Information does not always travel easily from storage form to storage form. All those newspapers transferred to microfilm are hard to read. We know more about the Ancient Egyptians before they moved from stone to papyrus (the records rotted away). I just read Women of Futures Past: Classic Stories (note, I do not have an affiliate link, I just thought you’d like a link. By all means shop at the store of your conscience.) The introduction is so fascinating that I read it to Dan out loud. Apparently women have been writing and editing Science Fiction since the early 1920’s, but women writing science fiction in the early 21st century were unaware that they were not breaking new ground. The reasons older stories by women were not anthologized or available on the internet were complex and depressing. Without any villains, bad stuff happened.
My husband works for Contech Research Inc. His Boss’ father, the founder of the company wrote an article on Gold Flash. This is one of many issues where the boss will say to a potential customer, “I’d love to take your money, but I know exactly what your problem is.” If it’s not too little gold, it’s missing nickel, and that lead free solder? It totally sets electronics up for tin whiskering. But this knowledge has largely disappeared from engineering culture because the people who discovered it in the 1960’s wrote in papers that didn’t wind up on the internet: or talk to the young engineers who didn’t know WHY something expensive was needed in a product 30 years after they retired.
I’ve heard other people who lead Homeschooling groups mention how different young moms are today than 15 years ago when they started homeschooling. It’s not awful, just different. I’m learning to write short announcement e-mails on one topic that can be read on a phone. Folks who used to print out my tomes and store then in the bathroom so they could read them when they had time would probably appreciate the change if their kids hadn’t all graduated already.
But I was sad to read Why I’m not Designing Knitwear Right Now by Kristin Nicholas. I don’t get the feeling that many knitters are reading books from the library or bookstore, and it feels like the whole industry is figuring out how to serve and thrive. I’m only designing part time, so I’m a bit of a newbie even though I’ve been at this since 2010, so it’s OK if I’m figuring out how to serve and thrive. But change is not without cost, or nostalgia.