5 ms·

This is awesome nostalgia, but tell me, for those who have never seen a CRT display, does it have any meaning to you? Seeing this, I wonder if the world has fo

This is awesome nostalgia, but tell me, for those who have never seen a CRT display, does it have any meaning to you? Seeing this, I wonder if the world has forgotten what a computer is. Now we've got devices, for example phones, and the computer (and the Internet) is right at the surface of the device. When we used CRT displays, we knew our display was just a repurposed television screen that communicated with a separate and discreet computer, which was another (and different) kind of machine. Same with modems. When they screeched and howled, the duration of noise and the "seeking" nature of the sounds was a clear indicator that we were connecting to other devices at a distance, devices that were not always available, over connections that were tenuous. Now everything is immediate and ubiquitous. The computer has been subsumed into the terminal itself. And what was distant is at our fingertips.

TheOtherHobbes 12y ago
Don't worry. Twenty five years from now some AI will code up a HN emulator and make it look like a old-fashioned flat panel monitor floating in a small window in 3D space, instead of taking up the entire visual field like a proper computing device.
herval 12y ago
Most of the time, my 3G is as immediate and ubiquitous as my modem connection 15 years ago - even in big centers like NY. Computers are still "mysterious machines" for a lot of people. I still stumble upon startup founders, from time to time, that consider computers "something I try to use" (granted, not tech cofounders). Yes, things evolved, but I don't think we got to the point where computers are just like light bulbs and connectivity is just like tap water yet... In most places, for most people, at least.
to3m 12y ago
I suspect only people who've never used a CRT would use this sort of thing ;) I used CRTs for years (naturally... I'm in my late 30s) and, without fail, they sucked. If they weren't long-persistence, they were flickery; if they were, they were smeary, even by the standards of ancient mono laptops. If they were flat-screened, focus was inconsistent. Large ones were expensive (and by "large" I mean "19 inch"), and you lost some screen area from the bezel. If you found one that didn't have any of these problems, it was probably enormously expensive. But even your enormously expensive one wouldn't look quite pin-sharp at 1600x1200. (Unless it was truly enormously expensive, and was a 22+ inches diagonal.) And whatever you did, they took up a huge amount of space, used a vast amount of electricity, and emitted a lot of radiation (though nobody ever seemed to be quite clear on whether this was actually bad for you). And what nobody seems to remember is how rather unreliable they are. Failure rate for the LCDs I've owned: 0%. For the CRTs? 100%. None made it past six years. If you like them for games, great. Enjoy your youthful ability to detect those extra 10ms of latency while you still have it, that's what I say! But for a terminal? You're nuts.
- 13 12y ago
  I'm not sure they ever released that much radiation. It's hard to find non crackpot sources of information, but in mono displays there's surely not high enough voltages for that. The back of my oscilloscope (a mono display pretty much) mentions X-ray emissiom but on some ridiculously small scale.
- chadillac 12y ago
  I bought a "decommissioned" Sony Trinitron monitor for $200 from a company I worked at at the time. It was 27" flat screen, and glorious, was amazing for gaming and counter-strike. Now, carrying it up 3 flights of stairs on the other hand almost made the cheap price not worth it. That thing must have weighed 50lbs.
  - to3m 12y ago
    27"! I never saw a monitor that large. I think 22" was the largest. Even TVs didn't go all that much larger than 27", particularly 4:3 ones. And a Trinitron too! That must have been spitefully expensive to buy...
    - disposablename 12y ago
      Sony definitely made a 24" Trinitron monitor: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004YNSR/ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004YNSR/ and a 34" widescreen TV: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002NDFKM/ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002NDFKM/
      - to3m 12y ago
        CRTs that large were pretty rare, though. Monitors tended to stop at 21" (by which point they were a good foot deep, if not more...), and I'm less certain about TVs, but I'd be surprised if even 34" ones were all that common. If nothing else, they're an absolute bugger to move. My parents' 31" widescreen CRT was an absolute monster... my back still twinges just thinking about it.

TheOtherHobbes 12y ago

Don't worry. Twenty five years from now some AI will code up a HN emulator and make it look like a old-fashioned flat panel monitor floating in a small window in 3D space, instead of taking up the entire visual field like a proper computing device.

herval 12y ago

Most of the time, my 3G is as immediate and ubiquitous as my modem connection 15 years ago - even in big centers like NY. Computers are still "mysterious machines" for a lot of people. I still stumble upon startup founders, from time to time, that consider computers "something I try to use" (granted, not tech cofounders). Yes, things evolved, but I don't think we got to the point where computers are just like light bulbs and connectivity is just like tap water yet... In most places, for most people, at least.

to3m 12y ago

I suspect only people who've never used a CRT would use this sort of thing ;) I used CRTs for years (naturally... I'm in my late 30s) and, without fail, they sucked. If they weren't long-persistence, they were flickery; if they were, they were smeary, even by the standards of ancient mono laptops. If they were flat-screened, focus was inconsistent. Large ones were expensive (and by "large" I mean "19 inch"), and you lost some screen area from the bezel. If you found one that didn't have any of these problems, it was probably enormously expensive. But even your enormously expensive one wouldn't look quite pin-sharp at 1600x1200. (Unless it was truly enormously expensive, and was a 22+ inches diagonal.) And whatever you did, they took up a huge amount of space, used a vast amount of electricity, and emitted a lot of radiation (though nobody ever seemed to be quite clear on whether this was actually bad for you). And what nobody seems to remember is how rather unreliable they are. Failure rate for the LCDs I've owned: 0%. For the CRTs? 100%. None made it past six years. If you like them for games, great. Enjoy your youthful ability to detect those extra 10ms of latency while you still have it, that's what I say! But for a terminal? You're nuts.

13 12y ago
I'm not sure they ever released that much radiation. It's hard to find non crackpot sources of information, but in mono displays there's surely not high enough voltages for that. The back of my oscilloscope (a mono display pretty much) mentions X-ray emissiom but on some ridiculously small scale.
chadillac 12y ago
I bought a "decommissioned" Sony Trinitron monitor for $200 from a company I worked at at the time. It was 27" flat screen, and glorious, was amazing for gaming and counter-strike. Now, carrying it up 3 flights of stairs on the other hand almost made the cheap price not worth it. That thing must have weighed 50lbs.
- to3m 12y ago
  27"! I never saw a monitor that large. I think 22" was the largest. Even TVs didn't go all that much larger than 27", particularly 4:3 ones. And a Trinitron too! That must have been spitefully expensive to buy...
  - disposablename 12y ago
    Sony definitely made a 24" Trinitron monitor: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004YNSR/ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004YNSR/ and a 34" widescreen TV: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002NDFKM/ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002NDFKM/
    - to3m 12y ago
      CRTs that large were pretty rare, though. Monitors tended to stop at 21" (by which point they were a good foot deep, if not more...), and I'm less certain about TVs, but I'd be surprised if even 34" ones were all that common. If nothing else, they're an absolute bugger to move. My parents' 31" widescreen CRT was an absolute monster... my back still twinges just thinking about it.