27 Mar
2012
27 Mar
'12
2:52 p.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org
[mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Brent Hilpert
Sent: 27 March 2012 22:35
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: Re: PDP-8 questions
On 2012 Mar 27, at 2:13 PM, Dave McGuire wrote:
Everyone that wants some [rosewood/whatever] can come up with some
excuse for why their particular use is special and worthy ("I had a
deprived childhood and now I deserve a rosewood bedroom suite"). If
you're going to get it from the market it all adds to demand. And if
one subscribes fully to capitalist theory, it doesn't matter if it's
old and already harvested: new or old it all fits in one supply-
demand equation.
Perhaps there are worthy uses of rosewood - maybe a PDP-8
front panel
is one of them - but simply saying 'this is just one little bit, it
doesn't matter' isn't an argument.
Isn't it possible to get sustainable Rosewood?
On 03/27/2012 05:05 PM, Fred Cisin wrote:
> On Tue, 27 Mar 2012, Mouse wrote:
>> Specifically without commenting on whether the issue is worth
>> worrying
>> about, that is, addressing only this comment: "mind the
pence and
>> the
>> pounds will take care of themselves".
>> "Little by little makes a great pile". Thinking in the "one tiny
>> little additional load won't hurt anything" mindset is exactly
>> what got
>> us in the environmental binds we as a species are currently in.
>
> More importantly, it's how Microsoft software ended up as
what it is.
"It's only a few more bits/clock-cycles"
Sure, but how many Straight-8s are there? A handful. This is a
self-limiting problem. --
If these are the sort of panels at issue:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theodric/6296473924/
I highly doubt that they are solid rosewood. It was expensive even
back then, and solid wood planks have a tendency to warp and crack -
not a good idea for fitting to a comparatively precise metal frame.
They might be veneer on plywood or particle board, they could be mac-
tac stuck on particle board or mac-tac stuck on aluminum. All of
those were common in the period, solid wood is about the least likely.
I don't know where the original suggestion of rosewood came
from, but
mahogany, walnut and teak (or simulations thereof) were more common
for such purposes in the era.