Electronic tubes disappeared over twenty five years ago being replaced by silicon chips. Today, the lone survivors are the Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) used in computer and TV displays and the tube in your microwave oven. Ubiquitous silicon chips are part of our planned obsolescence, and questionably sustainable, "sili-conomy". The "sili-conomy" rapidly relegates today's "latest and greatest" to yesterday's digital detritus.
The working parts of yesterday's technological wonders pass unseen, unknown and unappreciated, except to the curious and brave souls who have "looked inside" these electronic helpers. And what one finds is, quite often, a surprise. Encased in glass, these electronic marvels of their day enabled radio, television, sound motion pictures, and long distance communication. Unlike opaque silicon components, you can look inside these tubes and imagine the electron encoded sights and sounds that traveled through them.
Highly enlarged, these tubes are majestic! Inside one envisions miniature versions of the outer-space cities widely seen in depictions of the future. The architects of these little cities in a bottle were both ingenious and had a great sense of beauty and humor. High rises with vast roof antennas, ladders to nowhere, all pure science fiction.
Though they may be ancient and lifeless, these electronic castoffs once brought us joy, sorrow, pleasure and laughter and enabled our daily life. They were an intimate part of life for previous generations. Now they deserve a fitting eulogy.
