If you had a time machine... - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: AlbertL
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 07, 2021, 02:07:43 pm
content: If you could work in the electronics/electricity/computing field (all defined broadly) at any given time and place, what would you choose?I usually come up with a different answer each time I think about it, depending on the vintage article I've most recently read or the YouTube video I've just seen.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 07, 2021, 02:59:16 pm
content: I would go back in time by about 13 months. Give the time machine to myself, with instructions to go to 2022, and destroy it.Probably creating a paradox, but whatever.

author: bsfeechannel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 07, 2021, 03:20:41 pm
content: Time traveling is just too dangerous.

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 07, 2021, 03:28:57 pm
content: mid 60's for me,just intime to invent a 24 channel desk and large PA rig in time for woodstock,weres the brown acid gone?

author: Messtechniker
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2021, 04:33:11 pm
content: I'd like to go to summer 1940 to the lab whereBraunmühl and Weber accidentally discovered AC tape biasing.A complete game changer back then.

author: Fred27
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 14, 2021, 04:40:11 pm
content: I'd go back to 2010 when I was chatting to a colleague in the office and he said "What do you think of this bitcoin thing? I might get some." Then I'd stop myself saying "It's just a Ponzi scheme. I wouldn't touch it." (I still think I'm right, just one that still hasn't imploded.)

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2021, 10:15:48 pm
content: About a week or so in order to warn Dave to find a new host before it's too la.... Oh.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2021, 10:26:31 pm
content: I think sometime around 1975, I'd love to jump into the dawn of the PC revolution, or maybe get a job at a place like Atari during the bronze age of arcade games, it would be a lot of fun to ride that wave up into the golden age in the early 80s.

author: Syntax Error
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2021, 08:20:12 pm
content: I guess I could go to the Year 3000, just to say that I had really been there. And show a copy of Grays Sports Almanac to prove it.Seriously (?), I would travel back to the year 1950 to give Alan Turing this recently issued British £50 note. It would be delivered with the explicit instruction that he must get on the first liner headed for America as his life was in danger from a British establishment conspiracy against leading academics (sic). There would be no need to explain to him the concept of time travel plus, he would understand the concept of a temporal paradox. When crossing the Atlantic, when he sees his face fade from the £50 note, he would know time travel was real. And his life then takes a new direction, inventing the equations for quantum time tunneling at MIT; for which he received the Nobel prize in 1987.https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/2021/march/the-new-50-note-unveiledUsing the equations, Dave then managed to build his dumpster delorean time machine. Where he is now living in Sydney in the year 1885, inventing everything electrical.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2021, 08:35:02 pm
content: Quote from: Syntax Error on April 15, 2021, 08:20:12 pmI think there's a very good chance he would think you were a nut and disregard everything you said. I don't know much about his personality but I would expect most rational people to respond in that way, certainly I would if some random weirdo showed up claiming to be from the future.

author: WattsThat
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2021, 08:51:16 pm
content: Quote from: james_s on April 15, 2021, 08:35:02 pmThere was a Rod Serling Twilight Zone episode that explored that exact theory. Russell Johnson (the professor on Gilligan’s Island) finds himself transported back in time to the evening of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. He pleads with those around him to assist with preventing the event but is seen and treated as a nutter. It was all very believable and was exactly the way we would all react to the situation.Only later, after returning to the present time, does he realize he was being helped by John Wilkes Booth.

author: Sal Ammoniac
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2021, 08:52:02 pm
content: I'd go back to 1997 where I'd buy as much Apple stock (at $1 a share) as I could afford.

author: MathWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2021, 09:04:11 pm
content: OP I agree I'd have a hard time choosing 1 period, in fact it reminds me of in video games where you level up your tech somehow. I guess I'd choose something early, since there's lots of the game left. And I'd want to play the whole thing.Today I'd say the 1930's, all the R&D in between WW1/2, a lot of cool stuff was in the works.

author: Alex Eisenhut
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2021, 02:54:03 am
content: Quote from: Syntax Error on April 15, 2021, 08:20:12 pm"sic"?

author: Syntax Error
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2021, 09:05:41 am
content: Quote from: Alex Eisenhut on April 16, 2021, 02:54:03 amThis is a Latin idiom used in written English to denote a statement is the truth, but often said in an ironic or cynical way.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SicGiven how Turing was abandoned by the British establishment, someone very high up, was for sure conspiring against him. Maybe Turing knew too much about those senior figures who had done too little? Wild speculation (sic).

author: bsfeechannel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2021, 12:08:50 pm
content: Quote from: Syntax Error on April 16, 2021, 09:05:41 amSicmeansthus, so. That is, it wasthus, sowritten, quoted word for word like that. But you can use it to denote irony. For example, let's talk about therapid response(sic) of Gorilla Servers to the power outage.QuoteIt is speculated that the British gov't was afraid that, because Turing was gay and couldn't have a steady marital relationship, someone could surreptitiously approach him with the intent of winning his affection only to have access to sensitive information.

author: GlennSprigg
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2021, 12:28:57 pm
content: THINK ABOUT IT !!... If there was ever a real Time-Machine, then INSTANTLY there would be no more gambling !!!Otherwise, anyone can get info about the Stock Market, or horse racing, or Pokies outcomes etc etc...And countless BILLIONS would then be available again to families/homes/kids/education...I've seen TOO many people & families ruined, and know of some personally that have committed suicide...

