Technology awe.

[fuzzyoctopus]

So what technology puts you in awe?

So I consider myself to be fairly comfortable with technology in general.  I ooo and ahh over the newest gadget inventions with the rest of the world, but consider this.

In our house, we have two desktop computers, two laptop computers.  We have a DSL internet connection and at work I have a T3 connection.  We own a digital camera, a cell phone, a digital drawing tablet, a CD burner, almost every gaming console ever created, two televisions and two VCRs (which let's face it, rarely get used), a digital voice recorder, .... you get the idea.

And yet every time I turn on the automatic ice maker in my freezer, I just stare in awe.

[House of Mustard]

Here at work we have a coffee machine which makes individual cups of coffee, and then, when it's done brewing, launches the little cup of used grounds into the garbage.  I don't even drink coffee, but I love watching the thing.

[Lieutenant Kije]

The little beeping sound my car makes when I leave the keys in the ignition or leave the lights on.  I'm grateful every time.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Non-stick pans...so cool!!

[Archon]

calculators, not exactly a supercomputer, but I always think that someone had to have programmed all of the solutions in, and that they spent their life doing it. Makes me laugh.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

Copy machines... paper goes in, copy comes out..

[stacer]

I'd have to agree on the copy machine thing. They fascinate me. Kind of like photography, but nothing like it at all.

Also, photography. The old style, light through the lens exposing light-sensitive film, film projected to light-sensitive paper, etc.

[42]

I agree with the non-stick pans, they're fascinating.
Also, dimmer bulbs.

[Entsuropi]

Speakers... the thought that someone sat and worked out the mathematical code to make something vibrate in the proper manner and sequence to generate the sound waves.

[Gemm: Rock & Roll Star; Born to Rock]

It's odd. Most technology doesn't really awe me. Even HDTV doesn't awe me. I don't see this "higher quality" screen resolution that everyone talks about. The biggest awe to me are books. The thought that someone sat down and wrote all this for someone else to read and cherish, or hate, really draws me in.

Cellphones don't amaze because they're just extensions of cordless phones. Newspapers however do. The whole process of printing is really rather fascinating.

The only thing technology wise that will astound and astonish me is a cordless (wireless) monitor. Until I see one of those, I will not, no matter how much one tries, be impressed by technology.

[Brenna]

zippers, velcro, and teflon are my friends. They are some of my very favorite inventions ever.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

what gets me about copy machines is that people totally take them for granted,... even though they are probably one of the more complex things in an office. They've been around so long and are so standard that most people couldnt get along in an office without them. Sure printers can send multiple jobs to multiple sources but its not the same as feeding a document in the top and having it come out sorted, coalated and stapled 70 times in a row..

[fuzzyoctopus]

So J.T. bought a laserdisc player at DI for $10.  Then he got a copy of the Toy Story box set.  So now we know it works.  I can't believe how large those things are.  Or how many movies are available on laserdisc.

[GorgonlaVacaTremendo]

I'm not exactly 'awed' by it, but programming programs.  I mean, somebody sat down an programmed a program so that they could program a program.  Mwhahaha, entertainment.

[stacer]

Fuzzy, my aunt and uncle have a laserdisc player. I loved that thing. It was so much nicer than video. I actually don't know if they still have it, but the discs themselves are quite expensive, I thought--which is what prompted DVD?--and they don't hold much. We often had to flip the disc over in the middle of a movie.

How does it compare to DVD? I'm curious.