Lloyd E. Sponenburgh lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote:
Cydrome Leader fired this volley in news:np04c9
:

They designed all the complex mechanical nonsense out of the product. As
it turns out, none of that complexity was really needed in the first
place.


But, "complexity" is not a part of an elegant mechanical design! Folks
design stuff based on their "art" at the time. Elegance in mechanics
peaked about 1930... It has gone down-hill ever since.urk!

I'm sure lost of this knowledge has been lost. For a long time now I've
wondered how much effort it would take to design and built one of those
giant mechanical calculators like banks used to have. Those things were
absulutely insane in how complex they were and how many parts were crammed
inside.

Even typewritters are works of art in how the actions feel nice in
operation.

a $50 VCR is pretty amazing as well, when compared to an old one side by
side. If you consider them black boxes, the new throw away ones do still
work better. It's amazing how the the advancements in electronics rendered
all the other mechanical parts useless.