5 November, 2009 | Filed under “The Archives”
During the time when the first incandescent light bulb was demonstrated by Thomas Alva Edison in 1879, he was quoted as saying “We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles.” Now, at 4am some 130 years later, it is by his inventions that I can write these words in an otherwise dark room.
He must have been a man with a keen eye for details and I think of him now because of a different attention to detail, however subtle, given by Apple, the computer company. Not surprising to anyone who has used their hardware and software for any length of time, but nevertheless, it is an admirable thing when the common mediocrity is challenged.
These days Leopards are substituted for Snow Leopards, at least as far as computer operating systems go. The shy felix is, however, only comfortable in Intel environments, and I am not fortunate enough to phase out my elderly, nay, distinguished, Macintosh G5 with its IBM PowerPC heart. Back to the old routine: Upgrade as far as possible. Remember System 9.2.2?
As of this writing, Mac OS 10.5.8 promises to be the final version of Leopard and well worth the time and energy (a returning word in this article) spent on going from version 10.5.5. I do not know if the detail was introduced anywhere between 10.5.5 and 10.5.8 but the old light bulb was still there (in the System Preferences panel illuminating Hardware > Energy Saver) in the former and it had been replaced with an image of a politically correct, energy conserving bulb come 10.5.8. As already stated: Subtle. I cannot say why it caught my eye, but it sure brought a smile to my face.
Is it only a matter of time before The Walt Disney Company replaces the 60 watts of Gyro Gearloose’s companion, Little Helper? They might even pull the plug on their maker in his cryogenic habitat – if what is said is true.
I am not in the know as to whether The Edison Electric Light Company would have propagated the idea of energy concervation. My own ultimate energy conservation would, of course, be to stick with the aging G5, defying every customer demanding the latest and the flashiest, turn off the lights and go to bed. I’ll think about it.
I round this off, freely granting Mr. Edison one more quote as it injects hope into my own feeble struggles with so many things: “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”
By the way, take a look at Patent No. 223,898 of January 27, 1880.
