I don’t mean BETTER. That’s a different conversation. I mean cooler.

An old CRT display was literally a small scale particle accelerator, firing angry electron beams at light speed towards the viewers, bent by an electromagnet that alternates at an ultra high frequency, stopped by a rounded rectangle of glowing phosphors.

If a CRT goes bad it can actually make people sick.

That’s just. Conceptually a lot COOLER than a modern LED panel, which really is just a bajillion very tiny lightbulbs.

  • LouNeko@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    6 hours ago

    I disagree, firearms are way cooler than bows or swords. Sure, swords are cool but there’s only so many ways you can make a pointy sharp metal stick, or put a string on a piece of wood. But firearms in the early 1900s where absolutely wild when it comes to internal mechanics. Same thing goes for siege weapons and artillery, a trebuchet, catapult or ballista are cool at a medieval exhibit, but they ain’t a Schwerer Gustav railway canon.

    But this is a statement on its own. Now every gas operated gun is either a AR-15 or AK. Every “new” gun is a “Tactitech Eaglefire XK-34-1050-Superbadger Ultradog”, and at the end its just another AR-15 with some sharp bits added to it.

    Older firearms where way cooler an they don’t make them like that anymore.

    • PyroNeurosis
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      3 hours ago

      While yeah, AR and AK patterns are everywhere, there’re still neat things to find. The Kriss Vector has their innovative approach to recoil control, the Boberg pistol reverses the usual way rounds are stripped drom the mag.

      The magic is still out there, but it never was nor will it ever be common.

      • LouNeko@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        2 hours ago

        Yeah, the most intricate gun in my eyes is the AN-94, canted magazine, recoiling barrel, specialized muzzle device, pulley system, 2 shot hyperburst. What were they smoking when developing this thing?

    • TopRamenBinLaden@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      edit-2
      6 hours ago

      When you break it down, yeeting a small piece of metal, accurately, up to a mile, through the use of handheld controlled explosions, is way cooler than just yeeting a pointy stick with another stick and a string. So, I am inclined to agree with you.

      From an engineering standpoint, firearms are so much more fascinating.

      • Bytemeister@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        2 hours ago

        Still amazes me that at the end of the day, most of them are fired by what is essentially a mouse trap. I’m curious when electronically activated cartridges become acceptable. Imagine how much space/bulk you can relocate from a pistol without the need for a mechanical hammer/striker. Think about getting a crisp and responsive trigger on a bullpup style setup. How much more accurate could you be with a long range rifle if you eliminate the trigger pull from moving the weapon (have it disconnected from the firearm, like a remote camera trigger).