Tech and Engineering Question

[slooroo]

Not so much a suggestion/critique as much as a thought I had. Why does the section emphasize modern tech? Would not there not be a niche in talking about vintage technologies and engineering too? What counts as tech too? For example if I made a thread about watches is that too low tech despite them being quite the feats of engineering? I guess I'm curious what exactly falls under the bounds for the section is all.

[Kyng]

Good question !

I suppose the reason why it's dominated by modern tech is because that's what most of the news is about: a new technology that's still being developed will naturally generate more news than an old technology that isn't . Also, people can relate most to the modern tech that they're using now, and the tech from a generation ago that they're nostalgic about, rather than things from the more distant past (which they're either too young to remember, or don't really regard as "technology").

But, when it comes to older/historical technologies, I appreciate that there isn't a clear line between 'technology' and 'history': they sort of blur into one another . So, if you're thinking of starting a topic about older technology (i.e. from more than a generation ago), the key question that I would ask is: would the topic be more of interest to tech enthusiasts, or to history enthusiasts?.

To illustrate how this works, I'll give a couple of examples of 'historical tech' threads:

• "The Holy Wars of Cyberspace" - This is about historical controversies between conflicting factions of tech enthusiasts. Such a thread would be of far more interest to tech enthusiasts than to history enthusiasts; therefore, it's in Tech and Engineering.
  
• " British adopts M1 Garand Variant" - This is about a technology that's still somewhat modern - but, the premise of the thread is to discuss how it might have changed history. This is of more interest to history enthusiasts than to tech enthusiasts; therefore, this thread is better placed in History and Civilizations.

Now, when it comes to watches: there is quite a lot you can say about them that would be of interest to tech enthusiasts. First of all: there are digital watches and smartwatches, which would clearly fit into 'Tech and Engineering'. Secondly: even though analogue watches have been around for hundreds of years, they're still 'modern' in the sense that people are still actively using them (and also, the engineering itself is complex enough to be of interest to that section's target audience). The only thing I would say, however, is that watches aren't just feats of engineering: they're also fashion accessories . So, if somebody wanted to start a thread about those aspects of watches, it would probably be better-placed in "Home and Beauty".

Of course, the further back in time you go, the less likely a thread is to fit into Tech and Engineering. For example, consider castles and trebuchets: they're so primitive, obsolete, and removed from "modern tech" that they'd be of no interest to tech enthusiasts (unless they somehow incorporated modern tech to make them more effective). However, there's a lot you can say about them that would be of interest to history enthusiasts - so, the vast majority of topics about these would be better placed in History and Civilizations.

Hopefully that helps to clear things up - but, if you still have doubts about a specific topic that you're thinking of starting, then you're more than welcome to ask first !

[Kyng]

Three months on, I have something else to add to the above .

One idea that I'm exploring right now is the expansion of "Tech and Engineering" into "Tech, Engineering, and Transport". But, whilst considering that idea, I encountered this exact problem: some threads about historic transport (like the Titanic) would probably be more at home in History and Civilizations .

In the end, I came up with a solution... but then, I realised that the solution I came up with wasn't specific to transport: we could apply the same solution to the entire Tech and Engineering board!

Essentially, the guideline I have in mind for threads about 'old tech' is:

1. Is the thread likely to be of more interest to tech enthusiasts, or history enthusiasts? If it's the former, put it in Tech and Engineering; if it's the latter, put it in History and Civilizations.
   
2. If there's no clear answer to the first question - then, put it in Tech and Engineering if it's from after World War II, and History and Civilizations if it's from before or during World War II.

The reason why I'm using World War II as the cut-off date is because it brought a massive surge of technological advancement in a short space of time, which had wide-ranging effects across the board. And, in particular, it brought in the first electronic computers: the 'Colossus' series first entered use in 1943. (Of course, a thread about those 'Colossus' computers would still go in Tech and Engineering, even though they entered use a couple of years before the "end of World War II" cut-off date, because that thread would be of far more interest to tech enthusiasts than to history enthusiasts!)

If this makes sense, I can implement it as an official guideline .