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Date:         Fri, 15 Aug 2008 06:55:52 -0700
Reply-To:     Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Are Today's Young People Mechanical Nitwits?
Comments: To: "Gary Lee www.vwrack.com" <gary2a@TELUS.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <BDC48AAB-A868-428A-8BAA-6FC704469EA0@TELUS.NET>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

"I am told that in the '70s there used to be tube testers and vacuum tubes sold at the grocery store."

Not only that, the local drugstore had a tube testing station (like today's blood pressure testing stations) where you could bring in a vacuum tube off the street and test it on the spot. Of course, that place also had a soda fountain with great burgers and 25-cent milkshakes, but that is a different branch of ancient history.

Stephen

--- On Thu, 8/14/08, Gary Lee www.vwrack.com <gary2a@TELUS.NET> wrote:

> From: Gary Lee www.vwrack.com <gary2a@TELUS.NET> > Subject: Re: Are Today's Young People Mechanical Nitwits? > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM > Date: Thursday, August 14, 2008, 4:35 PM > Interesting conversation. Gets one thinking. > I am told that in the 70s there used to be tube testers > and vacuum > tubes sold at the grocery store. I guess people, just > ordinary > people, would fix their own tvs and radios. That was also > a time > when you could buy an american or german (or even japanese) > made TV. > > Kids these days may not know how to fix an electrical > device (or a > car), but some can code a computer app in short order. > > Our vanagons are, with the exception of the > digifant/digijet system, > analog devices. Entirely comprehensible and possible to > master, as > demonstrated by many on this list. I suspect these buses > are at the > tail end of an era of vehicles which the owner can > participate in the > operation AND maintenance of the vehicle. On some level > it's a > relationship, making the vanagon more than just a > transportation > appliance. Of course it's also a trade off. We give > up things like > power, lower emissions, comfort and safety for this > 'relationship'. > Yah, it's a love hate kind of thing. But when I look > back at the > previous decade I don't think of the time I spent > driving my ford focus. > > Gary Lee > www.vwrack.com > > > On 14-Aug-08, at 1:43 PM, Mike Elliott wrote: > > > > > Well put, Gary. Likewise, the days when young kids > could get > > started in electronics by tinkering with their > parent's tube radio > > or hi-fi are long gone. Open any piece of modern > electronics and > > you'll find nothing in there that can be worked > on. Multi-layer > > circuit boards and fine-pitch surface-mount components > cannot be > > worked on by normal humans, unlike the exposed wiring > and great big > > grabbable components that earlier products contained. > I expect that > > old-timey ham radio operators and DIY gadget builders > notice that > > "kids these days" don't know how > anything electrical works. > > > > -- > > > > Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott > > > > On 8/14/2008 12:12 PM Gary Lee www.vwrack.com wrote: > > > >> Today's young people may be mechanical > nitwits, but I wouldn't say > >> they are nitwits. Not that anybody has, but I > gotta stick up for > >> them. > >> Modern cars are very complex. Complicated cars > are harder to repair > >> than simple cars. Most people would also agree > that with that > >> complexity we also get far lower emissions and > higher safety than > >> vanagon era cars. So it's easy to see why > repairing one's own car is > >> not within the scope of a lot of people nowadays. > >> Want a simple car? Too bad we can't buy third > world market car in > >> North america. Like an Indian Tata, it's > simple and cheap. What you > >> loose out on is comfort, safety and lower > emissions. > >> > > >> Gary Lee > >


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