The touch lamp; a neat idea, and older than you'd think!

[@TechnologyConnections]

Hey there! I did a quick follow-up video on Connextras to look at the power draw of the modern module. Mishaps occurred! kzbin.info/www/bejne/fKa2pHmar6trqqc

[@campingmods496]

We won't call it a mishap. We'll call it a happy learning opportunity.

[@psistis80]

Next time,please explain how the clapper worked.

[@niagarawarrior9623]

I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for being so great at creating comprehensible, educational, and overall well written and presented youtube channel. You have easily become one of my favorite content creators on KZbin., keep up the great work! Also, dry humor is my favorite, keep that up too!

[@Rabcup]

Dude throwing shade at Apple from the start. If they made a Mac with a touchscreen they wouldn’t have a market for the iPad, duh Oh but you came back around for Google okay all is fair

[@YusufGinnah]

The Matrix: "Humans are batteries..." Technology Connections: "Humans are capacitors..."

[@kepstin]

"I'm not one to toot my own horn" says a guy with a seven and a half minute video consisting of himself tooting several of his own horns :)

[@guspolly]

Ah-oooo-gah

[@dustinjames1268]

Doot doot

[@d1rcwill]

@@guspolly That's a klaxon dammit

[@SD-de4do]

I watched that entire video, laughing my ass off all along the way. The absurdity of it all was delicious.

[@ShukenFlash]

I almost feel bad for liking this because it was at 666 likes and that made me giggle (childish, I know) but this was just too perfect a reply to that line.

[@bigclivedotcom]

Otis elevators had touch sensitive call buttons that relied on capacitive coupling through humans to ground to trigger a neon filled tube that acted as sensor, latch, switch and indicator.. Way ahead of its time, and quite complex as a result.

[@wich1]

That’s actually quite elegant

[@alexandranicholas6310]

Cool to see you over here!

[@agenericaccount3935]

The more you know!

[@KarlBunker]

Since people didn't know about gloves and capacitive touch screens in those days, I imagine people would come in with gloves on and decide that the elevator must be broken after angrily jabbing at the button a few dozen times.

[@lasseigne11]

i came here when i heard the name drop at 5:09

[@haywardhaunter2620]

Touch lamps were not only for human convenience, but also for pets. My mother-in-law had a couple cats who learned that repeatedly tapping the bedside lamp could activate the bipedal food delivery unit.

[@nachosNipples]

that's annoying but cute

[@jennyakesson9189]

😂😂😂

[@SquiddyHiggenbottom]

I had an exceptionally stupid cat that enjoyed staring into the bulb of my touch lamp while cycling through the brightness settings by tapping his nose against the metal frame of the shade panels until the bulb burned out. I miss him every day 😂😢

[@ajc5869]

When you first uploaded this it was the first time I saw those DIY touch modules. They were the absolute perfect thing for my grandma, her arthritis is getting pretty bad so I installed these in 5 lamps around her house and she absolutely loves them! No more fumbling with the pull chains or switches. It’s also ideal for a couple lamps she has on a tall table, she’s quite short and can’t lift her arm up to the switches. Now all she does is touch the base of the lamps, it was such an awesome solution!

[@MCAlexisYT]

🚀👍

[@sergiomendez9231]

How fantastic! What an excellent application for those! I too, had never seen the DIY modules!

[@adriancrow9952]

How many watts do they use on standby? If the old lamp was 0.5 W if I remember from the video. Is the newer tech better?

[@ajc5869]

@@adriancrow9952 Never tested, but I would assume it’s pretty negligible. For my grandmother at least, whatever it is it’s worth the extra.

[@FilmmakerIQ]

Your use of puns is masterful. Well done!

[@mmseng2]

And also amazing alliteration!

[@matthewm3]

I like your channel, you just got a sub

[@concinnity9676]

@mmseng2 I agree, I also appreciate that figure of speech. However, it could lead to absolutely astounding amounts of annoying alliteration

[@twothreebravo]

I always like it when my favorite youtubers just randomly show up in each others comments sections.

[@OcRefrig]

I Was in the Dark about How these lamps worked But , alas no more !

[@DeviantOllam]

Can't. Handle. So. Many. Quips. 🤣 between an oblique Simpsons reference, a "these answers and more" trope, a Big Band jingle leading into a reference to a city that goes to 11, and a potato pun... all packaged into a delightful debunking and enginerding explanation, this was exactly what i needed this morning!

[@haku8645]

Oh no, I somehow missed the Simpsons reference. What was it?

[@DeviantOllam]

@@haku8645 clearly you're not a fan of Thrillhouse 😂 kzbin.info/www/bejne/fYGxkItuhJedos0

[@haku8645]

@@DeviantOllam Oh man, now I have to become that guy who goes "I haven't really seen much of anything past season 12"

[@TheNerd484]

I hope you also caught the How it's made reference in the beginning of the video

[@Farmboy1927]

Can we get a crossover episode?

[@johnrinehart]

"After all, they were all the rage in the age of beige, new age raves, and Nicholas' Cage's coming of age." Wow. I love it.

[@fozian9591]

man got bars

[@InservioLetum]

**snif** I miss the 90s.....

[@spyguy318]

Fun fact! Capacitive Sensing was developed in the 1920s by Leon Theremin, who was working on developing proximity sensors. He then used it to create the Theremin instrument, which uses capacitive sensing to control the pitch of a note based on the position of the performer’s hands to an antennae.

[@221b-l3t]

Damn, the Theremin is that old? And yeah it is kinda magical you don't even touch it. Always wanted one, they are very cheap these days.

[@rukirgaming]

So a precursor to the Otamatone..?

[@greenaum]

.... sort of. I think it used RF interference as much as anything, particularly generating the pitch. Not the same as capacitive sensing. Though still amazing of course. His real name was Lev Termen, he latinised it when he moved to the USA to sound less Soviet / Jewish.

[@AdvancedGemini]

He also created a completely passive listening device for the Soviet Union so they could spy on conversations in the US embassy in Moscow.

[@patrickmartin3322]

@@rukirgaming no, not really, you actually have to touch an Otomatone to play it

[@UselessDuckCompany]

It was fun seeing you on Tom Scott's trivia show

[@satosiwu148]

wait what?

[@0ging0]

I've got to see that. Link please.

[@TechnologyConnections]

@Sebastian Elytron not nearly as embarrassing as that comment...

[@745morning]

Sebastian Elytron said "lost to two women , how embarrassing..." incase he deletes his comment

[@ASilentS]

@@TechnologyConnections ZING!

[@thomasr1051]

It's weird how touching a lamp anywhere to turn it on is more magical to me than a smartphone.

