vinyl CDs
chapotraphouse
Banned? DM Wmill to appeal.
No anti-nautilism posts. See: Eco-fascism Primer
Slop posts go in c/slop. Don't post low-hanging fruit here.
Clearly they are talking about 7" records. They technically are compact discs.
Reading this thread made me realize that I get to engage with this as a barista. I flip switches, press buttons, roll dials; I can get myself burned on heated metal or steam. I touch doodads on a gizmo to make a product, I get to operate it like a mechanist of yore. Not my ideal job but there is something to proper machinery
Very few jobs interact with steam enough to be steam punk but you are on the list
Given my views and taste in music steam punk is really resonating with me now thank you
vinyl CDs
They're called records dagnabbit
There is something really gratifying about a record player though, the spinning is kind of mesmerizing and the warmth of the sounds and little imperfections in playback make it feel "realer" to listen to than digital to me
Listening to a good record in a dark room with a lava lamp is really comfy
This is probably why I have a fascination with pinball machines
i enjoy the fickle nature of the Machine Spirits and digital tech gives them more places to hide amongst corporeality, although a lava-lamp makes a great divination medium as well.
Err, machine spirits? Lava-lamps as divination mediums?
That last one sounds cool, though just a bit confused here. 😅
are you not praying to the screaming electrons before using microprocessor-enabled tech?
Hey, I did say that I have ADHD, didn't I?
Analog, mechanical things are almost always preferable to me. I even prefer carburetors when possible, even though they can be a pain to tune. I am a weirdo.
My people, carburetors are a mechanical marvel
Oh boy, here I go ordering jets again
this might be the thread that finally gets my husband on Hexbear
ask him what he thinks about metering rod carburetors and then pretend to listen, he'll love it
or write down what he thinks and let me know i kind of want to try one
Well, now I know a new thing! 😂
He hasn't played with one in a long time because they're not used in small engine applications, but he likes them. He wants to know what kind of vehicle you're wanting to try one on?
You are not weird.
And even if we are, then I don't want to be anything but.
I was definitely in more of an analogue phase at various points of my life. I remember someone snarkily making a joke on abacus(i?/es?) during a dnd game and I pulled one out of my bag.
For a while I've wanted to get a watch with a clear back so I can look at all the gears whirring around in there.
I also have a small film camera collection including an old FED Zorki 2. When you unlatch the film door you can see a bit of the inner workings spinning around when you take a shot and wind it.
I have a Zenit made in the USSR my dad left me. It's heavier than a brick, but it's so dependable. And I got a Zeiss Ikon Nettar for dirt cheap at a flea market recently, so that I can shoot both 35mm and medium format. Shooting film is such a joy.
Some of the clear back watches can be relatively affordable (US $125 before customs/taxes) on AliExpress e.g. this Sugess chronograph
Hola, Rojo.
I almost find the first option (the watch with a clear window into it) kinda scary for some reason, maybe because I almost don't want to know how it works.
And yet... I like seeing the workings of certain "visible" technology.
Also, from what era does your film camera come from? Why do you have such a collection? Just curious. Is it better than digital?
Ah yeah I kinda get that with the watch. So much going on. I like it though lol.
Also, from what era does your film camera come from? Why do you have such a collection? Just curious. Is it better than digital?
Late 40s to early 50s for the Zorki 2. I've had an interest in photography forever. One time my friend started talking to me about his collection of film cameras and that gave me the push to start my own collection. Most of my stuff is from the 70s and 80s. I wouldn't say it's better necessarily and film can be pretty expensive to purchase and develop, but there's something satisfying about waiting to see how your shots come out.
Honestly, photography is underrated.
It makes history and is the prime tool of cinematography in film.
In some ways, the visual sight informs all other media in general, how we look at things in our minds, and even literature when you consider how the mind's eye looks at things.
Very intriguing sphere of interest.
I once saw an old X ray machine in the basement of a hospital. It was the most flash Gordon looking thing I have seen in my life. It took a good portion of my will power not to press buttons.
Fascination? No. But I rather have physical buttons instead of bullshit latency from touch screen buttons on cars and doors.
Even after an apocalypse destroys modern civilization and the world becomes a dystopia - people will still listen to vinyl... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI6pZlARN1A
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
I use analog vapes for weed sometimes and enjoy the process.
There's still a ritual to everything when heating things with an electrically-heated coil, but it is less hands on.
The analog for vaping is smoking a joint.
Yeah, I feel like rituals provide consummation.
Analog is great for that.
There's a thing about the tactile sensation and having moving parts at the macroscopic level that tickles my brain
Kind of similar I guess: I really like "lower tech", pragmatic solutions to mechanical problems that need solving. Moving a cars windshield wipers with the vacuum produced from pistons or propelling the wiper fluid with the pressurized air from the spare tire is so neat. I get that it isn't ideal and has its own drawbacks, but it has character dammit. I'm just so impressed by old school, mechanical solutions that take thrift and thinking outside the box when the answer in the modern day is usually just add more parts and make everything more complicated
Look up Chris Staecker on YouTube he does videos of antique computers like adding machines and Napiers bones
I myself would recommend to you the book Analog by Robert Hassan, which does include Marxist analysis on analog technology, or quotes by Marx regarding such.
Adding machines, I know of.
What are Napiers bones?
Anyway, I'll check it out! Thanks!~
They are a set of sticks with numbers etched on them which can be arranged to perform multiplication and division.
As opposed to "invisible technology."
Think: seeing the gears and spindles of an old-school 19th-century engine versus having a computer screen and not seeing the tech inside the laptop or tablet.
Not mechanical, but little semi-modular analog drone synths are in a similar wheelhouse. Because every knob has a dedicated function and, other than a few default routings, you’re directly patching the outputs to inputs themselves, it gets that feeling of visible connections and settings that you have tactile control over. Plus, because the emphasis is on textures/soundscapes, you don’t need formal music training to get good results.
Neutral Labs makes one, stylophone has one coming out in the near future, there’s a ton of boutique one-offs on Etsy. EDIT: have to add the Bastl Kastles, very portable and easy to learn.
There are some truly mechanical musical tone devices out there, but they tend to either be too large to be portable or are very limited.
I was kinda obsessed with Curta mechanical calculators when I first found out about them, and I still think they're amazing. When I first checked I think they were going for several hundreds of dollars on ebay. I just checked and some are going for several thousand. They really are pretty neat though.
I would highly recommend the book Analog by Robert Hassan (published by MIT Press) as it includes very interesting analysis regarding Marxism and its view on analog technology itself.