4 ms·

Nostalgia follows fading mediums. I couldn’t wait until I could use digital formats for music and photography, because of the promise of perfect copies and stre

by xattt 2y ago

Nostalgia follows fading mediums. I couldn’t wait until I could use digital formats for music and photography, because of the promise of perfect copies and streamlined editing workflows. However, I also see the flip side. My ham radio instructor (VE3XT, RIP) talked about how tube amps for audio were on the upswing at the time (2000s) because of the “warm” sounds. He was an RF transmission engineer, and it was bizarre for him that people were shelling out money for what was just distortion. A lot of aspects of his life’s work was seeking ways of replicating signal distortion-free, and he saw it going out the window. I’ve come to terms with the fact that every generation will try to connect with a fading medium. This must be human nature. I’ve also realized that my life doesn’t improve when I pass judgement.

FredPret 2y ago
It must be that we see the tech from our teen years through rose-tinted glasses. I fondly recall the computers and games from then but all of that objectively sucks today
- 082349872349872 2y ago
  I saw the model railroads of my youth and wondered if someday people would set up recreational computer layouts in their garages. I've lived long enough to see the "homelab" become a thing.
  - npteljes 2y ago
    That was a good guess. Whatever there is, there's a hobby version of it, especially in this age of capitalism.
- jfengel 2y ago
  As the saying goes... Everything from before our teens is antiquated; everything from our teens and 20s is normal and right; everything invented after we turn 30 is suspect and unnecessary.
  - portaouflop 2y ago
    While I feel this quote now applies to me, I also think it’s bias mostly. There were tons of stupid things invented in my childhood, but we only kept the „good“ ones around. Similarly old stuff seems antiquated because we found better new solutions in many cases. And the majority of new inventions is unnecessary, we'll see in a decade or so which ones are gonna stick
    - npteljes 2y ago
      >While I feel this quote now applies to me, I also think it’s bias mostly. Yes, that's mostly what it is. It's basically how people grow up and react to change. And there are many biases at play, like the recency bias, where the current events seem more impactful than the past events, or the survivorship bias of the old refrigerator of grandma, chugging along all these years, they don't make stuff like this anymore. And the funny thing is that despite bias, there is good information in the experiences as well, because things really do change over time, and certain things really do have certain upsides, which were lost when the thing changed.
luqtas 2y ago
yeah & specially film photograph, there's something heck of magical! from being extra mindful on taking shoots, to a slow process at the lab, which is also a trance like experience... tho i think it's totally doable to replicate that in the digital world! i had a friend that used to carry a tiny rectangle, framed the photo & kept walking. i'm also used to just frame shots in my smartphone and let it go without actually shooting it... but the whole part of ruining a possible special moment of your life or just a good photo because messing with contrast in the darkroom can screw your shot forever or mechanical problems in the camera (like light leaking), wrong film etc., is just old tech that should go away
portaouflop 2y ago
If you can’t connect to your past you can’t live in the future

by xattt 2y ago

FredPret 2y ago

It must be that we see the tech from our teen years through rose-tinted glasses. I fondly recall the computers and games from then but all of that objectively sucks today

082349872349872 2y ago
I saw the model railroads of my youth and wondered if someday people would set up recreational computer layouts in their garages. I've lived long enough to see the "homelab" become a thing.
- npteljes 2y ago
  That was a good guess. Whatever there is, there's a hobby version of it, especially in this age of capitalism.
jfengel 2y ago
As the saying goes... Everything from before our teens is antiquated; everything from our teens and 20s is normal and right; everything invented after we turn 30 is suspect and unnecessary.
- portaouflop 2y ago
  While I feel this quote now applies to me, I also think it’s bias mostly. There were tons of stupid things invented in my childhood, but we only kept the „good“ ones around. Similarly old stuff seems antiquated because we found better new solutions in many cases. And the majority of new inventions is unnecessary, we'll see in a decade or so which ones are gonna stick
  - npteljes 2y ago
    >While I feel this quote now applies to me, I also think it’s bias mostly. Yes, that's mostly what it is. It's basically how people grow up and react to change. And there are many biases at play, like the recency bias, where the current events seem more impactful than the past events, or the survivorship bias of the old refrigerator of grandma, chugging along all these years, they don't make stuff like this anymore. And the funny thing is that despite bias, there is good information in the experiences as well, because things really do change over time, and certain things really do have certain upsides, which were lost when the thing changed.

luqtas 2y ago

yeah & specially film photograph, there's something heck of magical! from being extra mindful on taking shoots, to a slow process at the lab, which is also a trance like experience... tho i think it's totally doable to replicate that in the digital world! i had a friend that used to carry a tiny rectangle, framed the photo & kept walking. i'm also used to just frame shots in my smartphone and let it go without actually shooting it... but the whole part of ruining a possible special moment of your life or just a good photo because messing with contrast in the darkroom can screw your shot forever or mechanical problems in the camera (like light leaking), wrong film etc., is just old tech that should go away

portaouflop 2y ago

If you can’t connect to your past you can’t live in the future