Ah so, Toyada-san, Part Four

All will be shocked to learn I am among those who don't think congressional hearings fix things. But the one in Washington today is going to generate barrels of ink and eons of air time.

So it would be an good opportunity for someone to make the point: There comes a time when technology as applied to machinery meant for general public use becomes so complicated as to be self defeating.

No sane citizen is asking for an automobile which, avocationally, advises on investments and analyzes the theology of Niebuhr.

The issue at hand will be Toyota's gas pedal, excitable as a Celtic maiden and no more predictable by any logic yet confided to humankind.

So maybe someone could just note that by 1930 automobile engineers had perfected a fully observable, serviceable, and replaceable control loop for feeding fuel to an engine. A spring, a couple-three steel rods, and a sentient operator. Sticky accelerators could be cured with a couple of squirts from an oil can, and you hardly ever had to consult with Washington about it.

Editor and Publisher

We used it to fish for jobs. It told us who got promoted. A dab hand at reading between the lines could use it to figure out who was about to be fired. It kept us up to date on which media baron was foraging for a fresh Goss. But most of all it demanded that we think about what we were doing as we went about the mundane business of telling the world what it was like.

Dirk Smilly of Forbes writes part of the obit:

With a stodgy layout and, until recently, retro typeface, the monthly journal was one of the most respected sources of news about the newspaper business. Over the years it covered the triumphs of Pulitzer Prize winners, the trials of kidnapped journalists in the Middle East, efforts to crack down on checkbook journalism and the ethical problems posed by tabloid values seeping into news.

The world will be a poorer place when the last E&P rolls off the presses. It may be even more saddening that so few understand exactly what was lost.

Acetate memories

Kodachrome is dead at the age of 74. Kodak pulled the plug after the latest production run. Personally, I never liked it, but I'd shoot a roll or two on vacations just to have something to show the home folks who thought I shot Pan/Plus/Tri-X to save money.

And next time you set your Coolpix to ASA 1600 or so, think about the original 'chrome at ASA 25.

And yes, I know people call it ISO now. Scroom. If the American Standards Association was good enough for Eisenstaedt it's good enough for me.

Giggle Away

It you're bored, feel free to  gape and  giggle as I construct this thing. I've had to learn a little about digits over the years, but the default mode remains profanity while  pushing the button harder.