finished when new is not better

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public/writings/when-new-is-not-better.html

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         <section>
             <h2>When new is not better</h2>
             <p>
-                One of the hobbies that has stuck with me for many years is photography. I've shot a few hundreds of
+                One of the hobbies that has stuck with me for decades is photography. I've shot a few hundreds of
-                film rolls, and some unaccounted amount of digital pics.
+                film rolls, and some non-recorded amount of digital pics.
             </p>
             <p>
                 It all started out when I was a slouchy teenager. One day I was diving through old cages at my parents
@@ -32,46 +32,47 @@
             </figcaption>
             <p>
                 This little bad boy caught my eye and I started shooting with it for a bit. My father noticed the
-                passion building up and intelligently promoted it by making sure I would have as many film rolls and
+                passion building up and decided to promote it by making sure I would have as many film rolls and
                 print services as I needed, within reason.
             </p>
             <p>
-                This kickstarted a long passion which has walked with me for most of my life, with some high and low
+                Unbothered by the expense each shot meant, a long passion started, and it has walked with me for most of
-                activity periods and some brief adventures into digital photography which never quite worked out into
+                my life, with some high and low activity periods, as well as some brief adventures into digital
-                anything. I've ended up being an analog guy.
+                photography which never built up to anything. I've ended up being an analog guy.
             </p>
             <p>
                 A couple of years ago I stumbled upon that same Pentax P30n. It had been dusting away for another
-                season, this time shorter and in a shelf of my own instead of my parents. I took it out one day for
+                season (this time shorter) and in a shelf of my own instead of my parents. I took it out one day for
                 some fun and sadly found it not working at all. I tinkered a bit with it back at home, but nothing
                 seemed to fix it.
             </p>
             <p>
                 Beaten down by my ignorance in guerrilla camera repairing, I brought the camera with me to a local shop
-                with a technical service. They diagnosed an issue in one of the electronic components of main board, and
+                with a technical service. They diagnosed an issue in one of the electronic components of the main board,
-                provided me with a budget. The budget was not expensive at all, but it was dramatically close to the
+                and provided me with a budget. The budget was not expensive at all, but it was dramatically close to the
                 price these type of cameras will typically sell for in second hand markets nowadays. The heart told me
                 to just fix it, the brain to evaluate other options.
             </p>
             <p>
                 I started an interesting discussion with Sara, my favourite film dealer, about my options. At some point
                 in the conversation I asked her about the nature of the fault, and she explained how electronical
-                components of these cameras will always end up failing and are rather hard to fix, because the part and
+                components of these cameras will always end up failing and are rather hard to fix, because the parts and
                 knowledge slowly disappear from the market as the cameras grow older and put more years being
-                discontinued.
+                discontinued. As we covered this, she pulled out a Minolta SRT-101 out of a shelf and put it into my
-                As we covered this, she pulled out a Minolta SRT-101 out of a shelf and put it into my hands.
+                hands. The weight of it (almost two times that of the Pentax) caught me by surprise and I almost dropped
+                it.
             </p>
-            <figcaption>
+            <figure>
                 <img width="75%" height="auto" src="../static/minolta-srt-101.jpg" alt="">
-            </figcaption>
+            </figure>
             <p>
-                She tend proceed to just say: "This doesn't happen with cameras like this one", referring to the
+                She then proceed to just say: "This issue doesn't happen with cameras like this one", referring to the
-                unbelievably-for-its-size piece of metal that had just landed in my palms. I innocently asked why, and
+                unbelievably-heavy-for-its-size piece of metal that had just landed in my palms. I innocently asked why,
-                she proceeded to explain how that Minolta was purely mechanical. Not only it didn't have electronics: it
+                and she proceeded to explain how that Minolta was purely mechanical. Not only it didn't have
-                simply didn't need electricty at all to work. It did have a small battery which would operate a
+                electronics: it simply didn't need electricty at all to work. It did have a small battery which would
-                rudimentary lightmetering system, but that was completely optional. The camera could operate fully with
+                operate a rudimentary lightmetering system, but that was completely optional. The camera could operate
-                no battery in it. This was very different from my old Pentax, which would call it a day if its battery
+                fully without power. This was very different from my old Pentax, which would call it a day if
-                died.
