What is the difference between a Museum and a big pile of crap?
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#ElectronicsCreators #collecting #hoarding
- Music by Fran Blanche -
Fran's Science Blog - http://www.frantone.com/designwritings/design_writings.html
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Join Team FranLab!!!! Become a patron and help support my YouTube Channel on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/frantone
#ElectronicsCreators #collecting #hoarding
- Music by Fran Blanche -
Fran's Science Blog - http://www.frantone.com/designwritings/design_writings.html
FranArt Website - http://www.contourcorsets.com
There really should be an effort made by maybe the Smithsonion (SP) to establish a technical collection. Not on display maybe but there is too much history and knowledge you and other makers have that will be lost at some point. How many one of kind pieces do you have? There has to be a surplus warehouse somewhere and the maker community would likely provide curators who would LOVE to sort things out. I know of a couple of stupidly rich folk who could sponsor this with pocket change. ( Looking at you rich guys in space)
I really understand the sentiment of enjoying old technology. I’ve had a long career in broadcast engineering, going through film, video tape and now the computer era. It’s a lot more boring since computers took over, and tape and film left the building. The old technology was so much more interesting and ingenious.
I cannot stand either when milestones of our technological development are discarded. If anything then I am in a similar situation like you, half a century on the planet, probably no heir… Perhaps until we exit the world there might be a global museum to donate our collections to.
If you don’t have any heirs, you might want to consider an apprentice. It’s going to be difficult for an unknown person to find value or purpose with most of your things, whereas an apprentice might be able to do something useful or pursuant to the intentions you had in mind when writing your will. Plus, it’d be another way to keep things going, working with younger people.
Some museums started out as hoards. Interesting. I was in the Henry Ford Museum in 1964 and about five times again from about 1995 to 2015. In '64 there were display cases of about 300 vacuum tubes, 100 different telephones as they developed through the years and lots of other electric and electronic devices. Most of that stuff is GONE now. Henry would roll over in his grave if he knew.
Having saved a lot of stuff over the years, I concur. A lot of stuff would be in a landfill if it weren't for technical hoarders. I watch a guy that dumpster dives for a living and he recycles a lot of expensive stuff that would have been buried instead. I'm renaming my container, "The Museum". 😀
There are lots of people with the same 'disorder'. Hurray for you! Cudos to Jonathan W, Cold War Motors, etal. There are so many people that just can't cope if the electricity goes off or when the Internet or cell service quits. While inconvenient, I can get by just fine. I have an old car that has NO electronics so it will rune after the Chinese blast us with an EMP (or at least until I have to get gas for it). I own a MANUAL typewriter. Just needs a new ribbon, if I can find one. I WOULD miss all the cool stuff I see on YouTube from you and others. So many people have NO ability to make ANYTHING. Just a bunch of button pushers or bean counters with no imaginations or skills. While there are many really talented techy's out there who can wrangle electrons with their manipulation of 1's an 0's, I have the most respect for someone who can take a pile of scrap and grease and build something with it.
I feel you, Fran. I wish I was young enough to be able to volunteer to provide continuity, but we are actually in the same boat on our journey back to the great ocean. Thee is so much that I feel is worthy of preserving that time will wash away …like tears in rain. I'm not gonna rant because I'm sure you know all the words. Amen and Amen
I repair guitars and some can be very old and if I don't keep a stock of old parts I am SOL and can't repair the item correctly.
Hoarding to me is stuff everywhere with no organization. If you have pieces and parts organized is no different than a manufacturer having a stock of parts on hand.
I keep all my stuff organized and put away out of sight, sure the bench and vise and some tools stay visible
People like you are preserving history and I applaud that.
Its not junk if you know its value.
I was going thru some boxes last night looking for bridge parts for a restoration I will be doing soon and found some 1950s Gibson pots and caps for the Les Paul junior model.
To many that would be junk but to this project it will be a very important part to keep the guitar original.
