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Comment by jsrcout | Hacker News Reader

> So yeah. The original one required you to crank it up to spin the disc, because spinning the disc was vital to the operation of the original music box.

> The modern "classic" one requires you to crank it up, because it won't start playing until you've cranked it up.

Maybe I'm just cranky today. But this quote perfectly encapsulates so much of what's wrong with a lot of modern technology.

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Skeuomorphism is a time honored tradition, eg folders in a filesystem. Users often find its use is annoying, but other times it's a necessary analogy for users to make sense of the UX.

This isn't just an artistic decision though. The product gives the impression that it's an actual functioning record player, like the old one.

No. This toy "gives the impression that it's an actual functioning record player", even though it isn't. The old one was an actual functioning record player. Or at least a cross between a record player and a music box. But the point is: the old one was actually playing music off the disks, the new one only pretends to do it.

This isn't skeumorphism, it's just fake.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeuomorph

>A skeuomorph (also spelled skiamorph, /ˈskjuːəˌmɔːrf, ˈskjuːoʊ-/)[1][2] is a derivative object that retains ornamental design cues (attributes) from structures that were necessary in the original. Examples include pottery embellished with imitation rivets reminiscent of similar pots made of metal and a software calendar that imitates the appearance of binding on a paper desk calendar.

An adult fake design is the Linea Mini espresso machine by La Marzocco. I’d like one, but having a fake brew paddle on a machine in that price range makes me back away. The paddle is just an on/off switch.

https://international.lamarzocco.com/en/machine/linea-mini/

It is an intentionally skeuomorphic design, critical to its entertainment value as a toy. A simple box with a play button would not fulfill the same goals.

Toys should have educational as well as entertainment value; this is because playfulness in young mammals (including humans) is a preparation for adulthood. The old toy achieved this as it was a mechanical machine for making sound.

The new one is just a fake, a lie. The only thing it teaches kids is that technology is incomprehensible magic that they shouldn't try to understand, a form of learned helplessness where people only rights/abilities with respect to technology is to buy it from big corporations. This is contemptible and disgusting.

I don't disagree. Bad toys lack educational value, and this is a bad toy.

cranking it up increases 'engagement', probably

the limits of a design should be when it actively makes an object less functional. Car designers in particular blithely ignore this. This is another good example.

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