Thursday, January 18

when the lights go out ...

I was reading Pat-Bob's blog, and spotted an interesting exercise: how many machines/electronics did you use today?. Weekday or weekend? Do AA batteries count? Hmmm.

Should I attempt this from midnight-midnight?
6am-6am?
Will that matter?

Should I keep the list on a piece of paper, so that my PDA doesn't become part of the mix? Do I include light switches? Should I include my home alarm if I merely go outside to fetch the mail (and hear the alarm sound as the door opens/closes)?

I suppose I could go into the "would this device fail if the electricity were out?" mode but then that would include my home furnace (sparked by a thermostat) ...

His next day's post was slightly different .. the number of times he had to identify himself as he went through The Daily Routine. Perhaps I could start there, then progress to the much larger list. Hmmm.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What about simple machines, such as levers and inclines? For example, a ramp is a simple machine.

You also have to decide whether to count the simple machines that make up a larger system or just the system itself. For example, Pat Bob counted his computer, router, and internet connection rather than lump them together as a single complex machine (system). If you drove a car are you going to count it as one machine, or as thousands of machines (that happen to work together).

Gene said...

I'll log it:

1) if it has batteries
2) if it plugs into the wall
3) if it is self-contained

I ain't gonna try to determine how many components are in any given box. Life's too short.