A major benefit of having historical objects, such as yours, is for generations to see, feel, experience evolutions of processes, designs, engineering, inspiration, fabrication and such, that foster further benefits of endless kinds. It is how advancement works, and helps to prevent reinventing stuff. I have already heard, from some of your viewer mail and comments, exactly this process. Creativity and invention doesn't exist in a vacuum of only the latest gizmo. Not only are you a curator, but you are a teacher! Please continue to the extent you remain safe, healthy and energized.
What you are doing is not really hoarding. The term is misused. We have seen people with LOTS of stuff on a weekly basis in estate liquidation. REAL hoarding is a disorder in which people have kept so many unnecessary things that it becomes obsessive and compulsive. It usually ends up in filth, no passage though the home. Broken and unnecessary things kept for no apparently reason. One man kept the cardboard (insert /cores) from used electrical tape until they filled a bag. Half eaten and decayed food, I could show you photos. On the other hand, just keeping a lot of things is perfectly normal. The lines have been blurred by the media on what is really a hoarding disorder and what it is like to be surrounded by things.
"Hoarding" a term created by people who live in barren "magazine" houses, they don't have hobbies, throw everything away, and make a phone call to somebody else to come and repair something on their residence–correction replace something on their residence.
It is weird to me that people don’t know what film is, I am 29 and have never personally used proper film or super 8 or really encountered devices that use it however I have an understanding of it, film based cameras were the norm for photography when I was a child, my grandparents have left me massive collections of slides and I have worked digitising microfiche. I am completely with you that having a hoard of old items is important for both education about and maintenance of said items. – If you don’t understand what something developed from how can you ever imagine developing it further?
Thanks so much Fran. That video explained to me stuff that I do and why I do it. I collect and fully restore old (1930s – 1950s) radios and TVs and old ham radio gear. We need a 'hoard' of parts, but it's no good having them if you forget you have them or can't find them. I've made a will and hope my good stuff (and maybe I should identify what that is!) goes to a good home – along with its documentation.
You have absolutely NOTHING to worry about, Fran — not like you were worrying about this subject in the first place.
As a composer/musician, I have all sorts of musical toys to play with, and my experience has taught me over and over that, whenever someone suggests that I get rid of the cables that hang from a closet rod, or the connectors in boxes, the same scenario plays in my head every time: I need a connector. I look for it in my pared-down collection of connectors. Nope, not there. Normally, this would result in a trip down to the Radio Shack or Fry's to buy a new one.
What makes it different this time is, there is NO Radio Shack or Fry's anymore. Maybe someone is selling a Chinese knock-off of the connector I need on Amazon. Maybe. Perhaps someone has one they're trying to unload on eBay, or as a last resort, the FB Marketplace*. Maybe someone is giving one away on Freecycle.
Bottom line: the sources of acquisition we once took for granted are dead. Long live our cable/connector collections!
*I avoid any ad that includes "Shoot me an offer" in the text. That's just the seller's way of saying, "Let's see how stupid you are!". Yeah, I'll shoot ya an offer, pal! (flipping screen off)
Hey Fran,
I'm not sure if you'll ever see this, but I'd just like to say that it's people on the internet like you, Adam Savage (and of course, Mythbusters), Techmoan, LGR, and others that fuel my desire to learn more about technology and manufacturing, especially regarding things that no longer /are/ manufactured. I've watched you since middle school and am now in a post-college IT-related career setting and I still get excited when you cover a light bulb, LED, or other special component that I would've otherwise never known existed. Your recent film conversions have been great to watch during my lunch break as well, I might add! I truly hope you don't get discouraged over the negative things that being a creator on YouTube can bring… Like you said, "careful curated hoarding is essential to preserving history" and being able to take all of this information you have and present it to the world – is truly worth any backlash you may receive. In terms of your collection becoming a museum – not everyone is going to dig it, but there will always be enthusiasts that stop by and celebrate it. I'm proud to say I'm one of the latter.
Take care, and much appreciation from Pittsburgh,
HTHGaming / Mark