![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Expedited obsolescence
Nov. 3rd, 2005 10:48 pmI've moved to Lexington. I have a bunch of stories to tell, but I have to start with this morning's discovery: the bedside alarm clock is obsolete and does not care.
I prefer having a dan loud alarm clock. I put it on the other side of the room so that I have to get out of bed to answer it. In turn I have a very loud alarm clock with a separate battery for the speaker.
About a year ago my previous alarm clock's buttons stopped working. I could hit snooze but setting the alarm time was an exercise in finger breaking. So I went to the same store but could not find an identical one but I did find a close enough replacement.
This replacement clock was fine for a good while. Recently I would flick it into "Wake Honky Up" position and it would only turn on half of its alarm display (the part that sticks around after you hit snooze). Then it would not go off in the morning. I could wiggle the switch and make the alarm symbol go on but it would not always stay. Solid-state electronics should not be so flaky.
Last night I set the alarm and set my cell phone to go off a couple minutes later as a safety. Not only did the cell phone wake me but it did it just right. The alarm clock which had all signals up when I turned the lights off had only the snooze signal on screen.
In case I got too geek about it: my alarm clock is no longer capable of doing the one thing I bought it to do. Meanwhile, my cell phone's Excess Feature #26 has replaced a vital device of modern culture.
Perhaps it's been too long since I read McLuhan but I thought each technology made obsolete would in turn become an artisan's obsession or at least transform to serve an unexpected niche because it's now a playground. Instead I found an invention that embraces its obsolescence by running toward it.
-perhaps it's suicidal and wants to dive off the bureau, Dante
I prefer having a dan loud alarm clock. I put it on the other side of the room so that I have to get out of bed to answer it. In turn I have a very loud alarm clock with a separate battery for the speaker.
About a year ago my previous alarm clock's buttons stopped working. I could hit snooze but setting the alarm time was an exercise in finger breaking. So I went to the same store but could not find an identical one but I did find a close enough replacement.
This replacement clock was fine for a good while. Recently I would flick it into "Wake Honky Up" position and it would only turn on half of its alarm display (the part that sticks around after you hit snooze). Then it would not go off in the morning. I could wiggle the switch and make the alarm symbol go on but it would not always stay. Solid-state electronics should not be so flaky.
Last night I set the alarm and set my cell phone to go off a couple minutes later as a safety. Not only did the cell phone wake me but it did it just right. The alarm clock which had all signals up when I turned the lights off had only the snooze signal on screen.
In case I got too geek about it: my alarm clock is no longer capable of doing the one thing I bought it to do. Meanwhile, my cell phone's Excess Feature #26 has replaced a vital device of modern culture.
Perhaps it's been too long since I read McLuhan but I thought each technology made obsolete would in turn become an artisan's obsession or at least transform to serve an unexpected niche because it's now a playground. Instead I found an invention that embraces its obsolescence by running toward it.
-perhaps it's suicidal and wants to dive off the bureau, Dante
