Huge Great Big Grey Boxes Have Content Sewn In
Saw three electrical engineers the other day all working away on the installation of one of those new Huge Great Big Grey Boxes. One guy was installing some hardware, while the other two were using some kind of special fibre-optic sewing machine to bundle the incoming wires into groups.
I spoke to the white-haired man pictured on the right:
Me: “Can I watch what you’re doing?”
Engineer: “Sure. No problem.”
Me: “Look’s interesting. Are you bundling incoming fibre-optic cables?”
Engineer: “Yup.”
Me: “I’ve often wondered why the new boxes are so big when technology is always shrinking.”
Engineer: “Yeah, I’ve asked myself that too.”
Me: “I suppose it’s a relief to see that the boxes aren’t standing around half-empty.”
Engineer: “That’d be pretty daft.”
The other night I took a DVD back to my local rental store, a route which takes me past my own Friendly Neighborhood Huge Great Big Grey Box. I was a little disturbed to find out that these things buzz savagely 24 hours a day.