What's a technology that was cooler in its older iterations?

Count Regal Inkwell@pawb.social to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world – 448 points –

I don't mean BETTER. That's a different conversation. I mean cooler.

An old CRT display was literally a small scale particle accelerator, firing angry electron beams at light speed towards the viewers, bent by an electromagnet that alternates at an ultra high frequency, stopped by a rounded rectangle of glowing phosphors.

If a CRT goes bad it can actually make people sick.

That's just. Conceptually a lot COOLER than a modern LED panel, which really is just a bajillion very tiny lightbulbs.

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When you break it down, yeeting a small piece of metal, accurately, up to a mile, through the use of handheld controlled explosions, is way cooler than just yeeting a pointy stick with another stick and a string. So, I am inclined to agree with you.

From an engineering standpoint, firearms are so much more fascinating.

Still amazes me that at the end of the day, most of them are fired by what is essentially a mouse trap. I'm curious when electronically activated cartridges become acceptable. Imagine how much space/bulk you can relocate from a pistol without the need for a mechanical hammer/striker. Think about getting a crisp and responsive trigger on a bullpup style setup. How much more accurate could you be with a long range rifle if you eliminate the trigger pull from moving the weapon (have it disconnected from the firearm, like a remote camera trigger).