What Do We Need to Know About Yesterday's Technology?

[Rhondazvous]

I was trying to screw a cap on a bottle when it dawned on me that I was turning it the wrong way. Standard screws are always screw on clockwise and screw off counterclockwise. But then it dawned on me again that there’s a whole generation growing up who haven’t the slightest idea what clockwise/counterclockwise means.

In the 1980s, my stepfather would not let my baby sister have a digital clock until she got the big hand/little hand thing down pat. Today, I don’t think they even sell face clocks anymore, yet clockwise/counterclockwise remains a part of our culture. Even my image editor lets me choose between rotating an image clockwise or counterclockwise. Is it retro to hold on to those designations, or is it an important tradition that we should pass on to our children?

[Easy Guns]

I don't mind moving on with the times, however I do own a few analog watches.

Digital watches are often cheap and fall apart. Analog watches are built better in my experience.

One thing that comes up a lot is cursive (at least, in the United States). I don't have any problem with letting cursive die with the advent of computer print. I see no value in forcing our children to learn cursive. They'd be much better served learning to type on a keyboard more efficiently or learning a second language.

[vorlon13]

I'm collecting early calculators. It's fun and interesting to me.

In High School I was taught vacuum tube technology (mhos and transconductance, grid bias and thermionic emission) and maybe I haven't used it much, but it gives me an understanding of the 'big picture' that freshly graduated techies these days do not have.

[Aoi Magi]

I still remember when they showed the video on how clocks worked back in school, it was so cool to see and understand how all those parts came together to form a mechanical watch. Yes digital watches are gaining ground and for a good reason, they are more intuitive, but the old face watches are not dead, they too exist in the digital form, like when I expand the digital-watch on my laptop or smartphone, they will still show a beautiful face watch. The app-stores are flooded with analogue-clock apps...

In near future though we really might not have face watches anymore though, and if that happens, the associated terminologies will disappear as well, we don't have to make conscious choice in the matter.

[Minimalist]

My wife volunteers with a group that does memory screening tests ( we have a lot of old farts out here ) and one of the tests involves drawing a clock face and putting in the hands to show a certain time.  It is amazing how many people fail that part of the test.  She has pointed out that in the future they will not be able to continue using the test because of the prevalence of digital clocks.

[robvalue]

Interesting! Clockwise and counter clockwise are very useful references, and I suppose they may well fade away. What would we say instead? Twist right, and twist left? That would do I suppose.

[vorlon13]

deasil and widdershins

[pocaracas]

Actually, I don't know if you've noticed, but most high-end/trendy watches are still old style:

Swatch:


Tag-Heuer:

And even smartwatches:

[Iroscato]

The Save icon on most office applications is still - STILL - in the form of a floppy disc. Very soon there will be an entire generation that barely knows the reason for this.

[Easy Guns]

The Save icon on most office applications is still - STILL - in the form of a floppy disc. Very soon there will be an entire generation that barely knows the reason for this.

I wonder if some day I may be explaining to my grand children that cell phones are called phones because they used to be used to make phone calls, and subsequently blow their minds