[@GwyndolinOwO]

I think thats a pretty normal feeling. Humans are pretty much made to adjust to things, so when you're around something or hear about something all the time it starts to feel very "average" and i think that's a huge reason why as a human-race we have this huge fascination with the past and the future. Its something new to experience (even if its already happened before, or hasn't happened yet)

[@bhull242]

In addition to what Brotien said, I think it’s also partly the fact that we’re used to touch controls having a certain “look”, either in the form of a screen or in a touchpad, so the touch-sensitivity is localized, so to speak. Being able to touch almost _any_ part of the lamp-which, on its face, appears no different from any other lamp aside from the lack of a visible switch-is unlike what we’re used to from existing touch controls. There’s also the historical context to consider. We think of touch controls being fairly recent (starting around the mid-2000s, give or take), and where they were used, most touch sensors used a resistive touch screen or pad until even more recently (when we started getting iPhones and such, which use capacitance), and those have an even more distinctive appearance and “feel” to them. The idea that devices with working capacitive touch sensors were available commercially as long ago as the 80s (and, technically, had existed since the 50s) makes them seem anachronistic. This is made even more apparent from the appearance of the lamps themselves, which very much appear like antiques (which they basically are), and having that sort of technology in something so old seems bizarre to us. Though, for me, it feels less like that, but that’s only because I grew up in the 90s (not that long after the time these were popular) and often spent time with a grandmother who actually still used one of these lamps. I still have it, actually. As such, I was exposed to a touch lamp when I was a kid and long before touchscreens and touchpads became commercially viable, so it doesn’t feel anachronistic or unusual to me. I hadn’t even thought of how surprising it would be to most people until a year or so ago because, to me, it was just normal.

[@jooshozzono7249]

Yeah ,it's weird

[@willisverynice]

Don’t you touch your smartphone to turn it on?

[@LonelySpaceDetective]

I think there's also a factor of "doing more with less" (for lack of a more concise+accurate way to put it) to account for, here. Like for instance, objectively speaking an OLED television is much more advanced technically than a CRT overall and it took us a long while for the technology to get there for making OLED TVs possible, but I imagine a significant portion of the viewership for a channel like this finds modern televisions downright _boring_ and CRTs much more interesting to examine and research how they work. I know I've seen a similar sentiment expressed by a friend or a few on the subject of vinyl records versus CDs and later media for music, and by a KZbinr I watch who expressed that an older computer hooked up to a modern 4K display just isn't very interesting unless the video output was somehow flawed by the process. To try to summarize, as much as you or I may respect how much advancement goes into modern technology, the mechanical and electric engineering that went into older technologies like video tape or this here touch lamp just tend to be more interesting to talk about than "a computer does it" of equivalent modern tech.

[@LMacNeill]

I can't speak for everyone, but in my house, these lamps disappeared shortly after we bought them (back in the '80s) because the cats absolutely *loved* turning them on at 3AM, waking everyone up. ;-)

[@ShinoPuppy]

This. They quickly vanished from my parents' bedroom as a kid shortly after we adopted a cat that just absolutely had to rub up against anything remotely stationary when around hoomans. We'd know she was in a room harassing someone just from the disco-strobe effects that would be visible from the hallway.

[@AllonKirtchik]

Cat-acitators

[@sweeflyboy]

HAHAHA gave me a much needed laugh

[@prairiepanda]

My roommate had one up until my cat learned how it worked.

[@PANDORAZTOYBOKZ]

Not quite the same, but this is what made us get new Xbox One's. The cats constantly activated (and worse, DEACTIVATED) our original VCR XBone when they'd brush against the touch sensor. Upgrading to the One S with the physical button was such a godsend.

[@DansplainingVideo]

All the hours I've spent watching your videos were rewarded by learning in this video about the capaci-tater. Pure gold.

[@nate8088]

"beige, new age raves, and Nicolas Cage's coming of age" - that.... was amazing.

[@BurcoGames]

I wonder how many takes it took him to get the line correct 😂

[@rednammoc]

Wordy rampage earns this sage his wage!

[@nate_d376]

Well, I don't remember them being called raves, until the 90s though.

[@_anan_onel_]

The only rapper Eminem was afraid to diss

[@Zorlin0]

Reminds me of Princess Caroline from Bojack Horseman and her frequent wordplay...

[@Kevdama1]

Fun fact: Google has now corrected this error and now gives the correct answer of 1954 when searching "When was the touch lamp invented?"

[@antontaylor4530]

As of today, it says "the 1950's"...

[@apenasmedeixausar]

Funny, for me, it still says 1984 just like in the video. Additionally, the second link in the search is about a person complaining that Google's answer is wrong.

[@antontaylor4530]

@@apenasmedeixausar I can confirm that Google is now saying 1984 again. Gotta love AI search engines.

[@cybercat1531]

To me it just gives no answer except various links. Because it seems to know that I don't trust it.

[@AGryphonTamer]

@@antontaylor4530 Ha it gave up. It doesn't give any answer anymore, just gives the wikipedia page on them.

[@jasonpaulwhiting]

"They were all the rage in the age of beige, new age raves, and Nicholas Cage's coming of age." is the best line I've ever heard in a KZbin video.

[@tharii314]

What about the TanTalizing TerriTorry of Toaster Technology?

[@Brodolf_Gainzdeer]

Capaci-tator

[@ragerequiem6323]

I used to use a plasma ball lamp to "touch" a touch lamp from nearly a room away. It was one of the coolest things to discover as an inquisitive teen.

[@feiaur]

How does that work?

[@phtown]

@@feiaur I had to stop using my touch lamp because turning on a different lamp on the same circuit would sometimes make it trigger. I guess there's some transient in the power line that screws up the capacitance measurement somehow. I would guess the power supply in the plasma ball was feeding some noise back into the outlet and touching it changed that behavior in a way that affected the touch lamp. Sorry I can't do better than speculate here.

[@JohnnyApplesauce1]

Clearly that inquisitive behavior never left ❤❤❤

[@timothylangin4095]

@@phtown I was about to point this out though when I played with my plasma lamp I would activate every single touch lamp in the house my mom use to get so irritated with me since all she bought were touch lamps.

[@ThunderWorkStudioAMGE]

Interresting, I discarded my old touchlamp, because it would often trigger in the middle of the night during a thunderstorm. I guess it may me for the same reason

[@McHeisenburger]

The subtle comedy on this channel is second to none. I love it.

[@minacapella8319]

It's the soul of the channel. We get to learn about all sorts of Era of tech with just a pinch of snark and dry humor. Infotainment at perfect balance.

[@andy5478-MTB]

@@minacapella8319 his delivery and mannerisms remind me of Andy Rooney from 60 Minutes :)

[@lvikng57]

every light in my grandmothers house was one of these and I remember running around the house touching all the lamps. Thank you for reminding me these exist and answering a question I've had since before the internet.

[@cyclone6640]

I still have a couple of these in the bedroom of my house. I also was wondering how they worked recently, but I didn't know what they were called. Well, I guess this was (or wasn't) a coincidence lol

[@christopher88719]

I remember as a kid touching all kinds of lamps at people's houses that remotely looked like one of these lamps in hope of it turning on. This style of metal lamp was really popular in the late 80s and early 90s, however most all of them had the rolling switch on the cord. So much disappointment.

