The lost art of lacing cable (2018)
The first time I saw laced cable, I am not ashamed, much, to say was in 1978, when I had just finished my masters in EE and had just landed a job at Bell Labs. One of my first assignments was to develop a procedure to convert an old teletype system to the new "datapak" technology which was a version of X.25 (a predecessor to the Internet, more or less) and was called BX.25, I guess, Bell X.25.I went to an office that had the old teletype equipment, which reeked of PCB's, large coils with oil dripping from them. The circuit transmitted at 10 baud, not that is not a typo, not 10Mbps, 10 bps, or baudot, back then. 300 volts to zero and back again! Travelling hundreds of miles on terrible copper cables through hills and valleys carry the news wire of the day, AP etc.An old man with grey hair and a beard, crept out of his cubicle to greet me, I informed him that I was from HQ and here to help. Just kidding, but I am sure I said something stupid like that. He explained everything to me, which was fascinating. I was surprised to find out that he was only 25 years old, and the PCB's had aged him. Again, only kidding, I have no idea how old he was, but he ansured me that he was going to retire just as soon as we completed the upgrade to the new technology.He showed me around, the beauty of the equipment and the cabling astounding me, it was almost as if it would be a crime to touch any of it. The way it was tied so carefully. The way everything was put together. There was a beauty that was almost reminiscent of the Incan Quipu's.I am sure I am waxing philosophically here of course. But who is to say that ancient technology is any less amazing than old art or music?