Conversation

What makes a machine interesting (as opposed to useful)? Consider spectra from pure software to pure hardware machines and from simple (nut and bolt, addition algorithm) to complex (IC engine, Linux). What kinds of machines do you find most interesting? Why?
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Engineering innovation is interesting when it first arrives and still has an element of surprise to it. I got a MacBook Air IIRC when the 2nd gen. model came out, and the unusual thin-ness of it still felt a little bit otherworldly in relation to its surroundings at the time.
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Also machines that remind you that they exist, ex. how I’ve written before on more or less missing how PC monitors in the CRT era used to emit heat & noise. It was intriguing to notice concrete evidence of an unseen electrical process happening which you didn’t fully understand.
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Do you consider ordinary buildings machines? With no “smart” features? Somehow I don’t even though they contain moving parts like doors and elevators and electrical and hvac stuff. Wonder why.
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That’s a good question. Offhand I would say I don’t because their relative stasis and passivity makes them exist at another time scale from that of typical human (or robotic) actions & decision-making, and that makes them feel less like tools ...
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... (or if you’re being sympathetic to robots/computers, conversation partners) which engage in a feedback loop w/ our own thought process. People like Alexander argue buildings engage in many feedback loops, but I think their potential independence from them is also interesting.
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Yeah, I think when my mind goes in the direction of wanting to make machine comparisons it turns towards ships & large planes too. Maybe because we’re encouraged to associate them w/ feelings of stability, but our ability to move around inside them might be a common feature too.