Blog 3: The
Transformation of Gadgetry
On Thursday, September 27, 2012
we watched a TED TV talk-show, which described the progress of an interesting
artifact: the astrolabe. The astrolabe is
the world’s first computer, which was used as a model of the universe to
measure times and seasons, based on the alignment of the sun, moon, planets, and
stars. It is a 13th century
gadget, which includes intricate patterns, leavers, and scales to measure
coordinates with great precision and accuracy.
One important lesson that the astrolabe teaches us is how all things fit
together and connect to the world.
At the beginning of the TED telecast, the speaker explains
how technological progress is when you lose something, but you also change
something in the process. A good example
of such progress is how technology has rapidly evolved over such a short period
of time. When I went to elementary
school, I remember watching movies through film projectors and slides for the
longest time. Then we switched to VHS
cassettes, and now we have DVDs and downloadable movies from the internet.
Here is a link to an amusing video that I found on YouTube. It shows a group of
French school children examining technological artifacts that are seven decades
old:
Very funny video on old technology.
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ReplyDeleteAmanda,
ReplyDeleteI also remember watching video's through film projectors! Technological developments have indeed made such tasks less time consuming.