+                its battery died.
             </p>
             <p>
                 I then looked back at the Minolta in awe. I knew enough about photography to know you don't need power
@@ -84,11 +85,12 @@
                 So, why was I in awe with this Minolta? Well, I knew you could take pictures without power, but I didn't
                 know you could have a camera as sophisticated as the SRT-101 work fine without power. Except for the
                 lack of automatic speed selection and detection of the film roll's ISO sensitivity, it had every single
-                feature my father's Pentax P30n. It felt like as if I had some piece of alien technology between my
+                feature my father's Pentax P30n had. It felt like I had some piece of alien technology between my
                 fingers, which I had stolen from a time and place where things we couldn't even imagine were possible.
+                As if someone had given me a car that didn't need gas to work.
             </p>
             <p>
-                The discussion with Sara turned then swerved towards the Minolta. Sara told me about how the SRT-101 was
+                The discussion with Sara then swerved towards the Minolta. Sara told me about how the SRT-101 was
                 much simpler to fix than my old Pentax precisely because of the lack of electronics. Even though the
                 Minolta did have some very sophisticated mechanisms in its guts, the mechanical nature of it made them
                 easier to understand and patch. The lack of electronics also meant simpler parts sourcing.
@@ -97,31 +99,120 @@
                 I was instantly sold on the Minolta, which has become my workhorse ever since.
             </p>
             <h3>
-                When new is not better
+                Old aluminium and young copper
             </h3>
             <p>
                 Now that I've delivered my long rant on how I fell in love with my Minolta and it's simplicity,
                 I want to jump into the lesson that I learned from this whole story. Well, actually, I don't think
                 I've strictly learned it from the Minolta only, but from many other similar situations when dealing
-                with human engineered things. The Minolta is probably just an incredible example.
+                with human engineered things. The Minolta is probably just an incredibly clear example.
             </p>
             <p>
-                The lesson is simply that new technology and features are not always better. Just like there is no
+                The lesson is simply that new technology and features are not always better than the old, previous
-                silver bullet for complexity, there is no silver bullet for adding fancy stuff into a camera without
+                stuff. Just like there is no silver bullet for complexity, there is no silver bullet for adding fancy
-                sacrificing something. And I want to argue that not all of the combinations in the feature
+                stuff into a camera without sacrificing something. And I want to argue that not all of the combinations
-                richness/complexity spectrum make sense.
+                in the feature richness/complexity spectrum make sense.
             </p>
             <p>
-                Let me focus on the example of my two cameras. Again, the features that the Pentax provides and the
+                Let me focus on the example of my two cameras. Again, the features that the Pentax does provide and the
                 Minolta doesn't are (1) detecting automatically the sensitivity of the film roll and (2) having an AUTO
-                mode for the shutter speed, which adjusts itself to the aperture and film sentivity to get the right
+                mode for the shutter speed, which adjusts itself to the set film sensitivity and shutter aperture so
-                amount of light.
+                that the shot gets the "right" amount of light.
             </p>
             <p>
                 The Minolta doesn't detect the film itself. Instead, this is solved by... you setting it. This is done
                 in a second by simply adjusting it on the same wheel where you select the shutter speed.
+                Not challenging or inconvienient by any means. You don't even need to know what the number means.
+                Roll says 100? Just rotate the wheel to 100.
+            </p>
+            <figure>
+                <img width="75%" src="../static/minolta-srt-101-iso-selector.png" alt="">
+            </figure>
+            <p>
+                On the shutter speed, the Pentax has the auto mode and the Minolta doesn't. That's it. Other than that,
+                both cameras are capable of a wide range of useful speeds.
+            </p>
+            <p>
+                Those are the two features we get with the Pentax. But what have we lost? Multiple things.
