Talking to an old timer about pin maps from the 80s got me thinking

At a shop in Phoenix last week, a retired guy told me he used to trace entire wiring bundles by hand on paper because there was no digital schematic. Made me wonder how many of us actually understand the systems we're working on versus just following steps on a tablet.

2 comments

2 Comments

ben4021mo ago

Man, that hits hard. I feel like we're losing something real here, you know? There's a big difference between knowing your way around a system and just knowing how to follow the bouncing ball on a screen (which is honestly what most of us are doing these days). I've definitely caught myself staring at a wiring diagram online and wishing I could just grab a highlighter and trace it out on paper like the old timers did. It makes me wonder how many people could even draw a simple circuit from memory anymore, myself included. Respect to that guy for doing it the hard way back then, because he probably knew every single wire in that bundle by heart.

lily_gibson131mo ago

Ngl, I used to roll my eyes at the whole "old ways were better" thing. Thought it was just nostalgia goggles. But watching that guy trace wires by hand? Kinda made me rethink it all. There's something about physically doing it that just sticks with you, you know?