My One-Day Vacation

Home - Craft of the Video Shooter - My One-Day Vacation
1937 Raleigh Roadster: the mechanical world that used to be.

This entry doesn’t have much to do with the digital craft or video storytelling, although in a way it has everything to do with it. Today I’m in Wales fetching a 1937 Raleigh Roadster with a three-speed Sturmey-Archer and 28 X 1.5-in tires. When this cycle was manufactured in Nottingham two years before the outbreak of World War II there was little about it that one of average or sub-par intelligence couldn’t understand. After all this elegant machine is the quintessential mechanical device with rod-actuated brakes; the three-speed internal gearing integrated into the rear hub operated by a a push-pull cable engaging the planetary gears.

We lived in a mechanical world then, and when something went wrong with the Raleigh Roadster, it was a simple fix – easy to figure out, and easy to remedy. On the other hand, today it accomplishes little to break open a DVD player’s case and stare down a microprocessor. Troubleshooting in the digital era requires insight and understanding of theory, bits and bytes. That takes training and discipline and ongoing study.

So today I am thankful and grateful: my latest cycle acquisition is blessedly devoid of the digital complexity that defines our time.

1 Comment

  • Everett , January 2, 2012

    I’ve never been so happy reading a blog entry in my entire life. I’m a network/security engineer by day. However my first love is mechanical systems. I have a Rollei B35 because of this. It’s entirely mechanical. I have a mechanical pocket watch. I actually own a sextant and astrolabe. I can compute where I am in the world, when I am in the world, and take a picture of it, without using any electricity. I do ultralight back packing so that I actually enjoy the natural world. I own a whizzer motor bike (and use it). Mechanical devices just feel… Digital/Electronics is what pays my bills, but Analog/Mechanical devices are what removes the stress from paying the bills.

Comments are closed.