this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2024

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What's a technology that was cooler in its older iterations? (pawb.social)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

479 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I don't mean BETTER. That's a different conversation. I mean cooler.

An old CRT display was literally a small scale particle accelerator, firing angry electron beams at light speed towards the viewers, bent by an electromagnet that alternates at an ultra high frequency, stopped by a rounded rectangle of glowing phosphors.

If a CRT goes bad it can actually make people sick.

That's just. Conceptually a lot COOLER than a modern LED panel, which really is just a bajillion very tiny lightbulbs.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (3 children)

How did it generate that sound without batteries? Was it literally the audio from the clicking of the buttons? Genuine questions.

edit: Thanks for the several answers. They all seem prone to interference, but it is nice that they worked without power.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 weeks ago

The button pressed a spring-loaded thing that struck a piece of metal, almost like a wind chime, emitting an ultrasonic note. I discovered by accident that I could make my parents' stereo change channels by clinking coins together.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (2 children)

Tuning forks!!! The Zenith clicker The buttons would work strikers that would hit tuned rods. A different one doing a different function.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 weeks ago

Zenith Space Command remote.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Ah, so more like the bell on a bicycle

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Except there's another bell that vibrates in response to trigger a switch!

It's like auditory entanglement.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

Spooky action across the room!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Buttons and springs would make it click loudly at a predicable frequency.

It's why remotes are often referred to as "clickers".

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 weeks ago

It's not a circle, it's a spiral!