It's refreshing to see a non tech solution every now and then. As technologists we have to learn when and when not to apply technology solutions. This just happens to be one of those cases.
When I took the intro digital logic course at Caltech in the late '70s or early '80s, the textbook had a chapter at the end called something like "The Engineer as Dope Pusher" that urged engineers to not get carried away by technology.
An example he gave was designing a timer for a clothes dryer. The user needs to be able to specify how long to try the clothes. The dryer should run for that long and stop.
The standard solution was a mechanical timer. It had a dial. The consumer turned the dial to the appropriate time, the dryer started, and when the timer ticked down the dryer stopped.
Engineers were starting to replace these with digital solutions. The digital solution was a lot more fun for the engineer. He'd get to design some circuitry, maybe use a microprocessor. He'd need a power supply for the electronics. He could have buttons and a nifty LED display. Maybe have preprogrammed drying times.
That's a hell of a lot more fun for the engineer than to just specify sticking some commodity mechanical timer in there like his father and grandfather would have done.
However, the mechanical timer is cheaper, easier to build into the dryer, more reliable, and easier to use for the consumer. There is no advantage whatsoever to the consumer or the dryer company in using the custom digital solution--it serves no purpose other than the entertain the engineer who designs it.
How does a mechanical dryer handle wrinkle-free mode, where the dryer runs for one minute every ten to avoid letting wrinkles settle? Or handle a mode where the heat is on high for 15 minutes to evaporate water, and then switches to low or no breath to avoid bleaching the fabric.
Analog does not scale with complexity nearly as well as digital.
Plus the technology involved in storing, organizing, formatting and printing the data. This is more an example of an effective use of technology to solve the problem. Plus it serves as a reminder that the system to be created extends beyond just the computer.
One of my roles is reviewing the medical notes of independent corpsmen on Navy cruisers and destroyers. I assess everything from black ink to the quality of their differential diagnosis. Most of the corpsmen use one of the electronic documentation systems. From one of my reviews yesterday: "Nothing like handwritten notes: efficient & more pleasant on the eye. In future, focus on setting lowercase letters __on the line__ so the ascenders don't get lost among shorter letters floating away."
Part of the fun with reading written notes is that you can evaluate the care put into writing the note from the handwriting. Its much harder to appreciate when its electronic.
