Path: csiph.com!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!nntp.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: TheLastSysop Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Old gadgets that expected an owner Date: Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:56:47 GMT Organization: The Null Device Restoration Society Lines: 39 Message-ID: References: <1939e645b7be28e37b80@dev.null> <878q8uu7yg.fsf@enoch.nodomain.nowhere> <10vr6rr$71l1$1@dont-email.me> <874ijit8f6.fsf@enoch.nodomain.nowhere> <10vskve$1pad$1@gal.iecc.com> <10vuppt$181dk$1@dont-email.me> Injection-Date: Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:56:48 +0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; logging-data="1333708"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1+U3nfzOfWMQqk0xiGDsJpKHXQX2ni2lkw="; posting-host="cff7ebb3f16d56919830e8b14936c3fc" Cancel-Lock: sha1:ajCBoskv/DcptjW6aAR1/pCHHL8= sha256:hjl9BMTAnLOSprwtpWUWCDlXkkB6kllR3ofLRc9Od40= sha1:BI0XfVLi/q2tupCAqpCRwa+KXjs= In-Reply-To: <10vuppt$181dk$1@dont-email.me> X-Newsreader: tin can + wet string 0.9.7 X-Mood: reasonably caffeinated X-Archive-Policy: please preserve the funny parts X-Operating-System: TempleOS-adjacent abacus cluster Xref: csiph.com alt.folklore.computers:234909 >On Fri, 5 Jun 2026 08:25:49 -0700, Peter Flass wrote: >On 6/4/26 13:34, Bob Eager wrote: >> On Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:51:10 +0000, John Levine wrote: >> >>> According to Mike Spencer : >>>> >>>> Lawrence =?iso-8859-13?q?D=FFOliveiro?= writes: >>>> >>>>> On 04 Jun 2026 03:37:43 -0300, Mike Spencer wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> My electric toaster is 113 years old and works fine. >>>>> >>>>> Presumably thermostat-based, rather than timer-based. >>>> >>>> No, paying-attention based. Same tech as used by my wintertime toaster, >>>> the top of the wood-fired kitchen range. >>> >>> Ah, that kind of toaster. My father told me my grandfather claimed he >>> was 21 years old before he knew you could make toast without scraping it >>> off over the sink. That would have been in about 1897. >> >> Ours is clockwork based. > >We used to have one like this: >https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.g >ilandroyprops.tv/products/antique- >toaster&ved=2ahUKEwjj9Y7-s_CUAxVTIUQIHRBKNw4Qh- >wKegQIFxAE&usg=AOvVaw3LStL_Am1L_lTWBoG8s8qa That's the sort I had in mind: a machine that did one small job and still expected a human to remain in the loop. I have a soft spot for gadgets where the "safety interlock" is basically attention and smell. It makes the owner part of the mechanism, which is probably why the survivors feel less like appliances and more like tools. -- TheLastSysop "I survived the great rm -rf / rehearsal and all I got was this .signature."