Apparently analog means âanything thatâs not touch screenâ now.
How are most of these displays âanalogâ? e.g. the BTTF display of date and time is not analog at all.
The article refers to these as being from the âanalog eraâ. I guess because theyâve heard people talk about this being the âdigital ageâ. They clearly just mean âlook at what people used to think control panels would look like. How were they that stupid? Ha Ha!â
Weâve time traveled back to June 3!
Kind of funny that a post about âanalog control panelsâ should go with the photo lede of a digital display. You guys do know what âdigitalâ means, right?
Iâm glad Hitchhikers got a mention but it was for the movie. Take a look at the BBC series for some seriously cool analog graphics standing in for digital. The animation goes and excellent job of looking computer generated and I still think itâs excellent design.
I think they are referring to the fact that these displays have no digital components to them at all. Even the digits on the BTTF clock are just LEDs with a simple analog controller. The X-Wing for example is good old fashioned hand drawn animation.
edit to add: digit<>digital
âŚwhich historians in the far future might catalog under âPre Light Emitting Diode Euphoric!â
This is actually a rather timely thing for me to see; I am currently prototyping some significant UI additions to our existing software that are stylistically influenced by the ST:TNG design language, but under the hood are based (very loosely) on the how I imagine the wall-mounted displays in McCoyâs sick bay might have worked.
They could have at least shown panels with knobs if they wanted to claim analog.
I doubt very much that there were no digital components in the BTTF clock. There had to be ICs involved, which are very much digital. I agree with others that say that this article is misusing âanalogâ to just mean âoldâ.
I like the examples given and think the premise for the article is brilliant, but would kindly beg to differ-- most of those examples were in fact digital computer displays, because in the 1980s, the it was understood widely that the future looked digital. (Donât get me started about bad digital car dashboard read-outs and indicators.)
Analog would be non-computer-logic-type readouts, e.g.: gauges, not digits, and other fixed-function displays, excepting a few specialty subtypes, like flipbook readouts. Think electric steampunk, or a 1950s reactor control panel, and youâre closer than most of these examples to âanalog panel.â
Think electric steampunk, or a 1950s reactor control panel, and youâre closer than most of these examples to âanalog panel.â
that control panel is a better⌠analog.
Of course, 30-40 years from now any movie that doesnât envision a computer having a direct neural interface with humans will seem quaint.
That⌠seems surreal.