+            </p>
+            <p>
+                First of all, the inability to operate without power. Battery
+                died midway through the wedding? Too bad, hope you packed another one. Then, we have the maintenance
+                bit. The Pentax electronic circuits are key to operating critical elements like lightmetering or the
+                shutter. If the board gets fried, the camera is unusable. And getting someone to repair this kind of
+                stuff is becoming a harder to find, more expensive to pay service by the day, as demand fades away. This
+                contrasts with the Minolta, because there's a lot more people familiar with the mechanical operated
+                internals, which also tend to be shared across many cameras. </p>
+            <p>
+                So here I am, stuck with a beautiful 1968 piece of heavy metal that almost does the same that cameras
+                made in the 80s and 90s, yet is much simpler to maintain. I find this a beautiful case of when new is
+                not better.
+            </p>
+            <h3>
+                When new is not better
+            </h3>
+            <p>
+                I think a lot of us, a lot of time, confuse new with better. After all, we're progressing, aren't we?
+            </p>
+            <p>
+                In engineering, there's a lot of good engineers that know this is not the case. This gets embodied in
+                ideas such as that everything has trade-offs and there are no silver bullets. So every time someone
+                comes into the room with some fancy new candy that seems to be perfect, flawless, and completely
+                superior to previous technologies, a good engineer will quickly start searching for the drawbacks that
+                must be hidden somewhere. Or the call to <a href="https://mcfunley.com/choose-boring-technology"
+                    target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">choose (old) boring technology</a>.
+            </p>
+            <p>
+                There are still young (or unprofessional) engineers which will go crazy over new stuff without judging
+                if it's the right tool or if it's better than what we already have. Obviously, we might try new stuff
+                for fun. But at work, we should choose the right, good stuff, not the novelty.
+            </p>
+            <p>
+                Outside of engineering, I think things are looking way more bleak. I see large chunks of society
+                swallowing new tech like crazy with no critical judgment of whether what's being put in front of them is
+                truly better that what they already have. And I think a lot of new tech is outright negative.
+            </p>
+            <p>I can see how Skype was awesome when it came out, for example, but I can't see how Instagram is a net
+                positive for society widely, and for each individual that's using it individually. Electric cars? It
+                feels dauntingly similar to my camera story. I've already seen several full electric and pluggable
+                hybrids in my social circles see their batteries go below 70% capacity in less than five years.
+                Replacements for those are super complex and crazy expensive. If only we had engines that could refuel
+                for 1,000 kms in two minutes... And let's not get into how vehicles in the 60s where highly repairable
+                at home, parts could be sourced from a million places and people would even have fun tinkering with them
+                to change their behaviour. I've had grandpa stories on pops operating the gas of his Seat 600 with a
+                guerrilla-like set up with a string coming in through the driver's window cause the gas pedal broke. How
+                beautiful is that?
+            </p>
+            <p>
+                Or videogames! 90s and early 00s game development was crowded by studios which were doing art. Beautiful
+                stories, innovative experiences, pushing the boundaries of tech to get what they wanted. Working on
+                their pieces to be great. For its own sake. Now we just get some kind of soft-porn version of slot
+                machines, and the fucking companies that built it proudly state that they "build unforgettable games
+                that delight millions of fans". Dear God.
+            </p>
+            <figure>
+                <img width="75%" src="../static/social-point-bullshit.png" alt="">
+                <figcaption><a
+                        href="https://ifunny.co/picture/jack-megarry-oh-fuck-off-rebecca-he-did-not-say-KMp8QJ159"
+                        target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Oh fuck of Rebecca, you don't do that</a></figcaption>
+            </figure>
+            <p>
+                Anyway, now I'm truly ranting.
+            </p>
+            <p>
+                I wonder why this happens, and whether it has always happened. I want to think the problem wasn't this
+                intense some decades ago. People were more skeptic on new stuff. This probably had it's downsides in
+                terms of limiting adoption of great new things, but it also protected us from plenty of nasty stuff
+                that's pouring out now.
+            </p>
+            <p>
+                I guess we're in an age of such fast-paced change we're just having trouble judging everything that
+                flows into our lives. The world is changing fast, and lots of tradition and culture are just not being
+                able to keep up with it. I've also noticed how people have such terrible short-term memory. Again, I
+                don't know if this is a modern ache as well or it's been like this since the dawn of age. But it seems
+                people forget about why we do things in a certain way, and then we something new comes around, they
+                jump into it without appreciating the virtues of what they already have.
             </p>
-
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         </section>