How things work
People born in the early 1900s could probably figure out how a steam engine works.
People under 30 don't even ask "how does my cellphone send photos?" It's obviously not necessary to know.
And in between, there's the rest of us.
I grew up knowing how my car worked. After all, I had to take it apart a lot. Now I have no idea, it's just too full of black boxes.
It's not an easy adjustment to make, and when your life depends on stuff working properly, it can be uncomfortable.
But just because we can't take it apart to see how it works, it's not necessarily exotic any more.
The 4700 Airbus A318/319/320/321/330/340/380s in service have a flight control system which is now the norm, not the exception.
Last edited by Dysag; 8th February 2009 at 06:12.