. Thank you.
- joenot443 6y agoGreat comment and a great link. One question - what do you mean by "Cayce Pollard / William Gibson “CPU” aesthetic" They're both cyberpunk authors, yes?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- lozaning 6y agoCayce is a Gibson Character. Part of the characters thing is not wearing any clothing that has branded logos, amongst other constraints.
- pfarrell 6y agoNot the OP, but Cayce Pollard is the main character from Gibson’s Book “Pattern Recognition”. In the book, there is a subculture obsessed with a movie that has been deliberately distributed in small pieces. The fans try to discern the meaning of the movie and are foiled in determining the year or location it was shot due to the deliberate generic-ness of the costumes. I don’t know what CPU aesthetic is, though.
- SauciestGNU 6y ago"CPU" is a "Cayce Pollard Unit", an outfit she wears that is effortlessly cool and blends into the background, consisting of black, grey, and white.
- pampchamp 6y agoAkshually, a CPU is an individual component of an outfit, eg. a black fruit of the loom t-shirt with the labels cut out.
- sifar 6y agoThank you for the comment. >>In a certain, Cayce Pollard / William Gibson “CPU” aesthetic, there is cachet and delight in signalling contextlessness - and a small cult has grown around these objects. They collectively call objects that share this anonymous property “monoblocs“ for short Do you have more information on this ? Searching for monoblocs doesn't turn up anything useful apart from the monobloc chair.
- pampchamp 6y agoI don't know the specific community that uses that term, but more generally it has some things in common with "gray man", but Gibson filters it through fashion and otaku lenses.
- Theodores 6y agoHave you tried to buy a Monobloc chair? A quick web search only reveals clones rather than the classic original. The original is so ubiquitous that it is near impossible to buy. I would want one rather than a generic plastic chair because it is iconic much like the Casio F-91W, but, thus far, I haven't been able to find one (or four) to buy.
- jansan 6y ago>> The monobloc chair is another[1]. I hate this chair with a passion. Didn't even know it had a name.