ok, What is Wrong with the people who design our consumer products? Are they that short-sighted? This planned obsolescence is ridiculous. People who have things recorded on obsolete formats are up shits creek. ex: people who have great things recorded on betamax tapes, stuff recorded on reel-to-reel, phonograph records (you _can_ get turntables though), 8 track tapes, guess I should throw that in. etc. etc. oh, movie film, home movies. People with vision should make available to the Public these Play-back devices so that people can transfer this to more modern play-back technology. Why, when they make stereo systems, is it not modular any more? Why do they put the cassette deck, the Compact disk player and the am/fm radio into one box? It used to be modular. If you look at it, they make it look modular but it's not. They also make it look like a boombox but there's no handle on it. Why do they make appliances that use odd number of batteries but then they sell batteries only in even numbers, twos and fours? and the so-called graphic equalizer is a joke: choices of "rock" "jazz" "Pop" . . you can't adjust it to the tone that you want. What kind of numbskulls are responsible for this lack of insight. I hope that somebody with vision (not for short-term profits) will help solve this problem and make the necessary devices available for the public. That's about all I have to say. wait. . Who is responsible for this lack of insight? Who?

If you'd taken the time to actually type this, I may have have bothered to read it. By cutting and pasting, you've dempnstrated that you obviously don't really care about this issue, you're just trying to impress me with a stolen rant.

Hey, Simon, please don't mess with my friend of 20 years that doesn't have a computer. He asked me to type this on Sorabji.com (he spoke it over the phone to me) and by some fluke the post he chose (What do you want?) required a password or something and didn't work out. Of course I just copy/pasted as opposed to retyping. Yes, in the heat of the moment (it's 111 degrees here, 95% humidity) i did sort of a sloppy job. should've neatened up the 2nd posting. Just wanted to clear this up. now, let the games begin . . . . . !

damn, simon. you are some kind of asshole for sure. shame on you. space age: good point, i totally agree. too bad there is no realistic solution.

Yeah, you're right about that. But seeing unformatted cut & paste text is, to me, the visual equivalent of nails on a chalkboard. It just makes me hostile. Nothing personal.

(I feel the same about forwarded e-mails that have many >>>>> before each line.)Back to the topic, Spage Age Pagan was really upset enough to post it and his point is well taken.

What do you mean unformatted cut and paste text?This thread looks the same to me,no matter who posted,but while your ranting,why don,t they make it so you can understand how to use these products?

i'm sorry, simon. i haven't had anything to drink for a couple days and sobriety makes me moody and unpredictable. i should know better than to post here sober.

EAT ASS.

YOU FIRST.

What kind of ass?Pork?Beef?Human?Baked?Stewed?Bar-b-que?Is there a vegan version of ass?What makes you think we want to eat ass,maybe someone should get an assripping.

vegan ass tastes like bad soy product.

Simon is my fucking hero.

Space Age Pagan is my fucking market. In the IT world, my brother and I have long been stashing away obsolete hardware and software for the time in the distant future (five to ten years in real time) when I can open a company and start charging huge prices for reading the data off a backup tape in an archaic format or opening a Visicalc spreadsheet running on DOS 3. The best part about it is that it costs us nothing to gather these tools of blackmail. People shove them at us and are happy to get rid of the crap. Got some stuff that'd make you really nostalgic if you were using computers even ten years ago. Just marinate in some time, and presto, you've got a great business. Actually, my brother is just a packrat who can't stand to see parts of ancient information processing history disappear. The extortion idea is mine. Anybody need to use an old (c. 1976) punch card reader? Real cheap (for now).

to answer the orginal post.....we are not a modular society......we like everything prepacked into one......we will sacrifice understanding for 5 easy choices of equalization.....some sociologists call it the "McDonaldization of America" (a great book by the way).....or others simply call it the dumbing of society. Essential what we want is efficiency adn consistency. They (they as in manufactures, corporations, gov't) seek to limit our choices. Have you noticed when you go into a McDonalds, they don't have a regular menu anymore.....they have beverages, deserts and a list of the combos. You can't just walk in and order a cheeseburger, chick nuggets, 2 large fries and a small coke. Try it, and usually you will find a worker scrambling to find those items on their register pad. If it ain't a combo, then what the hell is it. People wanted their stero appliances compacted into one, the don't want control over their equalizer, theey wanted it good from the beginning. the new technology is scheduled by the manufactures' in order to create as much profit as possible. DVD technology has been available for 5-8 years or longer. I remember when Toshiba came and lectured the sales staff about DVD CD-Roms back in 94. However, it wasn't feasible on a grand scale. As far as I am concerned it still isn't. It seems each format does have it's own characteristics. For example...I do own a modular stereo. I own two record players, a modern Technics and an old Magnavox HiFi. The tube speaker on my Maganvox can crank out some of the best of Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, Charlie Parker and various other jazz and big band. It just sounds better, the warm fuzzy feel of tubes works for that particular genre. However the clarity and pristine sounds of say, stereolab, can, tortoise, gastr del sol, american analog set or any other contemporary band sound much better through my technics and receiver. In short, i would never trade in my vinyl only to be "upgraded" to a digital format. It just ain't right. And I could give a rats ass about laser disc or DVD until the prices are more reasonable and the format more widely available. I am sure the quality is better, but the clarity of my tv, my speakers, my receiver and my VCR will suffice quite fine. The manufacturers of that technology are going to have to convince all the releasing houses to release their titles on DVD on a more grand scale. Bottomline, I won't spend the money on new technology until I am certain those in a position of profit have limited their margins or paid for their research. Until then, my VCR will do fine.

