|
The other day I was reading about how IBM is probably going to be dropping compiler support for its System/36 and System/38 midrange computer systems. To put it in perspective, the S/36 came out in 1983. Duran Duran, Culture Club, and the Men at Work were topping the charts. It's difficult to imagine a computer or software lasting that long, but apparently IBM is going to finally force people to upgrade.
One of the most depressing elements of computing is how disposable the technology is. Unlike the venerable S/36, the useful life of most computers is about 3 or 4 years. I was thinking about that recently, as I was using my 81-year old treadle sewing machine.
As some long-time readers may recall, about a year ago, I decided I wanted a treadle sewing machine and I put an ad in a local newspaper. I got a number of calls and settled on a 1925 Singer 66. The lady I bought it from said it had been owned by her great aunt and like many of these machines, the treadle took quite a circuitous route to end up in Idaho.
Anyway, I cleaned it thoroughly and it works remarkably well. The bad news is that much like a computer, a treadle sewing machine requires a bit of user knowledge to operate. Although I do have the manual, I can report that in 1925, most of the information was about various maintenance tasks, rather than how you actually run the machine. (Maybe they just assumed that everyone had a friend or relative to teach them or something.)
I may not have a treadle instructor, but I do have the Internet. Online, I found the great Treadle On site and an article in Mother Earth News that explained the process, so I finally was able to teach my feet what to do. Several quilt blocks later, I was feeling pretty good. Plus, as it turns out, I find foot-powered sewing really soothing.
As someone who spends so much time with technology and its instant obsolescence, it makes me unreasonably happy to have a human-powered treadle machine that still does what it was designed to do 81 years later. Of course, it's nice to have access to the Internet to learn how to use it as well.
|