[@lewisfilby2394]

this video is actually a subtle tutorial on how to use Google effectively

[@mialemon6186]

Maybe we can get into search modifiers next! Quote marks, plus signs, minus signs, site:example, etc.

[@anthonygarcia5375]

Yes I recommend not being dumb and ignoring the answer Google gives you

[@pedrolmlkzk]

The best way to use Google is by not doing it

[@Anthonybrother]

Most effective use of google is not using them as they'll alter your access to information because of politics. Revoke any digital privileges you gave them, and use duckduckgo. Block them out as much as you can.

[@deepdive1338]

@@Anthonybrother no, that's you not understanding how browsers work. Learn google dorks, and you can use it as an actual internet browser

[@macsenpuma]

We need a video of all the times Alec says "Well, through the magic of buying two of them..."

[@shawnmulberry774]

Gustavo Almadovar

[@the_undead]

It would probably be like an hour long ordeal

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

@@shawnmulberry774 Omg, I love this ref 😂

[@cuboembaralhado8294]

Sometimes he says "by the magic of buying three of them" or "buying four"

[@official-obama]

what about you align them all up like kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWesh2B8pKt_osk

[@Dudeosaurus]

Thousands of years ago, my siblings had one of these lamps each. I, on the otherhand, had a cheap switch-operated lamp, because our parents loved me the least. The only consolation was that whenever I switched my lamp on, my siblings' lamps would be triggered, which would cause them to complain endlessly, which warmed my dead heart. Fast forward to my sister's fourteenth birthday. She had invited a couple dozen of her friends to a slumber party. After a whole day of running around, giggling, talking about teenage girl stuff and general mucking about, she gathered all her friends in her room for a seance. She had a costume somewhere between a gypsy fortune teller and Miss Cleo. She'd also done some research, to make the experience as authentic as possible. They all sat in a circle, hands held, around a bunch of candles, as she started her mystical chants. As she went through her speech, her voice got louder and more intense, until she was almost shouting by the end of it, chanting something along the lines of "Spirits, we call upon you, we beseech you. Spirits, if you can hear us, give us a sign!". Upon hearing the signal, I rapidly flicked my lamp on and off several times. The result was an ear-splitting scream, followed by what sounded like an avalanche of elephants, as a roomful of teenage girls trampled over each other to escape.

[@Squirl7504]

Was your sister in on it?

[@xmlthegreat]

That... Was beautiful!

[@WWStu]

Excellent!

[@samuelthecamel]

Teenage girls are always doing some weird stuff (while the guys are almost killing themselves)

[@kevinsullivan3448]

@@samuelthecamel You said it. Girls in High School: "Let's do make-overs and talk about boys." Me in high school: "Let's hook a tow chain to this old car hood and surf on it while it is being dragged behind a jeep in this sand wash!" Oh 70s, how I miss you.

[@Veriflon88]

"Let me state that I am no Big Clive" is probably more of a crossover than I would ever hoped for

[@MrRancidity]

He's even here in the comments. What a time to be alive

[@jekanyika]

@@MrRancidity beat me to it.

[@n82good]

Awesome shoutout to Clive!

[@keithyinger3326]

I was going to say, Send one of these over to Big Clive, he'll tell us exactly how the whole capacitive coupling thing works.

[@phils4634]

I think a large number of the BC Fan Club are here, mate! That first controller (with the 18 pin socketed DIL chip) is so very "legacy" it's amazing - and I'll bet it is electrically as noisy as hell! The more modern iteration (8 pin DIL) seems a far better design, with decent isolation slots in the board, and a nice pair of Class x caps. For those that are interested - TT6061a datasheet - datasheetspdf.com/pdf-file/301704/TontekDesignTechnology/TT6061A/1, and for the (VERY common) BT136 Triac - www.datasheetarchive.com/pdf/download.php?id=fc296f1315bfda8bd660e6d4bcfa941be803ae&type=P&term=Triac%2520bt136%2520600d.

[@marley7145]

"...you are actually a capacitor; you are useful." I'm not sure, but at this point in 2020 I may actually be a capacitator.

[@nmanbamboo1980]

AI of now ... "Ah humans as capacitors as power source, let us do some R n D on this" ........... FFwd Future .... The Matrix.

[@MediocreHexPeddler]

That's capaci-TATER to you

[@marley7145]

@@MediocreHexPeddler I slump corrected.

[@boots3372]

@@marley7145 two wing dingers, love it

[@positronundervolt4799]

Maybe you need to do some more touching and dump your whole charge.

[@thetimetravellingtailor6323]

I love these lamps. I have disabilities and a tremor in my body so honestly some lamps can be really hard to switch so apart from these lamps being plain cool - it's also really practical for someone like me to just touch the lamp with the back of a hand.

[@CapriUni]

I'm physically disabled, and when I moved into my own house back in 1996, I had one of these by my bed because I I couldn't actually reach up and turn the switch to turn the light on and off from my bed. At Christmas time, I also had the tree's light strings plugged into an adapter (which you mentioned). The problem was that, although the lamps worked great in the beginning, after a while they got fussier and fussier, and eventually stopped working altogether. But yeah. A great adaptive aid for those with low dexterity or hand strength.

[@Orynae]

If it's just hands that are the issue, foot pedals are great too!

[@CapriUni]

@@Orynae Yes, for people who can use them. ...But foot pedals are not much use for a bedside lamp, when your feet are deeply snuggled under the covers.

[@Orynae]

@@CapriUni haha, true

[@jasonbrown467]

you know it does seem like the people i know that had them back in the 80s didnt keep them. who tosses out good lamps? i bet most of the ones that were plugged in for years all went bad eventually

[@MonkeyJedi99]

I wonder, since it calibrates when plugged in, if unplugging and re-plugging would help "reset" the sensitivity?

[@gevmage]

3:00: Geenie--ious idea. Ha! I agree--"pushless pushbutton" needs to be used in everyday conversation. The next time I shop for a laptop, I'm going to insist that "...and I don't want any of that newfangled pushless pushbutton technology!". (I don't. I hate touchscreens.)

[@LMacNeill]

Glad to know I'm not the only one who hates touchscreens on laptops. Seriously -- who thought that was a good idea?! I want to look at fingerprints all day? No thank you!

[@ZGryphon]

I know, right? I spent my entire adult life struggling against people touching the damn screens (seriously, I worked in a network ops center and everyone else there was a screen toucher, despite the fact that _they weren't touchscreens then,_ wtf was that about?), and then _suddenly it became the thing you have to do._ This is how I know there are gods and they are against me.

[@dentjoener]

@@ZGryphon Ooh I can't stand those screen touchers. Like wtf? I can see what you're pointing at, the parallax isn't that bad...

