Amazingly, it only took 2 years from the first large electronic computer, the one-of-a-kind ENIAC, to the appearance of modular, easy-to-maintain hardware that would lend itself to easy mass production. This was the IBM 604 with its now forgotten Pluggable Units. Check Piercing the unknown, a new historical exhibit at the Possibly Interesting web site!
Sometimes one runs into elegant design in humble places… I was sitting in a meeting and fiddling idly with the remote control of the NEC LCD projector. After toying with the laser for a while, I pushed out the battery cover on the back. As expected, it unlatched and slid open, like these things always … Read more
Sometimes you find elegant design in the places you least expect it. We stayed in the Dan Carmel in Haifa, and the small supplies in the bathroom came in color-coordinated little boxes: shower cap, cotton pads, the usual stuff. Still, they failed to go all the way: they had tall bottles for the shampoo and … Read more
They say that form follows function. So – take a look at the form of this strange device, which stands about a meter tall. Can you guess its function? No, it isn’t a trashcan with dreadlocks. I saw this thing in the Biosphere at Potsdam. This pleasant museum is smaller and less ambitious (should I … Read more
Here is an absolutely trivial product feature that turns out to be very nice. This is the latch release for the more recent IBM (now Lenovo) Thinkpad notebook computers. I’ve been through more models of Thinkpad than I remember, and until the T4x series they all had two latch releases on the front edge of … Read more
A major cause of accidents and frustration is trying to use the wrong tool for the job. Professionals usually know, and have available, the right tool. Amateurs and beginners may be blissfully unaware of it. When I was just starting into homebrew electronics in my teens, I actually used to drill holes in metal with … Read more
Photoshop rules, and gets more powerful and more useful with every new release… but it will never recreate the joy of using Deluxe Paint. Now, Electronic Arts’ Deluxe Paint was a raster graphics paint program released for the Commodore Amiga in 1985, which fast became the standard on that venerable 16-bit platform. It would typically … Read more
Electric car windows have become the norm these days; and one feature on them is “Auto”, where you can open or close a window all the way with only a momentary push on the actuator button. A useful feature, too. What I find strange is the stinginess with which this feature is applied. In most … Read more
Here is a box containing some medicine. As the law requires, it has the lot number and expiration date clearly marked. Well, OK, not clearly… in fact, the information is barely visible at all. The law, one can guess, says nothing about the information having to be Legible. It’s not like making the text visible … Read more
Another thing worth knowing is how to test a tool before you buy it. Different tools have very different methods… for example, I was saved from losing a lot of money because I knew how to test a Curta mechanical calculator before buying it (basically you start with all zeros, subtract a 1, then add … Read more
