Electronic advances

[Krummhorn]

Is electronic technology advancing too quickly for our own good? I have to ask myself if all these wonderful new electronic gadgets are really helping us in our everyday lives? I welcome your thoughts ...

[Frederik Magle]

Hmmm... it's a tough question because I think it's part of human nature to wish to advance our knowledge and thus technology. Many of these gadgets may not be very helpful right now but are part of a greater development. However, there are in my opinion also reason to be worried in some cases.

For example, the mobile phone craze have significant downsides. I'm not sure it's a very good idea that children down to the age of 9-10 years spend so much time chatting and text messaging, and that these phones has become some kind of "status symbol" so young people are almost forced to buy new phones all time if they are not to be regarded as "uncool" by their peers - even though there really are no reason for it from a technological point (the development of new mobile phone technologies is not as fast as the companies would like us to think). In my opinion that's a definite flip side. There are other negative effects, and I think it's important to be aware of them - though I'm not sure what can really be done, the market is a strong force.

With that said, I do enjoy gadgets that breaks new ground (such as the the Apple iPhone, etc.) and I think there's a lot to be gained from the continuing technological development. As always it's a matter of balance, whether the good outweighs the bad.

[Jeffrey Hall]

The revolution in communication brought about by rapid information systems (such as this forum) is every bit as profound as the Industrial revolution. I describe it to audiences in science presentations this way.

Three thousand years ago, the ancient Phoenicians set forth on the Mediterranean, navigating as best they could by the stars. Fifty years ago, submariners in World War II determined their locations using sextants and the stars, and when it was overcast, they had no idea where they were. Today, I can head out on the trails on my mountain bike with a GPS mounted on the handlebars, and I know exactly where I am, longitude, latitude, and elevation, to within about ten feet.

That's three thousand years, to fifty. We are living in a time of profound change that I believe the history books will have to sort out. The Internet is the monolith of Stanley Kubrick/Arthur Clarke's 2001. The real-world revolution is in communications rather than engineering, but the main point of 2001 is what happens to both the primitive human Moonwatcher and the advanced computer HAL exposed to sudden, radical change. They learn to kill.

Now, I don't think the electronic revolution is bad per se, but it does create stresses on society -- such as the expectation of immediate response knowing that the message has been transmitted immediately -- that none of our ancestors have had to deal with. I'm not sure it's even inherently bad for kids to have cell phones, provided there is parental guidance to see that the technology is used wisely. (In the US at least, that is hardly a given.) The same can be said for networking sites like MySpace, or, even more bizarre, Second Life, which has become so expansive it's almost unnerving. The ideas and the technology are very cool, but the rate of change is explosive. I think progress and change is good, but we need to carefully rein in our baser natures to exploit it productively.

[Krummhorn]

... I'm not sure it's even inherently bad for kids to have cell phones, provided there is parental guidance to see that the technology is used wisely. (In the US at least, that is hardly a given.)

You've got a great point here, Jeffrey ... the other day I saw a kid, couldn't be more than 9 or 10 years old, trying to ride a skateboard and talk on his cell phone at the same time. Not only do we have more technology advances than ever before, but the trend seems to be to use as many of them as we can at one time while doing everything else we need to do. I've also seen countless drivers going 75 mph on the freeway, chatting with a cell in one hand, and texting with a blackberry in the other - driving with their knees ... totally oblivious to their surroundings.

Makes me wonder ... makes me to be even more vigilant when out on the roads today.

[Jeffrey Hall]

Exactly. I would say that doesn't fall in the category of "responsible use." It really does pay to be vigilant -- I'm starting to simply thank my luck every time I drive up and down Interstate 17 (or even worse, I-10 from Phoenix to Tucson) without somebody sideswiping me! It's become crazier and crazier, and many of the driver do seem to be chatting away on their phones. Crazy!

[Krummhorn]

Have you heard that the 12" vinyl LP's are still in production? I heard this on the radio whilst traveling about town ... so when I got home, I googled it and found this news article

Though most of these are used by radio and night club CJ's, there seems to be a momentum of public interest not only by collectors, but the general public. Still have mine from 60's & 70's , and a turntable as part of my home system.

Now, if the tone arm needles weren't so expensive or hard to find ...

[Jeffrey Hall]

Wow, who would have thought. I certainly don't buy the bit about needing vinyl in order to know what the track titles are -- that's pushing it!

My wife has a nice turntable, and I had set it up a few months ago in order to rip some tracks off some of my Beethoven LPs and clean out the clicks and pops. Our #2 son had no idea what it was, so I showed him an LP and how it worked, and the light bulb went on in his head... "Ohhh, an old-fashioned music player!" So there it is. I'm officially an old fogey.

[Krummhorn]

Hi Jeff,

What are you using to rip tracks off your LP's? Is there an editor for cleaning up the pops and stuff like that?

My son is almost 20 - he remembers me playing my LP's at home in his younger years - and is delighted knowing that someday he will inherit my vinyl collections. In fact, he found the current single play turntable (Aiwa) attached to my component home system at Goodwill for ~$15. Everything works, though I should replace the needle.
Btw, I've never played any of my collection on an automatic changer

Lars

[Jeffrey Hall]

Hm, mine are only 11, 9, and 7, so they've never heard an LP in their lives!

For "ripping" LPs ... well, the central box in my home studio is a Tascam FW-1884. So I pipe the turntable's output into one of the input pairs. I then usually just capture the audio as it comes in (I use Cakewalk Sonar 4) and then apply the software tools to get rid of unwanted sounds. You could also do it with a hardware processor if your mixer has inserts with the input channels, and capture the processed audio. If there's a really persistent pop, you can zoom in and edit the waveform itself, but that's extremely tedious and prone to making things worse than they were before if you don't clip it exactly right. I haven't been totally satisfied with how this has come out, and it hasn't been my highest priority, but it mostly works.

[Krummhorn]

Just learned about another advance ... "Holosonics" ... seems radio ads can now be 'beamed' directionally in stores ... one walks into an area and hears an ad for the product on the shelf in front of them. So much for a quiet shopping day in the store. Hmmm, best not let the politicians in on this technology

[Krummhorn]

Although the technology has been visible for several years, the actual use of Holosonics has only occured recently (at least here in the US). The principle of this is to project sound (voice or music) at a certain specified area. People entering the 'target area' will hear what is being broadcast, but someone standing adjacent may not hear anything at all.

Do you see more practical uses for this?

[zlya]

Useful when actors forget their lines!

[Simon Jansfort]

Usefull when watching a movie on your laptop in class

[Krummhorn]

Just read yesterday about a guy who was using an iPod and how he got zapped (burns to his face, etc) when he stepped outdoors during a lightening storm ... Dohhh !!
Guess we take these electronic marvels for granted so much of the time we fail to realize the risks too.

[toejamfootball]

I dont know... I think the way technology is going is bad. For instance before the Internet you would have to tolerate people with diverent views then you because you would be around them often. But now on the Internet you can choose who you associate with. If you want to be in a group of people who think the exact same way you can find them. I think it just seperates people more and causes more tension.