Technica determines character?
… or vice-versa? How far do ones choices say something about the person and as the person changes, does his technica?
This was triggered by the Mail article on Apple’s early models.
My first computer ever was a little Mac 512K ED and I think I ran an HP printer, from memory. Then I was weaned onto a variety of PCs and only came back to Mac in 2007. One comment was interesting:
It may be amazing to those that only came on to the ‘Mac’ bandwagon in recent years because of ipods, iphones and ipads, but millions of us have used mac products since the beginning and they were always miles ahead of the current pcs at the time. Now though, mac has become microsoft / android or rather, everyone else has emulated what apple was doing a very long time ago. This is why us long time mac users are so sad that this company has become the greedy beast that it now is. Red arrows wont change this fact. – Tyrel.nexus.0.1.beta, Staffordshire
Turning to other technica, it was always the need in daily life which determined things for me. When I was in a job of some responsibility, there was no time for pfaffing about so I just bought a Bang and Olufsen sound system and that was that [mine was silver, not woodgrain]:
When I finally got the hang of the job and found some free time, it had to be separate units. I recall a Nakamichi double tape deck [couldn't find a specific pic] using TDK SA from memory. There was also a reel to reel for my radio show.
I do recall the speakers were Celestion Ditton towers:
Can’t recall the amp but later went to separate amp and pre-amp and can’t recall the fader:
Meanwhile, I was sailing an A Class for relaxation and racing [this is Glenn Ashby's below]:
Most regulars know that when I came back to England, one of my two cars was:
… and the other was a Peugeot. One of the first cars I drove, years earlier] was:
Never really wanted an MGB or Midget, did look at an Austin Healey 3000 but left the country again for an extended trek and it never happened.
It had never really crossed the mind that cars were anything to admire but themselves but in Russia, it soon became apparent that the make of car was for status far more than here and as the type of woman I was aiming for was the less haughty and imperious, not looking for the ticket out, it was better to have something that would make the wrong type of woman pass by, plus it had to be something more agricultural that would stand the rigours of Russian roads and winters.
So I had a Lada 110 souped up with new suspension, wide wheels, alloy rims, roll bars, sunroof , tuning and leather upholstery etc. and it was a mighty fine tracking car on the road, with precise steering [still think that was accidental] and that was all that could have been hoped for. Sound system was Pioneer.
As a statement of where yours truly is currently at, there were all manner of fine watercraft in the recent Sydney to Hobart and significantly, the winning boat, for all its money, averaged 14.8 knots, which is what my catamaran used to average anyway. These days, my eyes don’t even look that wayand the boat I liked the most was the smallest and it came last in the race:
Now that’s my idea of a yacht:
Originally built 80 years ago of Huon pine, the gaff-rigged Maluka was lovingly rebuilt by Sean Langman, better known for his high-octane yachts AAPT and Loyal.
You can keep your hi-tech, I want inside beauty, which always shows up on the outside anyway.
Filed under: History & Culture, Technology & ideas
Your piece James is a good one and follows on from the earlier one on computers, it’s a case of form over function and the reverse, your boats have to have function as a priority but so often have form as well this occasionaly happens with automobiles though not so much these days.
But it gets interesting with the likes of Apple who do produce items that are industrial design at it’s best, function I can’t comment on as i’ve never owned any of them.
But they do trade on that look and how much they ‘get away with’ because of that in other areas such as cost and repair costs etc is open to debate.
Your B&O hi-fi was at the top end of quality when it first appeared and like Apple traded on a look that was way ahead of the opposition at the time, but again they have traded on that look forever with prices to match for an item that no longer is up with the best despite still charging top dollar.
Allesi italian design is nearly all form over function, no surprise there as over the last 20-30 years a lot of Italian design has fallen into that category.
But as always ones personal experience with a product determines ones future buying, with cars I had a couple of Alfas worth buying for the beautiful engines (the cam covers were a work of art on their own) but everything around that engine however pretty fell apart, I would never buy another.
The only Merc I ever owned was from a period they were having quality control problems and it had endless serious faults and a couldn’t care less dealer network, needless to say I would never however good they may be today buy another, it is all these things that create or destroy an image of what an item is in the market place.
Brand loyalty is often there despite problems with a product, the owner will overlook shortcomings because the product is perceived by his or her peers to be the must have and so it goes on always a fascinating subject and always subjective.
There is the old one, is there not, of the Alfa – you need two, one to drive while the other is in the garage getting repaired. Don’t know how true that is today.
Sadly James the period in Alfas history when all this occurred was when they were nationalised and quality went out of the window they have been living with that legacy ever since.