[@e3.14c4]

How I've longed to see another in protest to the destetable touchscreens and their terrible tangibility troubles. I also HATE phones, I want an actual keyboard with tactile push buttons for muscle memory mashing, rather than waiting for some gross idle smoothing animation to fanicfy it's way across your screen wasting precious milliseconds of my life that could have been spent interacting in the next menu. Phones suck.

[@kevinsullivan3448]

I bought a slightly pricey laptop a few years ago that was touch screen thinking, "It would be awesome to play some games on a big touch screen." Then I actually did and was constantly cleaning the screen. Sure, scrolling through a document using the touch screen was nifty because I could scroll by just touching the edge instead of the center of the screen, but not nifty enough.

[@brandonthesteele]

Every time I come across a touch lamp in someone's house, it's like a little treat. My favorite are the ones with the stained glass shade with conductive metal integrated into the shade.

[@PunakiviAddikti]

Conductive glass? That's an interesting idea. Maybe that could be done with a conductive clear coating, or just plasma sputtering. Though metal plated glass won't be as transparent. Or maybe a metal pattern that isn't conductive but makes a big capacitor network.

[@johnwyman6126]

@@PunakiviAddikti stained glass Shades have metallic bonds between the pieces of glass.

[@spencerfalzy]

I had a wood cabinet in which the hinges were the conductive element turning on the lights

[@jennw6809]

@@PunakiviAddikti Solder is in between the glass to hold the pieces together

[@SheepThinkk]

“And that means you’re useful.” *puts this on my resume*

[@camillecirrus3977]

_"Bright!"_ _"BRIGHTER!"_ *_"BRIGHTEST!!!"_* _"Off."_

[@hydroxan1508]

Exactly.

[@skylined5534]

Just like me at the start and end of high school.

[@rustyshackleford5166]

On On-er On-est Off-est Lol

[@aaxxsed]

On't

[@slinky6481]

I was reading this comment EXACTLY when he said that in the credits lol

[@OutsideTheTargetDemographic]

"All these questions and more will be answered, after THIS sentence" will now be used on a daily basis. Thank you for this.

[@pablorepetto2759]

Hear, hear!

[@mikebailey783]

Capaci-tater. That's it, TechnoConn; you've won KZbin for today.

[@tom4ivo]

Agreed. One of the best puns ever.

[@Lyrandar]

the best

[@nikolateslax1]

@@tom4ivo If you don't love it, your money back, you Capaci-hater!

[@davidwostrel]

I laughed so hard.... like 10 seconds later

[@AMalas]

@@davidwostrel surely you mean 10 seconds tater!

[@matthewgumabon7498]

My childhood home in New Jersey USA had a “touch button” that triggered the overhead “chandelier” light in my dining room. The house was built in the 1960s but the system must have been wired up in the 80s. It was just a plastic framed metallic brass pad mounted in the wall where a normal light switch would be. But it had no moving parts, and no buttons. You just touched it lightly and the ceiling lamp instantly turned on. Blew my mind as a kid.

[@WammyGiveaway]

1:14 "...they were all the rage in the age of beige, new age raves and Nicolas Cage's coming-of-age..." That is one of the most clever written rhymes I've ever heard! Very impressive.

[@MRblazedBEANS]

Guess you have never listened to MF DOOM then lol

[@Ivan-fy3pr]

But it rhymes age with age! Twice!

[@WammyGiveaway]

@@MRblazedBEANS No I have not. The only thing I know about him is that he collaborated with Ghostface Killah from Wu-Tang Clan. Any song recommendations?

[@woodlandwonders6887]

"Don't take everything on the internet as gospel". That's exactly what Elvis Presley told me when I saw him at Walmart last week.

[@michaelwarren2391]

Bonjour. I'm a french model. LOL. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWWmeaSmqc-db6c

[@Hopeofmen]

Was this in the eleventh Nashville?

[@xmlthegreat]

Obviously fake, no one shops at Walmart

[@user2C47]

@@xmlthegreat Obviously fake, Walmart is bigger than the biggest oil company.

[@xmlthegreat]

@@user2C47 Learn to read the room buddy. It's called a joke.

[@Tony32]

Did you say: "The were all the rage in the age of beige, new age raves and Nicolas Cage's coming of age" in one take? I was sure I was going to see it in the bloopers.

[@NeoTechni]

Same here!

[@wernerfritsch6436]

Yeah, I immediately stopped the video and repeated that sentence.

[@shawndavis779]

What is this, a crossover episode?

[@OfficialNukeDukem]

@@shawndavis779 More like a rectification. 🤣

[@VolcanoEarth]

That phrase should be the hook in the first top-10 single released by the post-punk band called Fleshy Digits.

[@ryandraskinis2411]

Had 2 of these as a kid. My sister and friends would always mess with it. Like u touch and hold it and it comes on then someone else touches your skin and it changes again. Remember making “human chains” across the house to see how far away we could get and still cycle the modes. Ahh being a kid in the 80’s was fun.

[@Vasharan]

"We take the touchscreen for granted these days... unless you've got a Macbook" Ooo... shots fired.

[@pariscloud2907]

The touchpad more than makes up for the touch screen you have to use on Windows laptops because the Windows touchpads are terrible. edit: I know "Windows touchpads" depends on the actual OEM, but I have yet to use one that rivals the one on found on Macbooks.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

I actually have an Asus, and I looked specifically for a NON-touch-screen.

[@MrCorrectify]

@@pariscloud2907 Windows doesn't make touchpads, its just an operating system. There are quite a few touchpads on the PC market, from generic to proprietary, from cheap to high quality. You can compare Apple hardware to Asus or Lenovo hardware, but "Windows touchpads" is a nonsense statement.

[@ArachenoxTheLynx]

@@pariscloud2907 Touchpads are terrible no matter what device they're on. Besides, windows is an operating system, not a manufacturer of any kind of hardware.

[@thegeforce6625]

SeñorSpice although Microsoft does have a spec for the “Precision Touchpad” drivers that offer an experience like apple’s touch pads, and they get pretty close.

[@GoofyOldGuyPlays]

"then you've made a capaciTater" I actually spit my coffee out on that one. This is among the top 5 funniest videos you've ever made. I really enjoyed it. Nothing like learning and laughing at the same time. Thank you! Oh, and if you want to see something really cool, point a nice bright laser pointer at an angle on your phone and look at the reflecting light from your phone screen on the other side of the angle.

[@TheVonMatrices]

That was the funniest pun he's made in all videos so far. Why make lemon batteries when you can make capacitaters?

[@Reddotzebra]

I never understood why they made it until now, but there is an addon HAT for the raspberry pi that literally lets you attach fruit to act as capacitive switches.

