Update: I got the clock to not only go to the correct time, but set at the correct time this morning. Tentatively, all is good.
I am trying to reset the clock on the car. It is complicated, and you have to scroll through many other choices. These choices include entering Grandma's Birthday, or your Anniversary, but when I finally get to the clock (Daylight Saving or Not, 12h or 24 hr clock) and change it and set it, it doesn't stay set. It is likely something simple once you already know how to do it. That's what directions in the manual are now for - not to tell you how to do something, but remind you when you already know. I used to see this at work when we were being trained on new software. The directions are not the directions, they are reminders of the real directions, which don't actually exist in written form anywhere. It's the equivalent of the old "You can't miss it" when people used to give directions.
I just want to set the clock. Or with the phone, I just want to make a call or check the time and date. It's similar to going in and trying to just buy a cup of coffee. I just want coffee, milk and a little sugar. I can put up with half-and-half or cream, and a full sugar or no sugar if that's what you've got. Flexible. Just give me a cup of coffee.
I remember reading about an early space probe--Mars or Moon--in which an engineer noticed a few extra bytes in memory. His team put together an edge-detecting subroutine that just fit, and let the probe do some extra science.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of satisfaction in getting "one more thing" to fit in your payload.
Of course, if _somebody else_ has to use your system, or repack your suitcase, or ...
I recently bought a new truck to replace my 27 year-old workhorse which was completely dependable, but increasingly difficult to find parts for. I ordered a new one and was amazed at how the industry has transformed. Now that they've incorporated computer chips into different systems within the vehicle, nearly every system has a chip controlling or modulating its function. It has become difficult to order a simple vehicle that is not over-accessorized with gizmos, buttons, giant touchscreens, extra cameras, so forth.
ReplyDeleteNow, with this new truck, I like various parts of its functionality - there are simple things that simplify life. For example: I can hook up the big trailer, press a button, and the on-board computer will cycle through all of the light functions as I walk around the vehicle and check that all the lights are functioning. That's labor-saving! But for every great labor-saving idea, there are 10 features that provide limited value, but are utterly dependent upon a computer chip that will make it impossible (and expensive) to fix, when it fails - and will also require a repair shop to fix it. We've moved out of the age where a guy can keep his own vehicle on the road.
I'm told that one of the things that made Navy damage control work better on US ships in WWII than on most was that the crew drew from a pool that included a lot of farm boys who had had to learn early to how to fix things.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that's so true today.
My father-in-law fit that. He used his GI Bill to go to Stevens Institute to get an engineering degree, but at the time of enlistment he was not trained in that. However, he was in the Seabees, who had to build and fix stuff all the time, and he was able to see places for improvement in many places. Most notably, there was a process where he cut the time by over 30% by noting "You don't need to polish the inside of that cylinder, or even cut away the extra pieces of metal in there that it arrives with. We're only using the outside. Ignore the inside." He thought the difference was that in America, people believed that a regular Joe might have a good idea, and listen to it.
ReplyDeleteLike Oscar W Meyers who developed a carbon-dioxide purging system for gasoline lines on the Yorktown in WWII.
ReplyDeleteDid your father-in-law tell many stories about the Seabees?
Only after his wife died. Everything he wanted to talk about she would say "Stuart! No one is interested in that," and he would smile and obey. An immensely decent and peaceable man.
ReplyDelete