Much better than a regular timer when you're doing the "Pomodoro" method and have to get something done. But I also have a nice lava-lamp, which is great when you're listening to music. And a record-player for vinyl CDs. And fidget toys for my ADHD and Autism (to stim while I'm doing something).
I'll be honest: I need eitiher:
Portability
Analog
If I can't carry it or if it's not mechanical, the i don't care.
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
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
Yeah, I don't know if it's purely nostalgia, but earlier 3D games with low-poly constraints have a specific charm to them that's hard to place. The closer you get to photo-realism, the more jarring the things that aren't quite right jump out at you. Simplified or stylized art styles with less visual noise allow a lot more wiggle room in suspension of disbelief to the player imo
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This. I can fumble around with physical switches while inverted in a negative 4g dive and still change the station off of Chappell Roan. You can’t do that with capacitive touch, especially the ones that get hot and all the heuristics get goofy.
Bought a used 4runner a while back and as I was researching a lot of people complained that it's outdated because of all the huge buttons and knobs, but I love it for that reason
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.
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.
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
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 love contraptions. the more levers and purpose, the better. I love bizzarre old cars and bikes that require 5x more rider intervention. Give me a start up sequence please.
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.
I love it so much. It's not that computers aren't amazingly useful, but having a ticking thing on my wrist that I can disassemble and describe how every single part works is so cool. Same goes for my motorcycle - I do all my own maintenance, and I feel like I could assemble one from parts. I feel a level of connection to analog devices that I just don't feel to the same level with computers - although I suppose if I sat down and really learned about them I could get the same feeling for digital stuff too.
Prefer analog multimeter to digital. Sometimes watching how voltage changes is just as important as how much it changes. I prefer carb to fuel injected. Mechanical gas valves versus digital. Analog ‘push/pull’ amplifiers to class D digital amps. Analog knobs versus computer screen sliders.