[@thecianinator]

1:14 Eminem is awfully quiet after that 😂 Dude this entire video represents your best writing yet, well done, consistently funny and clever

[@riley9464]

my aunt had a, presumably, defective touch lamp that when you touched it it would cycle through all the settings twice before landing on a random one. it was kind of fun to mess with but i was always curious what kind of defect could have possible caused that

[@generalcodsworth4417]

It's possible that a wire was frayed, some gunk got in a connection, or (if it was never moved) something may have been touching it which confused the sensor when it had just been activated. A loose wire connecting the metal to the circuitry is probably the most likely cause. Perhaps it could be fixed by simply opening it up and tightening everything down.

[@gabrielv.4358]

awesome

[@Majima_Nowhere]

@@generalcodsworth4417 I'd bet money that's what it was. Touching the lamp causes _something_ to vibrate, itself causing the lamp to activate multiple times, then when the vibration stops it keeps that state.

[@KurosakiYukigo]

Good Lord, the number of gags per minute in the first minute is astounding.

[@Varksterable]

The number of gags per minute in the first minute is also very nearly the number of gags. How on earth did he pull that little trick off?!?

[@Sovic91]

From now on it shall be known as the golden minute. Comedy gold, that is.

[@psychoticcherry6038]

I remember my grandmother having these due to the arthritis in her hands making it hard to turn or pull regular lamp switches.

[@paulsengupta971]

I just bought one for my father last week!

[@synchronuse]

My grandparents have had theirs since the early 80's.

[@JamieShultz]

Wasn't ready for "Capaci-tator", nearly spit out my drink...

[@tanya5322]

Same here. Except I was listening while driving. Yes. Just listening. No looking.

[@ZeroArcana]

I literally shouted "goddammit!"

[@zlcoolboy]

Yeah he got us again Haha

[@reyariass]

Same! Well, luckily I had swallowed my sip of coffee right before he said it

[@Harey0407]

I was thinking, wouldn't it be a Capaci-tato though?

[@TechArtAlex]

I have a capacitive touch faucet. Its less of a gimmick than it sounds, since you can easily turn it on/off with a bump of the wrist. This means it stays cleaner because you don't need to touch the lever/knobs with your wet or potentially dirty hands. It'll also automatically turn off after a few minutes. Honestly pretty neat and convenient.

[@hngldr]

"Thanks to the magic of buying two of them!" is one of my favorite things. Also that rhyming description of the 80's was beautiful

[@Grisu1805]

Buying two of them and taking one apart will never loose its magic.

[@Urbanstrangler]

"Capacitater" *DEEP INHALE*

[@sferg9582]

A "true groaner" for sure. LOL!

[@abigailmcdowell4248]

I laughed the loudest i have in a while because of that joke

[@dysomniak]

What did you expect from a you TUBER?

[@KevinDay]

It took me about 5 seconds to get that and then I had to pause the video because I was laughing so hard 😂

[@DumahBrazorf]

"Capacitato", i think. I admire how he managed to remain serious. EDIT: Ok, i saw the bloopers...

[@LifeWithMatthew]

4:55 "You've made a capacit-tater" - You already got me to hit the like button with your pushless push button quip, you can tone down the charm, I promise! 8:12 "Aladdin lamp led to some rather... animated results" This channel is the best

[@Bdoserror]

I also liked the Aladdin company's "genie-us" idea pun.

[@DevinGates]

The puns and alliteration assuredly made for a LOT of cutting room floor material.

[@Ck87JF]

Somehow I missed the pun here till reading your message, though I did think there was something to the way he phrased it.

[@LOLZpersonok]

I remember being in elementary school and bragging to all of my friends that "I have a touch lamp!", and they'd all be sitting there like "ooh, ahh!". This was in the mid-2000s. Somehow, we were still mind-blown that this was a thing at the time.

[@Huvada]

5:05 “And that means, you’re useful.” Me: cries in happiness.

[@NicolaiSyvertsen]

Nothing to brighten your day than knowing your value in pF

[@paulsengupta971]

In three brightness steps.

[@Aragubas]

wanna work for me?

[@catherinecat6182]

"capacitively smooth jazz" thank you for these wonderful closed captions lol

[@sydneymomma11]

also a fan of "devastatingly smooth jazz." 😂

[@DrakeMagnum]

Call me a nerd, but I appreciate the straight forward presentation of your videos. Even with touches of humor, the facts are always front and center. I know almost nothing of electronics, but this makes me kind of want to buy one of those touch sensitive modules to mess around with.

[@brewskimckilgore6796]

i been watching your vids but never comment, so here i am commenting. i appreciate you and your content. takes me back to like watching how its made as a kid only so much more specific & in depth. thank you i love you

[@Native-Coder]

"All those questions and more will be answered after THIS sentence" I'm ROLLING. I love your sense of humor.

[@TexusNoe365247]

I love the use of alliteration and poetry in this episode. This was really fun to watch.

[@LizyBee]

My grandma gave me one of these when I was a kid so I grew up with it as my bedside lamp! Two interesting things happened with it, 1: my cat learned how to turn it on with his nose and liked doing it at 3am, and 2: it turned itself on during thunderstorms

[@zachschwartz7455]

I was just thinking, “wow it would be nice to get one of those conversion kits for my bedside lamp” and then I remembered that I have two cats who will definitely learn to turn it on at ungodly hours. 😂

[@riley9464]

my aunt had one that would cycle through all the settings at least twice then land on a random one, no idea what caused it, most likely a defect im assuming, but it was pretty amusing to mess with when we were bored during thanksgiving

[@trudaftgunpunk]

The. One I have has 3/4 modes if you're including off. I'd always know if the power had gone out or a surge since the light would be on

[@dragostalks7501]

My God! You! with a very limited budget, from a room, making videos for almost 20 minutes, boring videos, you sir manage to keep me interested all the tine with some of the best information on the internet! Thank you for making youtube a better place and thank you for all your time and research and sharing! Great content.

[@DedmenMiller]

"This lamp is from 1986 or 1987" The chip in the lamp says 8718 That means the chip was produced in the 18th week 1987, and the lamp probably shortly after that.

[@oz_jones]

Neat.

[@Otome_chan311]

The lamp is allegedly from 1986 or 1987 but the chip says it's from 8718 and it seems pretty futuristic to me.

[@seraphina985]

Could have been as much as 2-3 months fairly easily depending on where the semiconductor fab, PCB assembly, final assembly and retail location were relative to each other. It's not that hard to accrue a couple of months shipping time between component production to final retail sale. It's fairly common to see components that have made a full circumnavigation or more via ship complete with the additional customs and logistical delays as it is landed for each step along the supply line. Also since that would come close to Q3 this is around the time of year when there tends to be the most buffering at the retail end of the supply chain as manufacturers tend to output products at fairly steady rates but retailers in Western markets have a large demand surge in Q4.

