Man, Machine, a dress, and light

[crfriend]

Anybody who has read me for any length of time knows that I am an ardent proponent of preserving and running "elder technology", mostly in my case computers, so it should not come as any surprise that stories of "elder tech" get my attention -- and when it also involves the interaction between man and machine, it's even more interesting.

So, in wandering around on the BBC website this evening I stumbled upon this article which thrilled me to no end -- almost to tears in fact. The story shows what can be done when one melds the ancient with the "merely old", and what the finished product can be. That these skills -- and the machines designed a couple of hundred years ago -- are still in use on a non-hobby scale I find just plain wondrous! It is also nice to see that the traditions are still alive as well, even if some today might find them sexist.

Technological history, and some of the traditions that go with it, are as much a part of my psychological makeup as carbon, iron, and sugar (some would also count caffeine and alcohol, but we needn't go there). This has, if anything, been reinforced by my recent re-connection to sailing -- and the dances that we go on around Boston Harbor, and there's an operational artefact that stands sentinel out there warning mariners from the rocks and spits that Boston Harbor is so famous for -- Boston Light. This is the very last manned lighthouse in the US of A; all the other ones were automated with solar-panels, batteries, and aerobeacons years ago, but Boston Light persists. Many folks were predicting that it'd go the same way a few weeks after Massachusetts senator Edward Kennedy died a few years ago (he was an ardent supporter of it), but that has not come to pass; Boston Light still has her clockwork mechanism and Fresnel lens. My suspicion is that tradition lives on in the US Coast Guard, and there's reason for that suspicion -- several years ago, the USCG retired the use of Morse Wireless Telegraphy in favour of telephony -- and on that last night, the airwaves fairly lit up in Morse with tributes, thanks, and remembrances. Lighthouses, or any "old tech" cannot be so different. -- for these are some of the building-blocks of our modern world.

So, my hat's off to the men and women in Caudry who pursue both ancient and "merely old" arts -- and to their machines. It's nice to see that they're still there. The product is "prettier" in some ways than other bits of history, but the history offers stunning beauty in other ways -- beauty, be it in architecture, engineering, or just exquisite suitability to purpose is truly eternal. Perhaps someday I shall have some lace that's not from China on something I wear; maybe it'll be created on two-hundred-year-old machinery with human "correction" when the machines miss a step. More than just the technology, I love the interaction between man and machine; together, we changed the world.

[Milfmog]

Carl,

I did not realise that there was a posted transcript of that programme. I caught it on the radio the other day and instantly thought that you would be fascinated by the continuing use of carefully maintained "old tech". From our own correspondent is one of the gems of BBC radio; frequently adding a captivatingly human dimension to places and stories that have been in the news.

Have fun,


Ian.

[crfriend]

From our own correspondent is one of the gems of BBC radio; frequently adding a captivatingly human dimension to places and stories that have been in the news.

Indeed it is, and I'm lucky enough to sometimes catch a bit of it during my commute. I'm very glad that they post the transcripts as sometimes reading it can be better than listening to it.

[Grok]

Living National Treasure