Desert Island Whimsy in the 21st Century

[danieldwilliam]

I listen to Desert Island Disks. I’m not a fanatic but I quite like it as part of my Sunday morning routine.

 

 

I’ve finally gotten round to a bit of whimsy that occurs to me about one time in three when I listen to the show.

 

How many disks could I take with me using the same weight of recording medium but 21^st Century technology?

 

The number surprised me.

 

Firstly, let me deal with the gramophone. I’m going to allow myself to swap the gramophone for some form of generator and battery charging kit and a small pair of speakers.

 

Now, the Disks.

 

8 Disks, singles, weighing approximately 90 grams each come to 720 grams.

 

An iPod weighs 140 grams. This leaves me 580 grams of recording material.

 

The biggest capacity USB flash drive I’ve seen available is 128 GB. And it weighs approximately 30 grams, so with my 580 grams I can take 19 drives totalling 2,432 GB plus the iPod itself at 160 GB for a grand total of 2,592 GB.

 

At approximately 250 tracks per GM I make 648,000 tracks. 

 

Now my marginal utility for an additional track of music falls of pretty sharply after the first 200,000 or so. So I’m going to allow myself to split my digital media into three equal parts, one part for music, one part for ebooks and one part for video.

 

This brings my music collection down to just my favourite 216,000 tracks. Give or take allowing for the fact that I quite like classical music this are longer.

 

For my library I use 864 GB. At 100 books per GB I get 86,400 books. That’s a pretty impressive library.

 

Video is pretty demanded of data storage so I only get 155,520 minutes of video. Splitting this evenly between film and television I get 389 2 and a bit hour films and 1,296 1 hour episodes of television, more if I don’t have adverts.

 

I think I’d be able to take pretty much every piece of music and every book I could conceivably get round to enjoying. I’m a bit limited on the video front, but that’s okay I’ll have plenty of work to do. For a start I’ll have a number of books on agriculture, boat building and navigation.

 

I’m glad I did this little exercise. I think it’s a neat illustration of how technology has improved our lives and how we can continue to enjoy economic growth whilst using less of the world’s resources per head and in total.

 

The only obstacle to my enjoyment of a lifetime of listening pleasure is the modern paucity of desert islands.

 

DDW

Comments

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

How are you going to charge your iPod?

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

Using the generator and battery charging kit that I swooped the gramophone for.

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I wasn't reading carefully enough. They really weigh the same?

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

A gramophone & a little generator. Almost certainly. Particularly if you allow the weight of am old fashioned HMV type. Speakers would weigh about the same as the metal horn, leaving the box, winding gear, amp, etc for the generator. I think there would be weight left over.

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

Why doesn't everyone have a generator, then?

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

Most people have access to the national grid and don't only want to trickle charge an iPod.

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

What is the ratio of charging time to playing time?

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

I imagine you could run it all the time. Thinking I would use a wind turbine.

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

Do you get that for the same weight as the record player? Do I have to go and read your post again?

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

I think you would. You'd have to have the thing specially designed. But a big old fashioned gramophone weighs a lot. Lots if there is any valve technology. I don't need much in the way of energy to run the iPod and speakers.

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

What if you get a monsoon season? Will it all stop working?

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

It might do.

I may find on further investigation that I could get a small car battery for the weight as well and could therefore manage my supply better.

I’m going to do some research on the internet.

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

Oh, God. Milda is never going to forgive me.

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

So, a marine spec 400 watt wind turbine weighs about 6 kilos. A ten watt solar cell weighs 1.6kg. The speakers are pretty much lost in the roundings.

An iPod draws about 2 watts so if I went for the ten watt solar cell at 1.6kg I think there is ample weight left for the speakers and a small holding battery.

I think I’d be okay.


You will have to make your own peace with MLW.

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

Or alternatively change my name and leave the country.

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

That would only keep you safe until Jack can walk.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

You need one of the commercially available solar iPod chargers - anything else would be disallowed on the grounds that it was useful.

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

Ha ha. I'm slightly subverting the rules. I promise not to use the electricity for anything else.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

Ha! Well if you're going to CHEAT! :-)

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't call it cheating. More a proportionate response to Moore's Law.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

How long do you think Moore's law will remain viable?

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

According to wikipedia 2015. Another 3 cycles.

I do know a man who might know. Pal of mine who is photolithographer with Intel.