You Are An Idiot

(according to everyone making our stuff.)

It's a pretty common joke to make, and likely one that has had relevance for more than one generation gap: "Kids these days sure are coddled." The best jokes are rooted in truth, and putting aside the perception change that comes with age, it's very true. In my own lifetime the idea of a child walking to school on their own has gone from totally normal, to an unthinkable lapse in parental judgement. Instead there is an endless line of SUV's and minivans queued up at the local middle school every morning, spewing out kids and blocking traffic. It would be easy to go on about mollycoddling children, bun that's a good topic for a later post.

Let's talk about how we, the adults, are treated like children and idiots by those who make our goods. Are you confused about my meaning? Lets start with the least offensive.

Apple

Ever since the late Mr. Jobs returned to Apple to save them from the sad, beige end they were headed for in the 90's Apple has been driving one point home to consumers: Macs just work. This marketing line has been repeated about as much as the boast that Macs don't get viruses. Of course the unspoken reason Mac was untroubled by viruses for so long is that the people writing viruses thought of the small population of Mac users a waste of time compared to the vast majority of PC users. I digress. Do you feel anything strange about that marketing line? Is there maybe something counter-intuitive about implying that it's totally acceptable to be ignorant of the device you are using to interact with the digital world? If Apple just works, it's because they give you a walled garden to play inside, and since they've walled you in, they've tested everything for you before you have a chance to hurt yourself with it. If that doesn't sound like an overbearing parent, I don't know what does. All of this is a matter of taste really, but I have to admit as a lifelong PC user, and supporter of open source technology, the overly controlled world of Apple has always left a bad taste in my mouth.

BMW

BMW is pretty sure you don't know how cars work. You have no desire to look at the mechanics of the large, heavy device you use to fling your body over paved roads at speeds your ancestors wouldn't dream of traveling. Nope, you just want to turn that thing on, press the pedal, and hope it all works out. When it breaks, you wouldn't bother opening the hood, so why even let you get to the motor at all? In case you had no idea, many late model BMW cars have a sub-hood, or a second casing that sits under the hood that prevents you from looking at the engine. Why would a company do this? The first reason that comes to mind is disrespect for you as a consumer. It's an insult to your faculties to repair what you own. It's essentially a fuck you to someone who has the intention of maintaining their own vehicle. Sure, you can remove this sub-hood, but you can't do away with knowing that the maker of your car has no confidence in you as a mechanic, and would do everything in it's power to make you visit their certified mechanics. That's the same kind of customer hate that created things like Torx bit screws, triangle bit screws, and any other manner of device that makes it a pain in the ass for someone to take a look at the thing they'd bought.

Subaru

Sadly, I am sure that this has fell victim to the times as well, but I can say that at least in 1998, Subaru was building cars with ease of maintained in mind. Who was to do this maintenance? IT seems like they didn't mind either way, so they build things in a way that the average person would find very reasonable, and a professional would see as a godsend. It's the little touches that show when you've been thought of. The door panels on a Subaru are almost tool-less to remove, only needing a Phillips screwdriver to remove a few screws placed to brace high-stress zones. That's in contrast to the ford focus I once owned, that required you to remove a dozen Torx screws holding in the panel, a few Phillips screws, jimmy out the door handle, and then inevitably break some small plastic clip you couldn't have known was there. One of those was thought of as a car you'd be poking around in, and the other was built to outlive the warranty period and then... who knows.

It's really your fault.

We wouldn't be marketed at like we are, and sold products that are meant to keep us out if as a whole we were more competent. Those of us who don't mind getting dirty are the only ones who are going to appreciate the design that goes into making something fixable, and the lazy will get frustrated at either and just say they wish it was all simpler. It's a sad day when the lowest common denominator decides the fate of what we're sold, but that's the state of things. You screwdriver adverse are at fault for all the things that are impossible to open up easily. Consumers demanding to be treated with respect and have products made with maintenance in mind can change the market. That doesn't seem likely though. A quick cross reference of other young men I know shows that a vast number of them are unlikely to ever, or ever have changed the oil in a car. Some I've known to run a car without oil until the motor was bone dry. So really is there any wonder why a company like BMW, who makes precisely machined vehicles things it's best to not let you monkey under the hood and instead go to the dealership when the service light blinks on? It's hard to say we've gained any convenience in the trade, but sadly we're all the ones to blame.

The Inverse Law of Important Information on the Internet

The Internet is for all practical meaning boundless in the amount of content it houses. Because of the rate at which new content is added, it's impossible to take in even the smallest fraction of it all. With all of this new content pouring out into the ether, you'd think that anything you could possibly want to know is out there waiting for you to discover it. Plenty of useful information is accessible on the internet, and if you're looking for cold hard data, that's pretty straightforward (though you'd better check your source!). But the more granular you get about the information you seek, you more likely you are to run into...

