(That's exactly 500 characters by the way :D)

@golemwire

Isn't that the MOST satisfying feeling?

I've had that happen a few times now 😁

@golemwire @benjaminhollon

I'd love to see more mechanical controls become the norm.

Screens are cheap, but that doesn't mean everything has to have one!

@RL_Dane @benjaminhollon Oh absolutely. More robust, manual and "hackable" to list a few advantages.

@golemwire @RL_Dane
Speaking of "hackable" I thought of a way to turn my record player into an alarm clock: use one of those electrical sockets on a timer to plug it in! Then when it turns on in the morning it starts playing whatever record I queued up the night before.

@benjaminhollon @RL_Dane Oh that's cool.

@benjaminhollon @RL_Dane On a more computerized device, you couldn't do that unless the feature was built-in :( Here's to DIY!

@golemwire @RL_Dane
Haven't tried it yet, but it's a cool idea. :)

@benjaminhollon @golemwire

Yep, I've thought of something like that before.
I'm also tempted to get an AC timer for the tv, so it auto-shuts-off at bedtime, and doesn't stay silently running and snooping all night.

@RL_Dane @golemwire Any idea where to get something like that? I haven’t used them before.

@benjaminhollon @golemwire

Oh, they're everywhere. Walmart. Home Depot.

Only problem with them is that they're electromechanical, so if you lose power, the time doesn't have any way of correcting itself. It just resumes as if nothing happened, because it's basically just a teensy motor with a very large gear ratio (downward). The motor has a tiny cog advancing the entire large "clock" wheel. If you even just look at a photo of one, you'll see what I mean.

@RL_Dane @golemwire True, I’ve had that issue with alarm clocks. With my current one, I made sure to get one powered with a cord with a backup battery in case the power goes out.

@benjaminhollon @golemwire

If it's a 9V backup battery, those usually last a couple hours, tops. I don't know what it is about those alarm clocks (I had one 20 years ago), but the actual clock circuit is electrically not very efficient if it drains a 9V in a couple hours. That would power a #CASIO for decades, assuming it didn't chemically decay (which it would).

@RL_Dane @golemwire It doesn’t power the full clock; it just keeps track of the time. The clock won’t show the time or set off the alarm while on backup power, so I hope the backup would last longer because of that.

@benjaminhollon @golemwire

Oh, I know. I had one. Several, actually, throughout the years.

No, if you have a longer power outage, that 9V will be *gone*.
Personal experience on that one. AC clocks aren't like watches. I'm guessing they use the AC signal itself as a heartbeat (or base one off of it by division or whatnot), and producing one from a 9V is no mean feat.

@RL_Dane @golemwire True, a lot of alarms do that with the AC power.

I’ve had alarms run off of battery power for years, though, so I know it’s possible to do it more efficiently.

@benjaminhollon @golemwire

Yeah, it's a matter of whether it's designed to run off of battery or if the battery is there just as a backup.

@RL_Dane @golemwire Well, we’ll see I suppose. Either way it’s useful when I just need to unplug it and move it to a different socket.

@benjaminhollon @golemwire

I think it's fine for moving the clock, or if there's a typical short outage. I just know I came home one day after an outage and woke up with no alarm because it had reset itself and I didn't notice.

@golemwire @RL_Dane
A good summary!

My guess at why they're popular again is that people are realizing they don't actually own their music; they subconsciously want the bragging rights of buying their favorite albums. Then when it comes down to which way to buy their music, I think you're on the money for why that's the medium that gets picked.