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2021, 01:28:50 pm
content: Quote from: Alex Eisenhut on April 16, 2021, 02:54:03 amOften used when you are quoting someone else verbatim and they made a spelling mistake or used poor grammar.e.g., "The capasiter  exploded."It's shorthand for "yes, I did mean to type it that way - please don't correct it" (if you're being charitable) or "wanker, doesn't know how to spell so I'm going to shame him".

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2021, 05:53:26 pm
content: Quote from: Syntax Error on April 16, 2021, 09:05:41 amIt was discovered that he was gay, no big deal today but that was a serious crime at that time and place. As far as I know, there are still some places where even in modern times it is a crime punishable by death.

author: gnif
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 17, 2021, 12:52:15 am
content: For anyone worried about paradoxes, you shouldn't be. According to Futurama logic, the universe/big-bang is an oscillation that repeats at a fixed frequency. All one has to do is travel forward in time to the same point in the next oscillation for things to remain coherent.

author: m98
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2021, 12:34:47 am
content: 1920's really would be interesting, even right here where I live in the pre-predecessor company where I currently work at. However, the time machine better also be working the other direction...

author: GlennSprigg
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2021, 11:58:34 am
content: Quote from: gnif on April 17, 2021, 12:52:15 amTrue... But interestingly, as much as I can understand/grasp this concept of a repeating Big-Bang after re-collapsing on itself again, I feel thatthere is absolutely no suggestion/thought that the 'new' expansion will follow anything like the same path/structure, or even the same 'Laws'!

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2021, 12:35:54 pm
content: Quote from: bsfeechannel on March 07, 2021, 03:20:41 pmDon't panic. Just remember to bring a towel.Oh, wait...

author: AlbertL
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 19, 2021, 12:08:25 am
content: I think one of the most interesting times to be in electronics would be the roughly 25 years from the end of WW II through the Apollo era. That time saw the birth of the transistor and microelectronics, the rapid growth of consumer electronics and broadcasting that had been on hold during the war, the development of modern computers. missiles and space exploration, and the widespread commercial deployment of technologies developed during the war such as atomic power, radar, microwave communications and jet aircraft.

author: bsfeechannel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 19, 2021, 03:14:45 pm
content: Quote from: AlbertL on April 19, 2021, 12:08:25 amI was there, at least at the end of that era.What was cool about that time is that we were trying to figure out how to make our TVs as thin as picture frames on the wall, how to make our computers fit in the palm of our hands, how to make a worldwide digital network infrastructure.We were devising ways of destroying that very present so that we could make way for the future.

author: SilverSolder
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 19, 2021, 03:18:45 pm
content: Quote from: bsfeechannel on April 19, 2021, 03:14:45 pmI guess it would be churlish to blame you for Facebook, Twitter, etc. etc. !Now that we're here, where do we go to next? - are we at the point where we can begin to talk about grafting a microscopic iPhone directly into baby's brain at birth?

author: Crashpc_CZ
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 19, 2021, 05:27:46 pm
content: One hunter post :-)Don´t go too far back:You will have no wires and electricity to work with, no manufacturing tools, no trust and support with your witchery and dark magic.Maybe 40 years back would suffice.

author: RoGeorge
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 19, 2021, 05:48:38 pm
content: Mostly yes. Or is it?https://visual.ly/community/Infographics/education/electricity-usage-ancient-civilizations

author: Crashpc_CZ
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 19, 2021, 06:02:16 pm
content: Yes, I am aware, but you know, no high power, no good stabilisation, no wearables and IOT, high maintenance. :-)You just do not want to start your electronics superiority with just lemon juice and such.

author: mindcrime
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 20, 2021, 02:11:36 am
content: That's a tough call, but I'm leaning towards sometime right around the end of 1970's, or very early 1980's. The beginnings of the "personal computer revolution". Not to mention one of the greatest eras of all time for music. Imagine seeing Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, etc. live back when they were in their respective primes... wow. Or seeing an early Motley Crue playing at the Whisky A-Go-Go. Or attending the Moscow Music Peace Festival. Not to mention the 80's when hair was big, skirts were short and... well, I'll just stop there.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2021, 02:30:40 am
content: Quote from: mindcrime on April 20, 2021, 02:11:36 amThe 80s were fantastic for many reasons, I generally like 80s cars and 80s boats too. Not crazy about women's hairstyles of that era though, and I never cared for the brass and crystal aesthetic that was popular in interior decor. Liked the 70s styles better overall.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2021, 09:35:44 pm
content: Quote from: RoGeorge on April 19, 2021, 05:48:38 pmThat poster is funny.The Baghdad battery is controversial. If it was an electrochemical cell, it's unlikely it was used for electroplating, as no electroplated objects have been found. Another theory is it was used for sacred scrolls.It's unlikely the ancient Egyptians and Romans understood the catfish produces electricity. The colour is way off in that picture: the ancient Egyptians were not black.And I'm not even going to say anything about the last three, which are a pure fantasies.

author: AlbertL
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2021, 09:01:25 pm
content: From my time machine's "Favorites" list:Time: 1950sPlace: Employment office for Aerojet General

author: VK3DRB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 23, 2021, 12:29:52 pm
content: I would buy many thousands of bitcoins at 20-50 cents each. And buy Altium shares at 9 cents each on 2011 and sell them for 41 dollars each in 2020.