[@seraphina985]

@@SolRC This has been pretty common for a long time certainly in the 20th century having goods and their parts produced all over the world has been pretty normal. Whether it will stay that way is another matter some of the disparities in manufacturing that really forced this seem to be narrowing over time. In particular gaps in technological capabilities are narrowing in the 80's it was probably still worse than today these days places like China are less behind in their ability to replicate the latest IC designs locally as they have narrowed the gap in terms of the capital assets and infrastructure needed to do that. Also, there has been an ongoing squeeze from the other direction as the fiddly process of PCB assembly has become less labour intensive with improved robotics also so there is less of a stark divide in competitive advantage between countries when it comes to semiconductor fabrication and assembly which is the driving force for shipping stuff back and forth so much the cost savings must be larger than the costs of shipping and logistics after all.

[@christophers.8553]

@RDE Lutherie That's because he's correct. This is a really standard DIP IC date code of that era, I have many thousands of 1980s DIP chips to maintain arcade games (Plus, I started EE degree in the late-1980s) and the vast majority of manufacturers mark them like that. TI is a pain because sometimes a pain because they don't. But almost everyone else does, and they all look like that, year then week in a 4-digit code YYWW. From TI and Sanyo to custom LSI shops like AMI. Signetics, National, Intel. Most of the plants used them. Some use a 3-digit code, like 050 for the 50th week of 1980. The Triac in the lamp was made in the 13th week of 1987. I just grabbed a bin of Atari 800 memory boards (some made by Atari, some third-party manufacturers or basement jobs) of my workbench and I can see ICs by National, Signetics, TI and Raytheon all of which use the 4-digit standard of the era. (RAYT8208, B8216, etc). I found four National parts (74LS10, 74LS00, 74LS86 and 8 5290's (4116)) and one TI part (74LS138) that used the three-digit code with the YWW format. But others of those same parts by the same manufacturers that used the 4-digit code, some from the same year.

[@miigon9117]

5:01 "you are actually a capacitor. you are useful" Finally, my life goal has been reached

[@teh1archon]

"Thanks to the magic of buying two of them..." That cracked me out so hard, I definitely going to use this phrase as surplus buyer myself.

[@frankiev116]

Absolutely love the blooper segment. I love seeing you go to rewind the teleprompter because I help people make videos all the time and I know what that’s like 😂😂. The writing is just too good as well. Excellent work

[@epiendless1128]

A policeman once told me I would never amount to anything. I said, "at least I'm a capacitor", and he charged me.

[@leonthayne]

Did you resist?

[@arcadecarpet631]

@@leonthayne i cant tell if you didnt get the joke

[@leonthayne]

@@arcadecarpet631 Of course I would have the capacitance to understand such a shockingly good pun, if I didn't get such comments I would remain at ohm.

[@pablorepetto2759]

I presume your lawyer dad grounded you as he cleared you of all charges

[@TacComControl]

@@pablorepetto2759 Yeah, but then he had to talk to a doctor about an embarrassing discharge...

[@ChrisKnowles1170]

"Pushless Push" is the silliest version of the word 'Touch' I've heard so far.

[@DOVraps]

I am a 23 year old rapper. I recently made a track in support of the BLM Movement. Please click on my channel, give it a listen and let me know what you think!!!!!!!

[@voidofspaceandtime4684]

@@DOVraps no, I don't think I will.

[@NightMotorcyclist]

The push for pushless push

[@DocNo27]

A very German phrasing :)

[@arturpekosz]

"You are actually a capacitor of about a 100 picofarads. And that means you are useful." 😁😁

[@Killerspieler]

that praise right after the capaci-tater... killed me.

[@neoasura]

It would be cool if people had different levels, or there was a way to increase your picofarad count.

[@miniskunk]

This is why under the right circumstances(such as when the humidity is extremely low), you can make some rather impressive static discharge bolts. I highly recommend using something metal in your hand if you try to build up enough charge to make long bolts. It will really smart if you don't.

[@nobodysbusiness87]

someone needs to put that on a T shirt.

[@tomcarlson3913]

You're also a resistor whose value varies with your bodies salt and moisture content, perspiration, etc and the measurement points. Don't believe me?...Get any working DMM that goes up to 2M ohms set it to its highest setting and touch the leads to two spots on your hand roughly 1" apart...Just remember resistance is futile but capacitance has potential.

[@furies]

I appreciate you taking the time to expand our knowledge on everyday things you don't normally think about. Love the vids.

[@Vodhin]

*"Capaci`tater"* You made me spit my coffee out of my nose... again...

[@Srcsqwrn]

It's almost on par with the sprinkler video!

[@rolandos8758]

This got me too

[@dangerrangerlstc]

Had to pause and collect myself first.

[@JohnWilkinsonTesla]

"...then you've made a capacitater!" *stifles laughter* audience: *groans*

[@scratchmyback1]

4:47 "capacitater" needs to be used way more in this video!

[@arjovenzia]

I thought it was brilliant. Made me chuckle on the train.

[@georgf9279]

@@arjovenzia Help me, I don't get it. Capacitato would make sense, but capacitater?!

[@10brokenradios]

@@georgf9279 potatoes are called "taters" too.

[@PaulHawxby]

What a stupid joke, love it

[@BlackburnBigdragon]

We had a touch lamp in our living room in the 80's. I think my favorite touch capacitance device that I owned back then was this awesome portable calculator. It was just a small, handheld sized, square piece of glass with numbers printed on it, and a little liquid crystal screen embedded in it. It had the numbers and stuff just printed on the glass. You could see right through the thing. There didn't appear to be any circuitry in the thing at all. It was just this square of glass with numbers printed on it. But you would just touch the numbers and symbols, and like magic the liquid crystal display would show what you pressed. It came in this tiny leather case and I thought that it was the best thing in the world back then. I always had it with me when I was in high school. Also, one of my favorite experimental "musical" instruments that I own and often play is called a "Cracklebox" (Crackleboxes have an interesting history.). It's entirely played by touch capacitance. So much fun.

[@NopWorks]

I'm intrigued; Could you find and share the picture of the calculator?

[@cursedcliff7562]

Also theremins are good

[@graphenepixel8231]

Since the touchscreen uses transparent conductors, I think that's how the circuit under the liquid crystal display is connected to the sensors.

[@AlienRelics]

I remember those, although I never had one. The conductors for the LCD display are a layer of tin/indium that is so thin it only darkens the glass slightly, but still conducts. So they built the touch buttons the same way.

[@BlackburnBigdragon]

@@NopWorks It's not the same one I owned, but there's a picture of one on Pintrist (which I don't have an account for so it locks me out of the site). Just do a Google image search for 80's transparent calculator. The picture I saw had it with a red border around the clear part.

[@Intense_Cloud]

Man, I like your channel, all those things you've presented here with your sense of humor makes it fun and entertaining to watch, all while learning the insides of whatever is that you show us. Thank you! I'll keep watching.

[@ZGryphon]

I used to have one of these in my living room that would turn on spontaneously whenever I did a load of laundry. Something in the power fluctuation the washing machine caused when it switched cycles was enough to trip the lamp in a whole different room, which probably tells us something about how well my house is wired.

