Opinion

John Watkinson ponders miracles. I remember as a child reading someone’s outpourings on the subject of radio and what a miracle it was that all the different instruments in an orchestra could simultaneously be reproduced out of one speaker.  I didn’t find it easy being a child and being told that adults always know better.…

John Watkinson considers redundancy and self diagnosis One of the advantages of digital technology is that the equipment can be made self-diagnosing. It can log errors and in some cases correct them or at least continue working at reduced performance. The efficiency of modern audio production would simply not be possible without digital technology. Our…

John Watkinson ponders education. I wouldn’t know if it was typical, but what are laughingly known as my formative years were spent in the groves of academe. This was perceived by many to be a privilege, but at the time it seemed to me that it was just something that one did as a result…

In today’s world, practically everything is digital or about to become digital and whether that is a good thing warrants some debate. Digital devices are examples of technology and I have held the view for a long time that technology, and the science it is based on, is generally neutral. What is good or bad…

John Watkinson considers Time Accuracy. It’s a funny thing, but despite the Compact Disc being over three decades old I am still regularly faced with misconceptions about digital audio. I don’t mind so much when they come from the population at large, but when they come from the mouths of those making a living out of…

John Watkinson looks at teaching. I have spent a significant part of my life explaining things, because, for reasons that are not clear, I am considered to be good at it, good enough to become a metateacher, someone who teaches others to teach. Over the years I have tried to work out for my own…

John Watkinson looks at Artificial Intelligence. Intelligence suggests ability to reason, whereas knowledge is the possession of facts. The two are somewhat independent. The need for artificial intelligence (AI) would suggest that the real thing is in short supply, or is simply too expensive for some purposes. The problem with real intelligence is that it…

John Watkinson wonders what high resolution or high definition audio might mean. In these days of newspeak, words no longer seem to mean what they used to. Resolution and definition are terms used in audio that have been adopted from photography and television, where I believe they still have some meaning. To see what they…

Alexander Graham Bell was a multi-faceted individual with wide ranging interests. One of the earliest machines to fly in Canada was down to him, and he also pioneered the hydrofoil. In audio the level unit we use commemorates his name. Bell’s wife, Mabel, was profoundly deaf and as a result could not hear herself speaking…

John Watkinson looks at Troubleshooting. Sound only needs air to travel in, but once we want to transmit or record sound, we have to use technology which is imperfect and subject to failure. Locating and rectifying failures then becomes an integral part of dealing with technology. Efficient faultfinding requires a logical or scientific approach. Sadly,…