Graphing calculators: where legacy tech lives on

Today I came across an incredibly interesting fact: graphing calculators often use processors from the 1970s and 1980s. The TI-84 series uses the Zilog Z80, which powered some of the earliest home computers, the Casio fx-9750, which happens to be what I use, appears to have a variation of the Motorola 6809, and the TI-89 gets the Motorola 68000, the processor of the original Macintosh, among many other computers in the 1980s.

I’m very pleasantly surprised. I expected the calculators to have more modern processors, but on another thought this makes sense, because many of these calculators were designed in the 1990s, and the additional compatibility of older chips can really made development of and programming on the calculators easier.

Universal internal connector

The world might need an universal flex-cable connector for internal electronics use. (Essentially, an internal, miniaturized version of the venerable USB) The connector should be designed to accommodate many functions, such as connecting the battery, camera, WLAN modules, GPS, and so on. An associated set of protocols would certainly need to be developed, analogous to the hardware-software cooperation in the case of the USB standard. This is because current internal connectors are merely designed for a specific purpose, so creators often have to resort to bulky external connectors, such as the USB, for internal functions.  These bulky connectors and the associated cables greatly hinders the development of compact DIY/prototype devices. A universal internal connector would enable much more compact DIY and low-cost prototype devices to be built, helping to unleash the potential of future 3D printing technologies.

Meanwhile, such an connector could also enable electronics manufacturers to save budget, as they are currently developing proprietary flex-cable connections for trivial, non-performance-intensive things, such as connecting the battery, fingerprint sensor, speakers, and so on. (As far as I know) Obviously, big companies may need many proprietary features and are generally too arrogant and exclusive to consider universal solutions, but smaller companies may very well need the savings.

Of course, such a large-scale universal connector would be very hard to develop and market without the support of large companies and a widespread, obvious need from the market, so such a connector might not materialize in the very near future, unless the aforementioned drawbacks of current solutions really start to show in the business world. However, scaled-down and relatively intra-platform versions of this connector could start appearing soon. Raspberry Pi, for example, is incredibly popular, yet currently rely on the bulky and weak GPIO pins for many functions, and 2 dedicated flex cables for the official camera and display. It could be very much in the foundation’s interest to put a type of ‘universal raspberry connector’ on the board, accompanied by a set of software protocols, and encourage the development of various modules that use this connector. If this does happen, the wider industry’s reaction could be interesting.

Tesla’s situation as an investor

Recently Tesla’s situation had become incredibly interesting.

Elon Musk seems to be unique in that he is never content with lying in the couch and watching the money flow in, and that is the worst thing from a stocks trader’s perspective.

Traditionally, tech-related entrepreneurs make a ground-breaking innovation, dominate the market, and then lie down to comfortably profit, (and the stocks go up) while spending some cash on relatively conservative and safe developmental work. Facebook, Amazon, Google, and many others have all more or less followed this path. Mr. Zuckerberg is only around 30 years old, but he’s perfectly happy with lying down and making money while squashing late-comers – and in my opinion that’s a big reason why money feels safe in the form of Facebook stock.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk seems determined to blow every penny into radical developments. With no imminent competition in sight, Tesla simply isn’t happy with giving its two existing, successful models occasional upgrades and catering them to the rich, and instead had chosen to start the incredibly risky Model 3 project, which had so far proven financially challenging. It would almost appear that Elon Musk enjoyed being on the brink of bankruptcy.

On the other hand, though, Elon Musk had built a nearly unbeatable cultural advantage. With various scandals (or near-scandals) popping out of so many established tech companies, Elon Musk remains the friendly, courageous, innocent, and innovative entrepreneur that he had always been, and I’d say that nobody wants to see him fail. Such a cultural air-curtain could potentially be game-changing, and could be putting a much needed layer of safety on Tesla’s stock.

Can’t wait to see what Tesla’s future looks like.

Ukulele overlaying

So I picked up the Ukulele a few days ago, and so far it’s been a blast. The Ukulele had nearly been as easy to learn as promised, with simple songs coming together nicely with a few days of practice, and ergonomic issues (finger-related) fading into the background after the first day or two. Anyways, I started seeing songs that required ‘two Ukuleles’, one playing the main track and the other playing the background track. Not having two of these instruments, it seemed that these songs will have to be incomplete.

However, a thought soon appeared: I can record the background track first and play to it. The instant I had this idea, I knew I had to do it, because it was so wild and nasty that it was intensely good. Minutes later, I had the background track flowing out of my phone speaker, the quality broken as ever but the content still preserved, and after playing the main track to it, I can’t help but laugh: this is probably as organic as fun gets.