I'm still not clear on the original motivation for this topic but it appears to be that the poster thinks that trucks shouldn't run more economically because it's just a conspiracy between the EPA and Big Trucking to put the little guys out of business (though that was never plainly stated, to my knowledge). That may be an effect of the rules, and I agree that those effects should be considered and mitigated somehow. But that can't be done if the details aren't daylighted and a rational plan made to influence the rule (besides regressive and hostile opposition).
Well that was the reason I posted that long and possibly boring sob story about my video equipment. Unlike the independent trucker I was not the victim of some mundane government regulation, but I was pointing out the fact that it was the market itself, responding to a valid need for advancement, that pushed me into the weeds.
Why are some industries so damned insistent on clinging to old outdated tech while other industries grapple with Moore's Law.
There's so many better ways to skin a cat.
If the IT business ran the way auto, trucking and Big Oil dictated, we'd all still be clanking away on 486 chips and connecting through a 14.4 modem, because some poor bastard out in the boonies feared being left behind.
If MY business ran that way we'd all be still staring at a 25 inch CRT screen or squinting at some washed out rear projection nightmare which is essentially a large plastic box with an old TV set stuffed behind a magnifier...oh great, now the pixels are the size of GOLF BALLS!
I could bitch and moan all day about how much I loved my old MC-301's with the Angie glass, or my beautiful JVC 110 with the ultra modern (at the time) hard drive.
God's sakes, the VTR on my JVC only has about fifteen hours on it because I bought that hard drive when I bought the camera, so it's an eight year old camera with a brand new tape mechanism in it!
And now that goddam camera just sits on the shelf.
I told my wife last night that it's probably not worth selling and I should just have her bury it with me when I go.
And it still ain't over yet, I have to go get yet another camera soon, an upgraded version of my plastic toy which has better features and nicer glass. Oh well at least it looks more like a real camera! (LOL)
I'll tell you what, the video images it makes rival still photography. Even the little plastic kiddie toy comes close!
Truckers don't wanna upgrade to greener tech? Screw em.
Sorry I just don't have much sympathy for Luddite thinking, not after I've had to continually adapt in order to stay relevant.
I just watched a multiple Emmy award winning news reel shot by an old school chum who is also in the business.
It's all news from the 1990's to PRE September 2001.
Excellent photography, very compelling stories and images, but it's all standard definition NTSC video, you know...ANALOG TELEVISION from the pre-HDTV days?
And it looks antiquated as all hell. Still beautiful, but then you look at his recent stuff, and it's night and day.
The old stuff looks smeary, colors are washed out, you can almost see the scanning lines in the raster, and it's all 4:3 aspect ratio (square picture).
The new stuff looks almost like film cinematography, vivid color, achingly lush, bright and contrasty with a lot of latitude, lifelike, clean and clear.
The old NTSC TV system we used to have was 1930's technology.
About time we moved on don't you think?
That's how I see the typical over the road truck... a romantic antique but it's time to step into the future.
Now if you'll excuse me I have to go protest downtown because the phone company wants me to get rid of my rotary dial phone.
Dammit.
