4 ms·

To me one of the biggest changes was LPs and then CDs to flash drives for portable data storage (now just cloud). With an LP you can actually see the grooves an

by kurthr 2y ago

To me one of the biggest changes was LPs and then CDs to flash drives for portable data storage (now just cloud). With an LP you can actually see the grooves and how the stylus rides in it. You can hear the vibrations, if you listen closely, and imagine how the sound is recorded (even for stereo). With CDs you can still see the diffraction patterns and grooves, even if it takes a microscope to spot the little pits and the little lasers are invisible, and there was a metaphor to LPs (where for a short time there were laser stylus as well). Now it's just black boxes. Shove it in and magic happens. You're not going to figure out a multilayer high density flash even if you have an ion beam cutter and an electron microscope. Your best bet is figuring out the electrical protocol on the USB, though with multi-level differential embedded clock 40Gb/s links that's almost hopeless. I feel a bit sad for those just learning how things work. Software is the only system "simple" enough to wrap your head around, and that has just allowed the actual implementations to be ever more complex.

Gare 2y ago
But isn't most hardware today defined using "software", with desired logic coded in Verilog or VHDL and then just realized using billions of tiny transistors?
tomcam 2y ago
I’m a senior citizen and I couldn’t enjoy the end of LPs and cassettes fast enough. LPs scratched and skipped and wore down. Cassettes stretched and broke and wore down. I thrill to the idea that I can get a perfect rendition of the bits every time (modulo lossy compression or poor remastering).
- taejo 2y ago
  I don't think anybody's disagreeing that you get better audio reproduction and less fragility from CDs. Just that they aren't learnable or hackable, and learners and hackers lose something (something separate, and maybe even less valuable, than audio reproduction but still something of value)

by kurthr 2y ago

Gare 2y ago

But isn't most hardware today defined using "software", with desired logic coded in Verilog or VHDL and then just realized using billions of tiny transistors?

tomcam 2y ago

I’m a senior citizen and I couldn’t enjoy the end of LPs and cassettes fast enough. LPs scratched and skipped and wore down. Cassettes stretched and broke and wore down. I thrill to the idea that I can get a perfect rendition of the bits every time (modulo lossy compression or poor remastering).

taejo 2y ago
I don't think anybody's disagreeing that you get better audio reproduction and less fragility from CDs. Just that they aren't learnable or hackable, and learners and hackers lose something (something separate, and maybe even less valuable, than audio reproduction but still something of value)