4 ms·

It must have been "magical" to be able to hear your own voice played back during those times. I wonder if in 100 years from now people will wonder if we though

by wrath 14y ago

It must have been "magical" to be able to hear your own voice played back during those times. I wonder if in 100 years from now people will wonder if we though smartphones were magical. Does anyone know if the noise in the recording is because the foil is so old and that's the best they can recover, or if that's how it was played back originally?

sejje 14y ago
I think the whole thing is magic now. That here in my bedroom, this box can link me 135 years into the past just strikes me as incredible.
- mgkimsal 14y ago
  In some sense I agree with you. Not specifically the 135 years ago, but the idea of real time global communication in general is magical. But we had that with radio/tv (mostly) 30 years ago, just without as many channels as today. The magic to me today is that a) it's something I can contribute to, on equal footing as anyone else, b) it's done with technology that I can actually understand and contribute to. At the same time, much of the 'magic' feeling I used to get has turned in to 'eh', just because it's such an ingrained part of life now. I remember my grandfather telling a story of taking a polaroid photo of ... his parents? (or in-laws, I can't remember), then taking the photo to the other room to let it dry/develop for the 2 mins or so it took, then taking it back to show them, and seeing how amazed they looked at it. IIRC I think that was the 60s when that happened. But my memory of the story is now hazy, and I think his was a bit when he told me it to me :)
mung 14y ago
doh, a 100-year misunderstanding of today's people created by Apple's marketing material.
anonymouz 14y ago
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" -- Arthur C. Clarke. I think many people without much insight into electronics or computers would consider smartphones quite magical already.

by wrath 14y ago

sejje 14y ago

I think the whole thing is magic now. That here in my bedroom, this box can link me 135 years into the past just strikes me as incredible.

mgkimsal 14y ago
In some sense I agree with you. Not specifically the 135 years ago, but the idea of real time global communication in general is magical. But we had that with radio/tv (mostly) 30 years ago, just without as many channels as today. The magic to me today is that a) it's something I can contribute to, on equal footing as anyone else, b) it's done with technology that I can actually understand and contribute to. At the same time, much of the 'magic' feeling I used to get has turned in to 'eh', just because it's such an ingrained part of life now. I remember my grandfather telling a story of taking a polaroid photo of ... his parents? (or in-laws, I can't remember), then taking the photo to the other room to let it dry/develop for the 2 mins or so it took, then taking it back to show them, and seeing how amazed they looked at it. IIRC I think that was the 60s when that happened. But my memory of the story is now hazy, and I think his was a bit when he told me it to me :)

mung 14y ago

doh, a 100-year misunderstanding of today's people created by Apple's marketing material.

anonymouz 14y ago

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" -- Arthur C. Clarke. I think many people without much insight into electronics or computers would consider smartphones quite magical already.