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Will Femia is a Weblog enthusiast who, through good fortune and dumb luck, was introduced to the form as his position as chat producer for MSNBC.com careered into obsolescence. On any given day, Will can be found having already spent an unhealthy amount of time squinting at a computer screen.

Send a message to Will at spotter@msnbc.com



Au natural

Posted: Wednesday, January 09, 2008 2:59 PM by Will Femia
Filed Under:

You may recall my occasional complaint about the materials used to house electronic devices. Usually, the only time we see wood used in the construction of a gadget is when it's a personal modification or kit. So I was keeping an eye out for alternative materials as I wandered the show and did find a few examples.
Wooden frames on digital photo displays were common.

Though I don't have a photo, what reminded me of this whole category was seeing a display of USB 2.0 ExecCams. Some are even made in marble. The hardware comes from ANC.

Below, wooden headphones and ear buds from iNN.
SanDisk was displaying a line of flash drive jewelry made with precious stones set in gold. Hand made and heavy as heck.

Interestingly, a class of gadget using natural material housing is what might be called "nostalgia," a name I saw on one booth. More like "retro" than "steam punk," there were a number of examples of digital audio systems built into an old-time-looking radio or cabinet box.

Burning records to CD is part of the point of these units.



I wonder if the nostalgia theme for audio equipment is rooted in a the general audiophile snobbery that says music sounded better before digital. On the extreme end of audiophile throwback I found a few booths using vacuum tubes. The first time I saw it I thought it was just a cosmetic gimmick and like a fool I reached out and touched one of the tubes, burning the back of my finger. Hopefully no one buys the one with my knuckle hair cooked to the top of it. In a twist that I think would make some audio fanatics scoff, there were even tube amplifiers with iPod docks. What makes this a silly proposition is that it's pretty widely recognized that music sounds terrible in the mp3 format, so plugging one into an expensive system would be fruitless. By the way, when I say "expensive one" I mean I heard one woman tell a visitor to her booth that her tube units would retail for 7 grand.

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Actually, If someone had their music on their ipod in an uncompressed or lossless format, and it's sound is being transmitted digitally (via the dock rather than the analog output), then the quality is pretty much as good as it could possibly get.  $7 K is a lot for an amplifier though.

Jeff, Seattle (Sent Wednesday, January 09, 2008 7:44 PM)

Will,
What's a vacuum tube? All I can picture in my head is a Hoover upright or the tube used at the drive thru bank teller machines. And all that is on the link are words in whatever language, be it (http://www.chinese-tools.com/characters/alphabet.html), (http://www.omniglot.com/writing/korean.htm) or some other oriental language, in what looks like a digital "Hello, my name is..." card?

I have always wanted one of those nostalgic audio systems. I think it's that crackle sound you here when the needle makes contact with the record. It's kind of like the moth ball or Lysol smell that reminds you of Grandma's house. Oh the memories of making everything sound like the Chipmunks by playing with the vinyl speeds. I'd prefer my pc and laptop in wood, too.  Would it not be better since wood does not conduct heat?  Maybe it’s not as durable to dents and scratches.  

Maria, Puerto Rico (Sent Wednesday, January 09, 2008 9:19 PM)



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