Over-Engineering
Stop over-engineering shit! No, I don’t need an iPhone that will post a 3-D photo on Facebook. And who needs a “smart LED bulb” that can be controlled by a smart-phone and glow 3 different colors and blink?
Simpler Times
There’s a certain comfort in fiber-arts as a hobby.
The tools are simple and effective from centuries of paring down to the most bare-bones design in our tools.
Don’t get me wrong, changes in design have made knitting better too. Switching from straight needles to circular cabled needles made a huge impact on knitting. And I say a big “YES” to Addi Turbos! I’m not so sure about the Addi Flexiflips yet.
But innovations like Flexiflips don’t add ridiculous bells and whistles that nobody needs. And honestly, what will happen if enough knitters don’t find that this new innovation is useful? Skacel will eventually realize it was an unnecessary change and stop producing them.
I also look at my circular sock knitting machine.
I would suggest that there are few changes to this machine that wouldn’t diminish the overall effectiveness of it as a sock-knitting tool. It’s clearly possible. Erhlbacher Gearhart is manufacturing new CSMs and the few minor changes did make it better.
But the success of this venture is that they didn’t try to add unnecessary features that no one wanted or needed. The didn’t add an auto-threader. Or an internal video camera to see if you dropped a stitch while the ribber was on. They recognized a good design when they saw it.
What is your least favorite features on something that is WAY over-designed?
Lately, I’d have to say my choice is a toss-up between smart-phone-enabled automobiles and “smart” televisions.
Neither are so smart that they don’t confound many of us.
Current Spinning/Knitting
I’m down to two active projects. Yes, I finished the Biased Striped Stole.
It came out better than I had expected. It’s approximately 70″ long and 16″ wide.
And the colors are much nicer in total than what I imagined. As long as I keep that “squash blossom” color away from my face!
I am continuing to make slow progress on the Tommy’s Preferred Blend spinning project.
And still really enjoying spinning with this blend of fiber.
I love your blog!
“Smart” anything. Tried to change the time on a “Smart” oven the other day. I even had a 10 year old to help me. No dice! On, off, temperature. That’s all a stinkin’ oven needs!
That is a PERFECT example of unnecessary “enhancements”
I live with a ludite so I’m not allowed to have too many smart things. We have two Alexa-controlled lights, three remotes for the TV, printer that works remotely from iPads and iPhones, and a security system for which the little radio thingies keep coming unglued from door jams.
You could sell that beautiful scarf to a SF Giants fan 🙂
I’m not a fan of those new Addi Flexi’s. I have mine away.
So far I’ve managed life without any “smart” electronics or appliances so am free of the accompanying annoyances.
The finished stole looks quite smart, and, at least in the photo you’ve posted, you needn’t shy away from the squash blossom color.
So these smart devices are often seen as gimmicks, but are really useful for providing autonomy for disabled people. Something like the “smart bulb” can be operated via voice commands from bed. You no longer have to rely on someone else turning off the lights (or re-wiring your home to have the switch by your bed). This gives you autonomy over things like your own sleep schedule. Things like the visual doorbells can have another level of alert for people with hearing loss/Deaf people etc. Tech is making huge differences for people; and yes we do have a long way to go!
Brilliant rationale for smart devices that I hadn’t thought of…thank you. But I still say lighting fixtures do NOT need to turn different colors via an app!
I do not like/trust the “Alexa” thingies – going a bit too far for me. And I can change the time on my oven, but in my car??? Forget it! I agree with Vanessa, Joe. The squash blossom color is okay near your face. The scarf is great! And thanks for mentioning the name of the pattern this week. Must have missed it before.