In the right situation it does. If I needed a lever to pry something heavy or use as a breaker bar for a stuck fastener- and I had a rack full of wooden axes and that one? Boom. I’m grabbing the metal handle axe. In fact- there are a whole bunch of specialty tools which are functionally useless for any task except a single one- trying to use them for other things is either pointless or 10x harder than using a “standard” tool- but for that one thing or narrow situation they ARE perfect for- using any other tool is either functionally impossible or 100x harder than with the “unique” tool. I’ve seen a lot of “coy boy” technicians with some crazy improvised tools or uses for tools- and I can say in my experience that nothing is useless- some people just aren’t skilled or knowledgeable enough to see where it’s useful.
Everyone has a strength. A good manager, teacher, or mentor, sees it in them, fosters it, encourages it, and puts them where they can be of the best use. Don’t label a thing or a person useless just because you lack the imagination or vision to see their potential. A human being looked at a destructive and useless fire and realized it could keep them warm, then cook food, then turn a rock into a really strong metal “rock.” A Human being realized that fire could cause explosions- destructive explosions- and realized explosions could be harnessed to perform work, and eventually get us to the moon. If they would have said fire was useless- or only useful for one thing- we wouldn’t have the modern world. Not every human being sees the potential of mold to cure a disease- but I trust in my ignorance that if I think something is useless it means I’m just not smart enough to use it.
Maybe. I have a hammer and some other tools I still use that belonged to my great grandfather, my father had some tools that are almost 200 years old that he still used. Taken care of a good tool will last longer than most people will live. But I suppose the analogy of people to tools isn’t perfect considering one is an object and the other is a person. But if we are sticking to what applies to both tools and people- I stand by what I’ve said.
tools dont go obsolete. We still use the same tools we've used since tools were invented. We just added to the list. A hammer is always going to have a use. An axe will always have a use. A sharpened rock will still have a use. A really long fucking stick will still have a use.
Well if we are being given only a set time period to apply this then yes he is quite right. If we are trying to apply it to times that aren't present to a future that is unknown I would be much less willing to accept it.
I shall speak fact. We have tools that can obfuscate the laws of physics. We can levitate objects, turn fasteners without touching them, etc. they tend to be bulky, exorbitantly priced to own and use, and limited in application by nature of their design or operation. In a far flung future where one could buy such a tool at Home Depot on a journeyman’s wage- we may very well STILL have traditional tools. It’s 2019. You can get a powered hand held screw driver for less than $20. The manual variety is still the majority. Power saws have been available, reliable, and affordable for decades. Manual saws are still widely sold, bought, and used. Nail guns are cheap but most homes have hammers and nails- not nail guns. We have chemical less efficient parts washers that use sonic vibrations to clean parts but chemicals or scrubbing are STILL the most widely used method to clean components.
There are lots of reasons. There are plenty of circumstances where analog manual tools offer an advantage. So PERHAPS VERY FAR in the future where we would 1. Have developed such technologies, 2. Have refined such technologies to the point they were affordable and portable 3. Have perfected a safe and reliable power source that is portable, powerful, reliable, and safe enough to make use of such tools common and 4. Our overall technology level is high enough that we have the presumably rare resources needed to make the use of such technology practical for putting together a desk from ikea- PERHAPS at that time- if humans and/or the earth are still around- perhaps there’s classic tools will go away.
And perhaps there will be a cataclysm which sends humanity into a “dark age” and all knowledge will be lost and we won’t have these tools. Or perhaps this is all a simulation and these tools are sprites representing mathematical formulas used as keys to interact with objects in our environment. Blah blah blah. In the conceivable future of our life times and likely the life times of several generations past us- the point stands.
In the conceivable future less than 40 years ago if you told someone they could fit a high powered computer in their pocket that could access the bulk of knowledge of humanity in mere seconds, that you could translate foreign texts in your own language without the use of an interpreter, that you can solve hour long differential equations in a few minutes, that you could simulate a natural disasters within margins of error, or that you can use it to have discourse with a vast majority of the world instantly they would have called you insane. A computer is something that resides in building sized casings that have humans walk inside to troubleshoot them. They have to be cleaned for bugs that can cause vast amount of damage and you are saying that all of this will be more powerful, more compact, more intuitive to use, and done in an extremely timely fashion. Sounds like a pipe dream your insane it won't happen in our life times. I don't ask that you change your views...
Only that you expand your scope to account for things that may be considered pipe dreams. Also it amazes me how you respond so quickly. You are one of the few that can voice your opinion in a manner that is digestible and more often than not in a respectful fashion. To be honest I take opposite stances of you so that I may further expand my knowledge in the area of eloquent portrayal of one's one logical process.
A computer is not a simple tool. We can apply the advancement of technology to most any complex machine over decades. There have not been many improvements to the basic design of the wheel for example. Something like a crow bar is largely the same as it ever was. Metallurgy, ergonomics, other materials may or may not have advanced here and there- manufacturing techniques- it may be that simple tools made in one age are on average more precise or within a tighter tolerance than those of another, or that the absolute limits of high end tolerance are improved- but the basic design and function remains overall the same...
And perhaps more to the point- a hammer made in 2019 which is balanced better and made of space age allows with CAD ergonomics doesn’t make a hammer made in 1902 obsolete. It’s still useful. The point wasn’t that there can’t be something better- something is always “better” in relativity or at a specific task. The original statement was “useless.”
So even though it’s not particularly apt to compare a simple physics based tool (physics tends to change very little or at all in fundamentals- but even if it did...) to a complex machine existing in a cybernetic system- your point on computers is still invalid both to the scope of the argument and by virtue of being incorrect.
You see- there ARE still analog computers being used. There ARE still old Cray machines and 486 machines and the like being used. Some of the most secure and top end military installations still use tape drive systems. So again- what is the point? Yeah. We have smartphones- science fiction not so long ago, but they haven’t made all other computers or even very old computers useless have they? And if the point is I can’t see the future... neither can you. There is a probability that we get quantum underpants, and a probability they never exist. Compare the two on a graph to infinity and the probability of each approaches 100% as we reach infinity. Two conflicting items with 100% probability cancels out- the odds are even. So we really can’t argue for or against either without any hard support can we?
Based on what we have observed of the progression of technology- we can observe that humans have used some simple tools like levers for many thousands of years. We have not yet found a better implement or mechanism of physics. We have not yet proposed a theory for one which bears any fruit. It is reasonable to surmise that IF humans were to invent a better “lever” than a “lever,” it would not be for some time, and would not completely make the traditional lever obsolete in any time period within reason. In 2019 the Telegraph is not obsolete, nor the wheel, nor the horse. Some things become less common but not useless.
Great logic