Vakkotaur

The Ashland, Wisconsin Daily Press has a story about the Navy ending operation of the Extremely Low Frequency transmitters in northern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. The transmitters were protested by some from the beginning. Some said that it made nuclear war (the ELF transmitters were used to transmit to submerged submarines) more likely. Others claimed there were possible biological effects of the ELF waves.

The Navy now has several VLF (Very Low Frequency - a bit higher frequency than ELF) transmitters and plans to use those instead. The protests didn't have any significant effect - being superseded had an effect. Nevertheless, protest groups are claiming victory and looking rather silly in so doing.

The funniest part is that some see this as a big win for the health effects reasons. ELF transmitted on 76 Hertz, last I heard. I don't know at what power level, but even supposing a few million Watts, there's something curious about it all. There is a much bigger "transmitter" not far away in the spectrum: The power grid, which has "antennas" all across the country and billions (<Sagan>and billions</Sagan>) of Watts at 60 Hertz.

Some several decades back musical recordings were in the form of cylindrical records that fit onto players made to play such cylindrical records. The format was similar, if lesser diameter, than the first crude model that Edison had a worker build. The standard that was eventually settled on for cylinder records played about two minutes of music.

As things progressed a different format took over, the disc phonograph. This was incompatible even though the principle of operation was the same. There were advantages to the disc. It took less space so was easier to store, both in inventory and in a home collection. It was easier (and therefore cheaper) to manufacture.

And, eventually, the phonograph disc too was replaced. The Compact Disc took over almost completely. And some are arguing the CD's days are numbered even now.

The interesting thing is that nobody is preventing me or you or anyone else from making phonographs or records. In fact, there are places that do still make phonograph discs and you can still buy turntables if you look and are willing to pay.

That's just disc records. How many commercial makers of phonograph cylinders do you know about? Probably the same as I do: none. There is not much chance of getting a cylinder of the latest hit single. And can you get a commercial cylinder phonograph? Sure you can maybe find an old one at an antiques dealer. What about a new one? There's nothing illegal about making new cylinder phonographs, nor is there any law standing in the way of cylinder record production. And yet neither are to be found, at least not beyond enthusiastic experimenters.

This isn't about sound recording formats, not really. This is not about abortion either, not really, but I'm going to mention that here all the same. Abortion is, in the U.S., currently legal. Some would like to make it illegal. Others push back to keep it legal. Those opposing the procedure are taking the wrong approach. Making things illegal does not necessarily make them go away. Marijuana, as just one example, is illegal in the U.S. It has not gone away. And yet legal things, like the cylinder record, are quite scarce. The difference is alternatives and relevance. There are alternatives to cylinder records - and they're so much better that they are chosen by all but a very few. The cylinder record is irrelevant nowadays. Make abortion irrelevant, have real alternatives so it simply is not needed, and it will fade. It won't go away completely. But if one is against something, isn't better to have only a tiny bit of it than to have a great lot of it?

But this isn't about abortion. Or illegal drugs. Or vehicles with low gas mileage. Or petroleum. Or any number of things some people would like to tell other people not to do or use. It's not even about an old sound recording format. Though it could be, in a way, about all of them.

This is really about making things go away without getting people angry and ready to fight against the change. To get rid of something, it must be replaced with something seen as better. Once that is done, it will pretty much go away without needing any laws telling it to do so.