See what I mean? I actually read that entire last post, even though it was a complete waste of time. It's all in the presentation.

how SWEET of you SIMON........

A fine distinction, but a "weighty" one nonetheless.The spectacular finding underlying this "fine distinction" is derived from a law of transformer design that Fronius has exploited to brilliant effect: At any given power to be transformed, the volume of the transformer will depend upon its frequency. What this means is that if you increase the frequency, the volume will be correspondingly smaller-for the same power.Fronius transformers are exceedingly powerful assemblies that are run on extremely high frequencies of around 100,000 Hz (or 100 kHz) instead of the 50 Hz of the mains electricity supply. The result is that the size and weight are reduced to a minimum, i.e. from the usual 70 kg to an incredible 3 kg. In everyday practical use, aspects like operation, economy, safety and service are as important as the welding characteristics themselves. In this respect also, digital equipment excels with outstanding characteristics. Thanks to digitising, use has become even more simple and convenient. The control panel offers a comprehensive selection of easy to use functions and many useful parameters. The economy factor is often paid too little attention, but there is enormous potential especially with respect to cost reduction. On these pages you will see how much of an effect different technologies actually have. Reliability and service life of a power supply are closely linked with its safety. Digital equipment, of course, meets all requirements. Concerning ease of maintenance of capital investment goods, this is ever more important with increasing complexity of the equipment. And in this respect digital equipment incorporates a further revolutionary development: fault diagnosis and updating simply via laptop. You best have a look yourself straight away. Being digital, the new machines also have a great many advantages when it comes to ease of handling. They’re easier to operate, and a lot more user-friendly. This begins with the operating panel - the interface between man and machine.It is from here that you control and regulate the entire welding process. Which means: the user-friendlier it is, the better. In terms of its functions, the operating panel is very logically structured - you’ll find all the parameters very easy to set, at the touch of a button, and the display is clear and easy to read. The service-friendliness of capital goods is an absolutely crucial criterion. It should be designed into the product right from the word "go". And so we did just that. With the result that the new TPS machines have a host of advantages in this area as well. This starts with the straightforward way that they’re put together. The digital power sources were designed to comprise only a very few different modules. The result is that the individual parts are all very easy to get at. Another plus-point is swift and accurate trouble shooting, from your laptop. Once again, digitalisation is what makes this possible. And not just this, but also easy updating, via data transmission. So that the system remains open for any new requirements that may be made of it in future. One other thing that "service-friendliness" surely also ought to mean is that the onset of wear-and-tear is delayed for as long as possible in the first place. And in this respect, too, Fronius machines are top-of-the-class. another waste of time...????

yes

vegan ass tastes like copper pennies.

you must have too much Time, Time. small time, Time. Doesn't fault-finding equal trouble shooting? Enough. (These mood swings are warping my mirror)I came next door to post this because ever since I had a fit and threw all the microshaft network related icons on the desktop of my new computer into the recluse bin, all my input/output functions have been impaired to the point where my digital camera (low-end Vivitar @ $176 incl. tax at Wal-Mart tagged $199) only lets me download three to 9 of the sixteen "high-quality" images leaving at least half permanently in the camera. I've had enough 'ranting. Now my soapers are kicking in . . . gotta go. luv ya'll. Oh, by the way, both my anal retentive friends feel soooo safe because the microshaft Internut Exploder has 128 bit encryption so "no one can hack into their Charles Schwab or Bank Two statements" and THAT's what the warnings, excuse me, caveats, that "MSIE users may have trouble with this site" are about. enuf Pharms have started to take the edge off my outrage.

Friendly is good.

he's all right. all of you, shaddup. you're giving me a headache.

vegan ass tastes like broken glass.

Vegan ass gives you gas.