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> I find it so interesting how many of the symbol used are with objects that have or that will disappear from our lives. It is interesting how iconography l
by nonrandomstring 3y ago
> I find it so interesting how many of the symbol used are with
objects that have or that will disappear from our lives.
It is interesting how iconography links to timeless design. Function
and appearance have a way of coexisting in good design so the "idea" of
something gets into semiotics.
Disk storage is a timeless concept. It's absent now but will no doubt
return in some new guise on the next wave of materials science and
storage tech.
The pen is timeless too.
Perhaps the weird one is the classic phone handset. My daughter who
never saw one except maybe on a cartoon, instantly knew what to do
with an old 1970s rotary I was hacking. The design "reaches out" and
suggests its usage. Partly that's our monkey brains that sees tools and
uses in everything.
- stavros 3y agoI'm surprised your daughter knew what to do. I made a rotary mobile phone and showed it off in an exhibition, and kids were universally baffled. They tried to press the numbers in the wheel, then they tried to turn it without picking up the handset (why would they pick up first, everyone knows you dial the number and then you confirm the call), etc. How did your daughter immediately grasp those non-obvious, hidden concepts?
- nonrandomstring 3y agoThink I remember you posting this before when we had a discussion about modding old phones. I'm convinced she saw it in a cartoon like Dora or Fireman Sam. But didn't hesitate to pick up the handset and put it to her ear. EDIT: Damnit I just had a flash of insight... thanks for the memory jolt. As a baby she had a modern version of something like this [0] (hope the image loads for you). They still make them almost the same. It's a "walker/activity toy" with a rotary dial that made a sound and a phone handset. [0] https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fd/28/21/fd28216d19251b2d7895dbb078f8da54.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fd/28/21/fd28216d19251b2d7895...
- stavros 3y agoAhh interesting, I hadn't thought about cartoons, thanks. I probably did post this before, I find it interesting how one thing can be entirely obvious to one generation, but completely opaque to another.
- seabass-labrax 3y ago> why would they pick up first, everyone knows you dial the number and then you confirm the call That's such an interesting point. Having grown up with landlines (DTMF and initially pulse-dialing ones), I was trying to do the very opposite with my mobile phone just yesterday! The cellular connection was atrocious, with my calls being rejected or silenced regardless of the carrier. I attempted to start the call with an empty number so that I could hear that the dialing tones were correct myself - of course, it didn't let me. I don't suppose the dialing stage of a modern mobile phone is analogue anyway, is it?
- stavros 3y agoIt's not, it's all digital, AFAIK the mobile userland communicates (or used to communicate) with the baseband via AT commands.
- seabass-labrax 3y agoAh, right - I've had a bit of experience with sending AT commands directly when the PinePhone first came out, but not gone into it any further since. In that light, it does seem rather naive of me to attempt to compare dialing tones by ear, but I suppose one reverts to type when desperate!