[@Falcodrin]

Gotta love old house wiring. Like whenever my PC turns on the room light flickers.

[@Ridcally]

every time my neighbor turns on her coffee grinder my kitchen tv flickers I live in an old apartment building

[@Basement-Science]

This sort of thing is not due to bad wiring in a house. Touch sensors are very susceptable to all kinds of electromagnetic noise, so a good noise filter should be included in the design. But that costs money. Similarly, your other appliances in the house have to have some limits to the amount of noise they put out, both as radio waves and as conducted noise on the AC line. I'm also guessing the 1950s touch lamps were having massive trouble with that. Partly because they were supposedly more sensitive than modern ones.

[@UNSCPILOT]

@@Basement-Science I can just imagin someone starting a load of laundry and the "Aladin" lamp in the next room loosing it's analog mind, that would be... quite funny to me

[@kevinsullivan3448]

@@Basement-Science You just have to have more than 2 electrical circuits in the entire house. As a residential electrician I see this all the time, but people are cheap and don't want to pay to get the problem fixed correctly, especially absentee landlords who just want to collect a check every month from people who can't afford to live in a better place.

[@sirkowski]

Whenever you think you're useless, remember that at least you're a capacitor.

[@sulefff]

"All these questions and more will be answered after this sentence" Did not expect that ending to this sentence :D

[@DOVraps]

I am a 23 year old rapper. I recently made a track in support of the BLM Movement. Please click on my channel, give it a listen and let me know what you think!!!!!!!

[@rbpalmer1]

I had forgotten all about this -- Thank you for the "reminder"!! In my high school dormitory "a little while ago" (in 1963), the school policy was to attempt to separate students from the habit of constant radio music, so the rule was that no radios were allowed to be played for the first six weeks of the school year. My dorm neighbor brought in a capacitance switch. He ran a fine wire to his door knob, so if anyone touched that knob, his radio would cut off. Several times our dorm parent would hear music from "somewhere" and would burst into the room, but was never able to catch him playing the radio. Fun stuff....

[@bledlbledlbledl]

Got two of those from Sears back in the '80's, the big living-room end-table lamps. Still have them. 11:14 -- They do appear to be continuously-self-calibrating. You can grab the lamp and hold on, and someone else can touch your other hand and still make the lamp turn on and off. (we tried this with much amusement, decades ago)

[@MarjaMariachi]

I'm now imagining breakdancers incorporating these in their moves. Right time frame, and would explain the term "electric boogaloo."

[@quinbee_creates]

The one I have on my nightstand occasionally comes on by itself during thunderstorms. Or I have a ghost.

[@bledlbledlbledl]

@@quinbee_creates Electrical noise can cause that for sure. Years ago we had random on/off of ours when the wood-stove thermostat turned the fan on or off, and at least one year we had those blinking xmas-tree lights and those affected the touch-lamps too. But as for you... no, you definitely have a ghost :P

[@johnwyman6126]

@@quinbee_creates yep, definitely a ghost.

[@quinbee_creates]

@@johnwyman6126 That explains the levitating...

[@myrmeko]

That lamp from the 50's is one of the prettiest lamps i've ever seen. It looks like something you'd see in a designer store. Simple, clean and extremely modern. Wireframe bases and flat simple surfaces are basicaly timeless.

[@marley7145]

"Let me state that I am no Big Clive..." *proceeds to analyze the circuit board*

[@OldWhitebelly]

He did analyze the circuit board. Clive would have analyzed it until it caught fire or exploded.

[@nsfeliz7825]

he has no beerrrd.

[@loopshackr]

@@OldWhitebelly More than you think... be sure to watch the follow-up video on his Connextras channel.

[@marley7145]

@@OldWhitebelly Alec: CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

[@ewetoob1924]

I'd never heard of "Big Clive", so google it and the first thing I see is "KZbin Electrical Engineer “Big Clive” Comes Out As Gay". Now why should I care if a youtuber is gay? But, against all logic, I guess I do feel this need to know.

[@mark4you2014]

I watch these videos from start to finish only to create the dramatic build up to the fantastic bloopers and credits at the end. Marry Poppins would be so proud and I quite like your work. Bravo! Bravo! Please, take a bow you’ve earned it, indubitably!

[@livingroomviewing2987]

"These questions and more answered after this sentence..." Your sense of humor is boss, man.

[@darryl7626]

Older guy here. The reason the ones in the 90s fell out of fashion was that little black box... They didn't last very long, sometimes only a year or so, and if you were lucky, they got stuck in the on position, so at least you could still use the lamp by plugging it in/unplugging it. I even replaced a couple of the little black boxes, but the new ones didn't do very well either. That family heirloom lamp with the bigger components in the base is probably a lot more robust.

[@markwhi1]

They were also pretty famous for failing in such a way that they would dump a bunch of RF noise into the airwaves that was capable of disrupting things for miles around. They were also sensitive to RF, so if you had a ham radio operator living next door your lamp might sometimes do its best imitation of a strobe light every now and again.

[@tommihommi1]

@@markwhi1 and then the angry neighbor complains about the ham radio operator instead of realizing the crappy lamp is at fault. Or the angry ham radio operator knocks on your door and complains about interference. The German equivalent to the FCC occasionally has to ring at people's doors and make them stop using especially bad lamps because they're interfering with commercial radio.

[@yonallb]

My touch lamp is still in my childhood room and my dad was a ham radio operator. Theories de-bunked?😆

[@DustinDawind]

Mine still works perfectly fine. My parents must have bought that lamp for me when I was like 5. I am 30 now.

[@dtkedtyjrtyj]

Really? I'd have thought they fell out of fashion because people realised having lamps that turn on an off when you accidentally touch them was a bad idea.

[@Boostro960]

The magic of buying a two of them is certainly my favorite running joke on this channel.

[@echologixxx9758]

I'm years late discovering this channel, but I both really appreciate the clear education, and clarifying the absurdity by which modern patents can distort who really invented something.

[@belltower4799]

"We take the touch screen for granted these days, unless of course you've got a MacBook." Ah yes... 'tis a touchy subject.

[@sberniz]

haha that line made me laugh lol

[@SlashCampable]

Care to elaborate? I really didn't understand that comment.

[@Karl_Kampfwagen]

@@SlashCampable It's hilarious, because MacBook costs so much, and doesn't have features which make it worth the price. 🤣 Every artist would love to have a TouchScreen and use the Apple Pen as stylus, but they only put Capacitive-Touch screens on phone and iPad. Such a shame.

[@Vylpes]

Hunter Vapes They’ve got the iPad for that, drawing on a vertical laptop screen wouldn’t be a great experience at all

[@Karl_Kampfwagen]

@@Vylpes 😐 You DO realize that other brands have installed 180° hinges and touchscreens in laptops, right? Because it's like having a Wacom input device, BUILT IN to the laptop... If you wanna pay more for less, that's up to you, bud. But I'm not going to pretend that the tech doesn't exist, like every single Mac user...