Information Echo

When you need to know something very specific, you might get back plenty of search results that look promising only to find yourself reading the same information reposted endlessly across various different blogs. The other result is often found as the unanswered question in an obscure forum, or if answered, it's by someone also seeking the same information. It's hard to say what causes this to happen exactly. As the specificity of the info you need gets higher, you're going to find less places in general where it is being discussed. A best case scenery is that there is a subculture of people who dabble in whatever thing you're looking for, because they often will have a wealth of knowledge on the subject. If not you're going to find it very difficult to nail down some solid Intel.

Money for Nothing

The other issue in finding out what you need to know is that there is a business model that relies on you seeking out something, and they being the best optimized page to show up in your search. The advice given on sites like www.Ehow.com, and Wikihow.com are at best marginal, and more often just plain wrong. People without expertise in any given field are paid a marginal sum to whip out lists of How-To's that are mostly info culled from whatever other sources you're likely to find. Strangely, one would think that the collected information would be more useful when brought together, but this is not the case. In the translation most of the actual useful information never seems to make it onto those little bullet-pointed lists.

What to do about it?

One good thing about the interconnection the internet offers is that moreso than at any other time, finding out what people you know might be skilled in is about as easy as possible. If you need to know something specific about photography, you might have a friend or a friend of a friend who shoots professionally. Of course you'll be getting information through the filter of experience and opinion, but really what information isn't? With a personal connection, it may lead even farther than you'd imagine. I know that personally I never mind taking a minute to explain something to someone that I have expertise in because I know I'd love to have that reciprocated one day if I ever ask about something they know. It might seem like I'm advocating a backward step in communication, I am really just attempting to convey the possible higher quality of information that can be had from someone you know if your topic is far too obscure to have multiple reliable info sources on the web.

Doing a Damn Good Job

Before going any further, I'd like you to watch a very quick video (it's ~3 minutes)

That man pinstripes that tank with speed and skill. He does that every day, it's his job. Sure, you might write that off as a simple repetitive manual task, but I am willing to bet with plenty of practice you'd still have a hard time with it. The gas tank he's laying lines on belongs to a Royal Enfield, originally made in England, now manufactured in India. Royal Enfield makes some beautiful bikes that have a timeless aesthetic. They might not have the cachet of a Harley or a Triumph, but their price point makes them more of an every-man's bike, and their Bullet model holds the distinction as the oldest motorcycle model still in manufacture.

We are obviously in a day and age where many things are made as quickly as possible, with the bare minimum amount of human interaction or intervention. This can often lead to a shoddy product, not as a result of the automation itself, but because of the attitude taken by those who see speed, efficiency, and maximum profit as more important than limiting production to whatever amount will give the highest quality possible while keeping numbers reasonably high. This is the exact dilemma I talked about in the post about What You Can Learn About Craftsmanship from a Pinball Machine.

In spite of that ever increasing wheedling out of human expertise and involvement, there is a man who Royal Enfield trusts the skills of enough to know that he can reliably stripe those tanks time after time, with the small amount of variance that makes something organic, but still of quality. That man does a damn good job. When most people wake up in the morning, I imagine they do not set their sights on the goal of doing a Damn Good Job at what they do, and to be honest there might be a reason.

Why It's So Hard To Do

It is a true fact that whatever you do can be done with a higher level of skill than merely "getting the job done". There is no task so menial that mindful attention cannot elevate the quality of the result. That being said, not every job creates or even fosters the desire to do a Damn Good Job. The kind of work that will give a person the drive to do something well is usually one where the extra effort will be noticed, and appreciated. The work of Craftsman of all trades can be a great example of this. The amount of care and effort taken with a task is what separates great carpenters from half-assed handymen. Even a handy-man who is skilled is a person deserving of respect, especially because to be skilled in many differing disciplines requires a great deal of work as well.

Anyone is capable of painting a wall, but after a few hours with a cousin who is a professional house painter, I can say that the tricks of that trade are not the kind of thing you just stumble upon after having painted a few walls here and there. The defining difference is effort. If you find yourself in a position where you're more of a facilitator than a doer, or more of a middle-man than a creator, doing a Damn Good Job isn't as straight forward.

What To Do?

If you're like many people, you might find yourself in a job that is more mental than physical, or maybe you primarily work with ideas more than physical objects. There are plenty of ways to elevate those tasks and imbue them with Craft, and at a later date that will be a great post of it's own. In this context, what can you do if you want the satisfaction of a Damn Good Job? The answer is simple, and many people already do it: Get a hobby, go make stuff.

Only you know what would fire up your passion and drive you to put in the effort. Maybe you don't know, but don't let that stop you. Try a few things and see what sticks. If you want to get great at anything, you can't just pick it up and expect to be great, but neither should you toil endlessly with something that you don't even like for the future promise of enjoyment.

