# Grumpy old luddites around here **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701 **Category:** The BBQ Pit **Created:** [April 6, 2025, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701 "2025-04-06T16:01:08Z") **Posts on this page:** 20 **Page:** 7
### Author: ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel) #### Post date: [April 8, 2025, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701/121 "2025-04-08T21:01:47Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Meh, probably people were saying thing about phalanx and cumin Cool. Only a couple thousand years before it stops sounding stupid! 😃 ---
### Author: ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker) #### Post date: [April 8, 2025, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701/122 "2025-04-08T21:23:52Z")
I’m a techo luddite, if such a thing can exist… I love my Macbook Pro, but I also used to work in a 1790s era windmill. Not terribly grumpy, but getting there. I’d love… LOVE… acess to a linotype machine. ---
### Author: ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines) #### Post date: [April 9, 2025, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701/123 "2025-04-09T03:45:38Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > Those days are gone forever, over a long time ago… Send it home in a letter to yourself. ---
### Author: ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out) #### Post date: [April 9, 2025, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701/124 "2025-04-09T10:34:10Z")
I used to run offset presses before laser printers made them obsolete. They involved lots of intricate moving parts, constant monitoring of ink/water balance, and potentially deadly accidents (once got my fingers pulled into the color head rollers), but I felt like a true craftsman when operating them. ---
### Author: ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin) #### Post date: [April 9, 2025, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701/125 "2025-04-09T13:52:12Z")
The Linotype was especially used in the newspaper industry. When newspapers went to phototypesetting, the Linotype was doomed. It was such a huge, heavy complicated machine, and one that could spurt hot lead onto the lap of the operator, that, unlike handset type, it was not really suited for hobbyists and specialty printing. It is still a marvel to behold. In 1974, fresh out of high school, I went to work at the local newspaper. It had just gotten rid of its Linotype. Just two years earlier, the operator had made me a slug (a “line of type”) with my name on a tour of the place. The machine, and the typesetter, were gone, replaced by a computer and a fellow high school grad whose only typesetting skill was the ability to type 60 words a minute. ---
### Author: ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall) #### Post date: [April 9, 2025, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701/126 "2025-04-09T14:12:46Z")
I collect old computers. (I lie to myself that it’s like collecting old cars, but with better geek cred. And people don’t leave old cars on the curb _for the taking_, so it’s a lot cheaper.) The police were very insistent on this point. An old car left on the curb isn’t up for grabs. 😡 But I don’t insist the world hold still so that I can browse the World Wide Web on my circa-1989 Amiga 3000. Still, I feel for those whose circumstances prevent them from keeping up with the Unstoppable March of Progress. Even if the march itself seems pointless (or at least, not for the benefit of users). ---
### Author: ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out) #### Post date: [April 9, 2025, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701/127 "2025-04-09T17:55:51Z")
Output copy onto wax strips, paste them on the gridded layout board, use the huge camera in the dark room, develop the negative, affix it to the light table, apply the stripping sheet, opaque the little blurs and scratches, attach to plate, burn the plate, clean off the green stuff, insert into printing press, etc. I had green fingertips, but it meant I was employed. /sigh ---
### Author: ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3) #### Post date: [April 9, 2025, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701/128 "2025-04-09T17:57:31Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > I collect old computers. (I lie to myself that it’s like collecting old cars, but with better geek cred. And people don’t leave old cars on the curb _for the taking_, so it’s a lot cheaper.) •• nods \*\* Me too, except that nearly all of mine were originally my everyday ones or the emergency-backup ones of that same era. I have ten within reach of where I’m sitting, the oldest my souped-up Macintosh SE running System 6.0.8 and the newest being my FileMaker dev box, a vintage-2018 MBPro running Sonoma (MacOS 14.5). ---
### Author: ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs) #### Post date: [April 9, 2025, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701/129 "2025-04-09T18:28:49Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > My Gobhi helped me buy my first flatscreen Sorry, but what’s a Gobhi? Google gives me a bunch of initialisms. But I’m assuming it’s a servant of some sort, because you said “My Gobhi”… Hmm, maybe it’s a family member (that you think you own…?). ---
### Author: ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink) #### Post date: [April 9, 2025, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701/130 "2025-04-09T18:32:22Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Sorry, but what’s a Gobhi? A house-elf? ---
### Author: ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs) #### Post date: [April 9, 2025, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701/131 "2025-04-09T18:35:14Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Output copy onto wax strips, paste them on the gridded layout board, use the huge camera in the dark room, develop the negative… You forgot all the “going back three steps because something screwed up even though there’s a backlog of jobs waiting”. I did all this at various ad agencies in the '70s and '80s, even though I’d been hired for my concepting and design skills (and THAT’S where I should’ve been spendingmy time). So at the last agency job I had, I never let on that I knew how to use “the huge camera”, or the Linotype machine. ---
### Author: ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode) #### Post date: [April 9, 2025, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701/132 "2025-04-09T18:46:14Z")
That would be the lady I love. I used to refer to her as “my beloved”. Apparently, a lot of posters didn’t like that. So I have switched to one of the pet names I use for her. “Gobhi” is the Hindi word for cauliflower. I called her that after she decided to call me “Aloo” which is Hindi for potato. ---
### Author: ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker) #### Post date: [April 9, 2025, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701/133 "2025-04-09T18:47:23Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > circa-1989 Amiga 3000. You had an Amiga? My 1990s self (using Amstrad 464) is restrospectivly but profoundly jealous. ---
### Author: ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn) #### Post date: [April 9, 2025, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701/134 "2025-04-09T18:49:01Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > That would be the lady I love. I used to refer to her as “my beloved”. Apparently, a lot of posters didn’t like that. So I have switched to one of the pet names I use for her. “Gobhi” is the Hindi word for cauliflower. I called her that after she decided to call me “Aloo” which is Hindi for potato. To be honest, at least “my beloved” would be a hell of a lot less confusing. Your pet names are not known by anyone else. ---
### Author: ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker) #### Post date: [April 9, 2025, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701/135 "2025-04-09T18:55:54Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > To be honest, at least “my beloved” would be a hell of a lot less confusing. Yeah, cute nickname aside, I really dislike cauliflour. And broccoli. And … well, all of the brassica subspecies. Brussel sprouts are the worst. Not to say that @DocCathode’s choice in his lady’s nicknames is invalid, just that it would not be my first choice. ---
### Author: ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl) #### Post date: [April 9, 2025, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701/136 "2025-04-09T19:16:37Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > To be honest, at least “my beloved” would be a hell of a lot less confusing. Your pet names are not known by anyone else. Doesn’t worry me at all. Of course I like Indian food so I know those terms, and I can see why someone might use them as words of endearment. ---
### Author: ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13) #### Post date: [April 9, 2025, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701/137 "2025-04-09T19:20:43Z")
> [@digs](#): > > what’s a Gobhi? Google gives me a bunch of initialisms Heh. I Googled it as well, and the first hit was the Hindi term for cauliflower. But I thought that certainly nobody would call anybody a cauliflower, so it had to be something else. Turns out I was wrong. Not the first time this week. ---
### Author: ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn) #### Post date: [April 9, 2025, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701/138 "2025-04-09T19:22:19Z")
Exactly. How the heck is anyone else supposed to understand that this is a term of endearment? ---
### Author: ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode) #### Post date: [April 9, 2025, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701/139 "2025-04-09T19:28:40Z")
I had used “my beloved” for a long time. Then in some thread or another, somebody said they objected. A bunch of other posters agreed with them. So I switched to “my Gobhi”. “Girlfriend” just sounds wrong. I am 50. She is 49. While I do intend to marry her, I have not yet made some romantic spectacle and gotten down on one knee. (There are a few reasons) So, she is not technically “my fiancee”. Probably, there are a few boring and unpoetic terms that fit. I absolutely refuse to use any term that is boring or unpoetic. I guess I will go back to “my beloved”. Sorry to derail the thread. ---
### Author: ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo) #### Post date: [April 9, 2025, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701/140 "2025-04-09T19:31:15Z")
For what it is worth I liked **my beloved**. Pretty unequivocally positive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grumpy-old-luddites-around-here/1016701.md?page=8)