[@MARLEYFANcbr]

When I was a kid I found out that if a friend was touching a lamp and then I touched their finger that would turn on the lamp, seemed like magic. Also if a snack bag was on the table and touching the lamp, putting your hand in the bag would turn it on/off. Sometimes lightening storms would also make those lamps turn on/off.

[@Adrian2140]

Imagine being a kid and having a storm outside messing with your lamp at night haha

[@MARLEYFANcbr]

@@Adrian2140 It was very weird. I want one of those lamps again.

[@nogosnoqt]

Yeah. They can get weird when power gets iffy. In my experience, brown-outs would cause them to switch to the next phase in their cycle. Granted, it's not every time.

[@JamesScholesUK]

I impressed my kids by using a banana to switch theirs on. They're still on sale in the UK, but don't play nicely with most LED bulbs so I've been converting mine back to switches

[@450AHX]

@@JamesScholesUK I also have been using bananas bought on sale as switches.

[@triggermovies]

"I'm no Big Clive" Yeah, according to the follow-up video, you're more of an ElectroBOOM !

[@lordmuntague]

Apparently he's more of an Andrew Camarata: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6DPoZxpg8d_sNU Blimey Alec, what have you gone and started?

[@judsonleach5248]

I have an old Ramsey Electrics kits to build one of these…. Although I haven’t yet built my “touch switch” - although… once again…. You may have just inspired me to turn on my soldering iron, Sir! Thanks! - Judson & Buddy! - THE Golden Hound Dog of Ohio! - God Bless You ALL!!!

[@lohphat]

Spending my 20s in the 80s, the 50s were 30 years prior. The nostalgia at the time was for the 50s -- it was our parents' turn to recall their youth. Today, the 80s don't seem so far away. Sigh. Time flies. Lawn, off.

[@BuzzcutGtr]

Dude, the SECOND Converse reissues puffy white extra-high high-tops, I'm IN. May even grow my mullet baHAHAHAHAHA I almost said that with a straight face.

[@TheNiteNinja19]

Probably why things like the Motorola Razr exist, 2000's nostalgia in the 2020's.

[@UNSCPILOT]

Me, born in the mid 90s, grew up in the 2000s, watching all the young folk forget about VHS and drive in theaters now, help!, getting old sucks!

[@lohphat]

@@BuzzcutGtr Those damned things have no arch support. In other news, we're at an age where we need arch supports.

[@BuzzcutGtr]

@@lohphat LMAO!!!!!!!!

[@compactc9]

This video wasn't just touching, it was illuminating as well!

[@HappilyHomicidalHooligan]

😁😂🤣 Please don't ever stop including the Blooper Reel at the end of your videos, it's one of the best parts...

[@DangerStepp]

This guy is great! Clear and concise information is a rare commodity nowadays. Thank you!

[@evandavis5223]

"We seem to prefer talking to our lamps these days" You mean you have to use your hands? That's like a baby's toy!

[@Krahazik]

I tried one next to my bed. It worked to well. My kitten frequently ended up turning it on as I was trying to get to sleep. Changed out to a normal switched lamp. Haven't tried a voice activated lamp yet.

[@RobCamp-rmc_0]

Heavy.

[@alexku8452]

Wait, did he say "oh well" talking about an electronic device listening to anything going on in its surrounding or was it just me who heard "Orwell" here?

[@HamTransitHistory]

Great Scott! I understood that reference

[@RobCamp-rmc_0]

HamTransitHistory _[Bill Hader channeling Al Pacino]_ Great, Scott!

[@YowLife]

So this is how that lamp we have works.

[@teachhimself]

*Confusion*

[@proffesionalweredog7426]

yeah this is that kind of lamp everyone's parents just has

[@stapuft]

@@proffesionalweredog7426 *grandparents

[@proffesionalweredog7426]

@@stapuft right, right. my mistake

[@stapuft]

@@proffesionalweredog7426 well you know, either that or the clapper......or both....and then they need your help to fix it and make it work......

[@jedinellum]

"Capaci-tater", I needed that laugh.

[@leokaiser1024]

I found out this Tech just 4y ago. I bought an IKEA lamp with this functionality which, at first glance, I thought I was ripped off. Then I realized how it worked and, well, I still have it and love it (although not bright enough for a night lap close to bed, but it works ok). Go figure, this tech is 70yo. I'm sure in my homeland this is still unknown yet awesome. Cheers and thanks for the great content

[@kreeperjoe]

"bees meow" congrats, i have never laughed so fast in one of your videos!

[@garicrewsen1128]

He is quickly becoming the Cat's Knees, isn't he?

[@stylis666]

For some reason that made me feel so happy and warm inside. And I don't even know what it means or where, if, I've ever heard it before, but my spider sense said it was something from way back when saxophones and synths ruled the musical intros of most tv shows.

[@rayceeya8659]

So back in the early days of the pandemic I was getting frustrated trying to operate our point of sale system with gloves on. I decided to track down something I could use as a disposable stylus. That way our customers could sign their signature on the capacitative touch screen without touching it. My solution, baby carrots. Baby carrots have just enough capacitance to trigger a touch screen and their cheap enough to use once and throw away, or snack on.

[@Thuebner1104]

Or, use once, then snack on.

[@midwest4416]

Thow 'em in a bin and when have enough Steam them which would Kill any bacteria and sweeten them up.

[@rjonboy7608]

😆😆😆🤣😉

[@JohnLeePettimoreIII]

* _THEY'RE_ cheap enough

[@raffriff42]

Did you try raw french fries? Or as they shall be known, Capaci-Taters™®?

[@feellliix]

2:57 "Their genie-us idea" Oh Alec, you never disappoint :)

[@LazerLord10]

My gramma had a full standing/reading lamp with that function. With a reading light and a nice big metal hood to focus the light, I can see why she got it, so handy!

[@preacherplays]

"The Aladdin lamp company. Their Genie-ous idea...." I love this guy.

[@thoubias]

That company probably had the same idea when choosing its name

[@poppaganja3793]

@@thoubias kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZynloqCeMSNrpY🤣

[@thoubias]

@@poppaganja3793 You missed a great chance to rickroll me

[@nitehawk86]

"Thanks to the magic of *buying two of them* ..." That gag will never get old :)

[@GoTeamScotch]

My favorite line

[@EricPoulsen]

I 100% remember a friend who had a touch lamp before 1984. It was particularly cool because the bottom was also a plant pot, and you could touch the plant to turn on the lamp.

[@TheRailroad99]

That's a great idea...

[@CharlesKiblinger]

I KNEW I remembered playing with a version with a potted plant in it in an orthodontist's waiting room in Chattanooga TN in 1980 or 1981.

[@EricPoulsen]

@@CharlesKiblinger Yeah, early 80's or even late 70's is about the time I remember that lamp.