Old Technology vs. New

As I mentioned in an earlier post, surprisingly I enjoy the older sewing technology versus the new technology.

I continued to mediate upon this concept today as I listened to the tick-tick-tick of an old travel clock. My grandfather used to travel a lot and in his life, he acquired a few travel clocks over the years. I don't know their stories, but I ended up with two (both made in Germany, one in West, one in Germany). They simply fold into a box the size of the palm of my hand and as far as I know, they aren't made any more (or I haven't seen them at JCPenny's).

The clock ticked and I watched the analog hands move across the clock face. When I travel, I tend to use my cell phone as my "travel clock" to get me up in the mornings. That, like many other travel clocks depends on a battery or electricity. I began to ponder when did we switch from wind up to batteries?

Surprisingly (or not), I didn't know this answer, but realized that I liked this wind up clock. I told The Philosopher Musician that this clock is repairable for the most part. All I have to do is find a clock maker (which I will do for the other clock one of these days). If I had a battery operated travel clock, and it broke or the battery died, I'd have to throw away the battery or the whole clock. What a waste! To me, the wind up is simpler.

My thought here is how wasteful we've become with our technology. While in some ways this has helped the environment, in others, we're quickly destroying and harming it, which isn't right. Sometimes, the older "complicated" way is better for us, the environment, than the new modern way.