Find something you're interested in, try it out, and stick with it if you feel satisfied by the effort you put in. Comparing yourself to those more skilled should be done as motivation to work at it, and not used to get down on your current skills or lack of progress. There are few things more satisfying than looking at something you've gone and being able to say you did it damn good.

Until next time, Tred Heavy my friends

-Hunter

What a Pinball Machine Can Teach You About Craftsmanship.

Pinball machines are much more complex than a person might think. Inside of you average pinball machine rests an amazing amount of components, many of which are mechanical or simple light bulbs. Each one of these components forms part of the operation of the game, and each one was placed with care (by hand!) according to the plan of the game’s designer to create a field upon with there is set rules that determine how much a player will score. When approaching a pinball game younger people are unlikely to see the attraction of such a device. Most units do not beckon the player with vivid screens, and the game itself sits dormant until used, as it requires human interaction to even function.

The simple but unpredictable nature of a pinball machine has a wonderful quality. The direct interaction between player and the ball is a radically different relationship then between player and screen that can be had with video games. As a result of your timing, coordination, and possibly a bit of luck, the ball is propelled to various points in an attempt to meet goals set in the design. No two games on the very same machine will ever be the same, no matter how many times you play. The mechanical components will work within a certain variance, and those little changes will make each play unique. No amount of random number generation in a video game can create such a nuanced change from each session. This very nature makes it impossible to truly replicate digitally the experience of playing the game. This is a recurring thing with objects of quality and Craftsmanship, they are not easily duplicated, nor can they be replicated in a more efficient way without losing that quality that made them special.

Mass Production: Killer of Quality?

When something is hand-made, there is always going to be a noticeable amount of variation that is accepted as a fact of it’s production. When something is produced by a small production line, say in the case of products that need simple assembly, they’re likely to vary less, and in a way that can be seen as a positive thing as long as the quality of the object does not suffer. If would be a silly argument to say that for something to be well made it needs to be fundamentally unlike any other of it’s kind. That is downright unreasonable. What is a reasonable expectation is that the lack of variance introduced in the manufacturing process is a means to ensure the same High-Quality workmanship across a line instead of having each item be wildly ranging in quality.

Sadly this is not usually the reason for production line assembly, nor is high quality the result. A factory staffed with workers who care about what they are making, and are only expected to produce numbers of goods that are reasonable and do not compromise quality can put out great things. Plenty of reliable, well made things are made in factories. The model of factory work does not preclude the ability to make something with craftsmanship at all. The ingredients are all the same for quality. One must care about what they are doing, and be knowledgeable about what it is they are doing exactly. The problem with too much division of labor is that each person is familiar only with their role in production, and without a broader understanding of the process, is unlikely to see how they can make the whole better while doing their part.

STERN: Last of a legacy.

Pinball machines were made in a production line, with each person doing a small part of the work. Any other way of building would have been totally unrealistic because of the complexity of the unit. To quote Gary Stern, owner of Stern Pinball:

“There are 3,500 separate pieces in a pinball machine. Over a half a mile of wire, more man-hours than a Ford Taurus. “

STERN is the last major player in the pinball manufacturing scene, turning out maybe one or two new games a year. They still build each unit by hand, because like many things that demand Craftsmanship, there is a hard limit to the amount of automation possible in the creation of a pinball game. Having played these modern games I can say that the total build quality doesn’t feel up to the standard of the older machines, but as with many things that have fallen out of fashion, many manufacturers who continue making them either cut corners to stay competitive, or go whole hog and cater to a niche market willing to pay premium amounts for the high level of quality.

A good example of this is the fact that you can buy an ION usb compatible turntable on which to play Vinyl LP’s what feels like you will break it upon first use, or you can go with a company like Technics who still produces many high quality units that will appeal to DJ’s and audiophile. Since the low demand for new pinball machines already makes it a small niche market, STERN is between a rock and a hard place with that issue of cost vs. quality.

What does this mean really?

Since the point I’m getting at is broad and hard to define, the analogy using pinball machines as a metric of craftsmanship might lose some along the way. The important ideas here are best summarized as:

• Craftsmanship can only really exist when the end result of the work’s quality is more important than the maximization of efficiency or profit. Once something is subjected to optimization, the quality of the end result is likely to suffer.
• Making something in a way that allows it to be more productive isn’t counter-intuitive to quality as long as it is approached from the viewpoint that there is a finite limit to how much you can speed up the creation of an object before you’re making poorly.
• There must be a strong market for a good, or at least a very dedicated small market for a boutique good to fuel companies to think in terms of quality and craftsmanship. If there is a small market unwilling to pay high prices, the only items offered are likely to be of poor quality if they exist at all!

Until next time, Tread Heavy my friends

-Hunter