bowling and the information age, plus random musings

[frobzwiththingz]

pheromone got me thinking about bowling recently. As an admirer/builder of things mechanical, bowling pinsetters have always been an interest. A couple of years ago i ran across (on the 'net, of course) a couple of people designing a new duckpin pinsetter. This would be cool, as no company has made one since about 1947. All duckpin bowling centers still running are doing so via ancient spare parts, sheer force of will, duct-tape, and bailing wire. I was curious to see if they had gotten anywhere, so i searched for them again today. Couldn't find them. But i did find this, on a candlepin bowling site:

"In a world dominated by technology, automatic scoring brings an age-old pastime, bowling, into the Information Age. No longer do bowlers have to mark scores on sheets of paper with big fat pencils. People are free to socialize and run to the snack bar or the restroom while the computer does the nitty-gritty work for them. Bowlers can sit back, relax, and cheer on their teammates while they bowl."

"Autoscoring also opens up the game of candlepin bowling to a new clientele - people who have never gone bowling before. These people can simply lace up their bowling shoes and roll without having to learn how to keep score. Too, the animations that autoscoring often provides entertain bowlers, congratulating them when they throw a strike or ridiculing them when they roll a gutter ball. When people see and use the autoscoring systems, they no longer will think of bowling as an antique game stuck in the 1950s in "dark, dingy basements."

Well, grump. I dont like the new "auto scoring" bowling centers. Is it really the goal of "the information age" to eliminate any need for my brain to process information? Should it be? Isn't "keeping score" in some way part of the whole "bowling" experience? Is it really better to take it out? What, exactly, is added by having those animations?

And what is this about bowling being a "dark, dingy basement" thing? What if made the above "information age" transformations to other "dark, dingy basement" activities? "No Ma'am, there is no need to count your lashes. Our automated system does that for you. When you reach 25 the wide-screen Hello Kitty Avatar will awaken and scoff at you."

If anyone does do that, i want royalties.

Comments

When I was your age...

[radioactiverich.livejournal.com]

Pretty soon they'll invent automatic bowling machines so you don't have to get your hands dirty on those dingy house balls. Think of that! You can let the bowling machine bowl for you so you can concentrate more fully on talking to your friends and getting snacks and drinks!

Shortly after that, they'll do away with the alley entirely (what's the point now that there's a bowling machine) and just simulate the whole experience on a large video screen! They'll put up disco lights and flourescent paints and play loud music to enhance the new bowling experience.

What? oh...

Re: When I was your age...

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

What he said.

There is something to be said for auto-scorers for kids, who may not yet have gotten the hang of the whole system -- just like the inflata-things they put in the gutters.

(So does this mean you can't come this week, but might want to another time? :)

Re: When I was your age...

[frobzwiththingz.livejournal.com]

i might be able to. I'd vote for tuesday.

Re: When I was your age...

[marmota.livejournal.com]

Sadly, on the T a few weeks ago I saw someone playing a bowling game on their cell phone.

Tangentially, building a bowling robot could actually be fun.

[feste-sylvain.livejournal.com]

Flatlanders don't know from candlepin bowling. They don't understand that you get three tries per frame, nor how strikes, spares and clears work.

For them, auto-scoring would be a good idea, but any animation involved should illustrate how the scoring is performed so that they learn.

Step Two of auto-scoring should be allowing the bowler to keep score, but correcting them if they err.

Whoop-de-zings Step Three, tournament auto-scoring, should require a bowler (or team scorer) to keep score, but then ding them at the end of the game for any errors they make in scoring.

[frobzwiththingz.livejournal.com]

Flatlanders don't know from candlepin bowling
maybe, but the auto-scoring thing hit ten-pin first. It's much harder to do for candlepin, due to the dead-wood.

[feste-sylvain.livejournal.com]

Dead-wood's got nought to do with it. If it's not standing, it's scored.

[marmota.livejournal.com]

Some years ago, I remember getting a behind the scenes tour of a duckpin alley (it might even have been with you and frotz). It inspired me to attempt to slap together a working model out of technics legos, of which I have lots. It was fun and educational, but I never quite got it working right. I probably could try again if I had the opportunity to take some digital pics on another tour. Up for duckpins again some time?

[marmota.livejournal.com]

What if made the above "information age" transformations to other "dark, dingy basement" activities?

Model trains sets (MS Train Simulator), slot car racing (dozens of racing games), pool (dozens of games), poker (thousands of casino web sites). heck, even just moving stored crap around (sokoban) or having a garage sale (ebay). As sad as all that is, the simulated outdoor things are even worse silent cultural commentary. Virtual bass fishing, anyone?

"No Ma'am, there is no need to count your lashes. Our automated system does that for you. When you reach 25 the wide-screen Hello Kitty Avatar will awaken and scoff at you."

Something could probably be rigged with competition fencing equipment. Flog Flog Revolution anyone?

[michigansundog.livejournal.com]

I was saddened to hear about automatic scoring too. Last time I went bowling, we scored based on style rather than on pins knocked down. How are we supposed to be creative when some machine is giving the scores!? Feh.

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

I just have to say that my father, way back in the day, used to be a pin setter. (He's 70 now.) So there was a whole job class there that largely disappeared when the machines came.