It’s new, improved and old-fashioned

I love all new technology, especially as in applies to my shop. Guess what, though? Old technology is still there. Nothing whatsoever has happened to it.

You folks probably get tired of hearing me get excited about the latest high-tech development in tools. OK, I’m a geek and I get excited; I get that. What I don’t get is the reaction some have for new developments, as if once something new comes out the old things are banished.

In my recent blog on Milwaukee’s Bluetooth-connected tools, a commenter asked, “What happened to using the good old learning curve and coordination and working skills?” The answer is simple: Nothing happened to it at all. I still use all those things on a daily basis, and will continue to for the rest of my life. If something happened to those things for you, then that’s on you, not the tools or the technology.

When it comes to techno-enhanced tools, many feel that we simply don’t need them. Well, that’s true. We don’t “need” them, but you know what? It’s always a benefit when they’re offered. Always. If you don’t like them or need them, then just don’t use them. They don’t replace anything; the old things don’t go away. Personally, I like having the choice, and will take advantage of them almost every time.

For example, DeWalt just introduced these wonderful little guys:

Snap one of those on a tool battery, and you can charge your phone or other device anywhere. Do I “need” that? Nope. Do older means of accomplishing the task cease to exist? Nope. I could charge that phone just like my great-grandparents used to by plugging it into the wall the old-fashioned way. And, hey, sometimes I do.

The point is that no matter how new-fangled any high-tech tool improvement is, you simply don’t have to use it if you don’t want to. But nothing happens to the old ways of doing things – or the old skills – unless you let it.

A.J.