The cheesy charm of the Clapper

https://spectrum.ieee.org/clapper

by Brajeshwar • 3 years ago

75 33 3 years ago

spectrum.ieee.org

pyrale2• 3 years ago

Despite its name, the Great American Turn-On was invented in Canada.

I wonder whether Canadians usually call themselves American, or whether this habit of USAns to monopolize the word influenced them into not using it.

gwd3• 3 years ago

Here are the phases I went through as an American using "American":

1. Born in America; it's a big country, don't know much about the outside, just call it "America" and myself an "American".

2. Gain more knowledge of the outside world, realize the world and the Americas are even bigger. Start calling it "the States" or "the US" or things like that.

3. Gain even more experience of the outside world, realize that basically everyone in the world calls it "America" and calls us "Americans", and is confused by Americans who don't. Encounter forms written by foreign governments where "American" is the only option I can choose to describe my citizenship. Start calling it "America" again.

Kind of like the "Jedi IQ Bell Curve" thing.

FWIW I went through something similar with "Chinese", but then went out the other side:

1. Don't know anything about China, call the language that Chinese people speak "Chinese".

2. Start hearing about different "dialects" within China; start calling it "Mandarin".

3. Learn Mandarin, and start reading / talking with people from China. All the people I talk to in Mandarin say "Chinese" (中文) rather than "Mandarin" (汉语). So start just saying "Chinese" in both English and Mandarin.

4. Marry a native Cantonese speaker. Realize that the majority Mandarin-speaking Han population are engaging in cultural imperialism and suppression against minorities. Start saying "Mandarin" again in English, and 普通话 (putonghua / "common speech") in Mandarin / Cantonese.

quesera4• 3 years ago

In my experience, working with people from Canada to Argentina, everyone has said that "America" in their common vernacular means the US of A, and "Americans" accordingly.

But I wonder if this isn't just the US version of your Mandarin step 4. The US has dominated the global cultural conversation and the "other americans" have given up or never thought to challenge it.

...

Distantly related: I have spoken to Mexicans who are annoyed that Americans frequently (wrongly) think that only Canada and the US are "North America".

gruez• 3 years ago

Realize that the majority Mandarin-speaking Han population are engaging in cultural imperialism and suppression against minorities.

The CCP might be "engaging in cultural imperialism and suppression against minorities", but it's a stretch to claim "most" of the population is, when they have little political power and are just trying to survive.

kkielhofner• 3 years ago

I think this boils down to "The United States of America" being the only country with America in the actual country name. Plus the overall influence of the USA, etc.

America, of course, can also refer to two entire continents but I don't know that I've ever met anyone who's primary identity refers to their continent.

It would be very odd to me, at least, for an Argentinian (as one example) to refer to themselves as American. Same for someone from Thailand referring to themselves as Asian or someone from Nigeria saying African unless (of course) they were attempting to communicate with someone with very limited geographic knowledge (mostly Americans).

I have many friends from Central and South America and prior to meeting them I would have dismissed something like the Narcissism of Small Differences[0].

Spend some time hanging out with Colombians, Venezuelans, Argentinians, Chileans, Uruguayans, Nicaraguans, etc in a tapestry like Miami and you learn quickly it is a very real thing - going back and forth about things like how to prepare and cook beans.

At first it's very interesting to experience them (mostly playfully) poking at each other over things that most of the world doesn't notice and can't understand. However, if you know them well and they've been in the US a while when you describe the Narcissism of Small Differences they usually say something like "That's so true! I never knew it had an actual name".

When they visit the small town I'm from in Wisconsin I have to tell them that to most of the locals they're "Mexican" and to try not to get offended even though there actually are significant differences between Mexico and South America countries.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism_of_small_difference...

amalcon2• 3 years ago

It's interesting -- I was actually taught in Spanish class to call my nationality "estatounidense". Which I now understand is more polite in a few places, but will confuse everyone in other places. The most notable of the latter is, of course, Los Estados Unidos Mexicanos.

aragonite• 3 years ago

1. The majority of Cantonese speakers belong to the Han ethnic group.

2. "Mandarin" is not synonymous with "汉语." Standard Mandarin (普通话/现代标准汉语/國語 in Taiwan) and Standard Cantonese (粤语/广东话) represent two main varieties of the Chinese language, or "汉语". [1]

3. It's unsurprising that the Mandarin speakers you spoke with refer to their language as "Chinese", considering they were addressing a foreigner and Standard Mandarin is the official language of China. However, in interactions between Mandarin and Cantonese speakers, it's common to ask, "Do you speak Cantonese/Mandarin?"

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language

PhasmaFelis2• 3 years ago

Canadians aren't American. They are North American. America is a part of North America, which is a part of the Americas.

It's a little confusing if you're not used to it, but no one is monopolizing anything.

lallysingh• 3 years ago

North is a qualifier of American - denoting a subset of America. "American" is used by citizens of the USA only because the country's name doesn't give a better moniker. If the USA wasn't rich or powerful, "American" would mean the same as "Asian" or "European."

mixmastamyk• 3 years ago

Let me introduce you to the concept of Synecdoche, aka part for the whole:

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

LegitShady• 3 years ago

I wonder whether Canadians usually call themselves American

definitely don't. smart enough to keep it all straight in our heads - we know what continent we're on without constantly naming ourselves after it, and trying to claim the word would just leave to confusion.

"Oh you're American? Strange accent, where are you from?"

"Cape Shore!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=banAMiFK3ak

kleiba• 3 years ago

From Wikipedia:

    An earworm or brainworm, also known as sticky music or stuck song syndrome, is a
    catchy or memorable piece of music or saying that continuously occupies a
    person's mind even after it is no longer being played or spoken about.

    The word earworm is a calque from the German Ohrwurm. The earliest known English 
    usage is in Desmond Bagley's 1978 novel Flyaway, where the author points out the 
    German origin of his word.

jamesmunns• 3 years ago

Technology Connections recently did a video[0] on the clapper, which went over quite a bit of the tech and history of the clapper, if you're looking for a video option.

[0] https://youtu.be/TBPVJtGBf8Y?si=XHbDwcO2LUm9elvk

Night_Thastus• 3 years ago

Always going to shout out TC, he does great videos. Informative and funny.

noahmbarr• 3 years ago

Had one in college: inadequate lighting so I plugged a standing light into an un-switched outlet.

Worked great until I put on anything with a lot of bass.

spicyjpeg• 3 years ago

For those interested in the technical details of the Clapper's clap detection, the patent the article links to [1] is definitely worth taking a look at. Not only does it feature detailed explanations and flowcharts of the algorithm, but page 13 even has a full source code listing of the firmware that runs on the Clapper's ST6210 microcontroller - which, in true "there's a 6502 inside every toy" fashion, has a very blatantly 6502-inspired architecture [2].

[1] https://patents.google.com/patent/US5493618A

[2] https://www.st.com/en/microcontrollers-microprocessors/st621...

aimor• 3 years ago

The Clapper was my first voice assistant. I could shout "light on!", "light off!" and it would do its thing. Two minutes later, when that lost its appeal, I just quietly tapped on the box twice (I had the thing next to my bed to control my lamp).

ThinkingGuy• 3 years ago

The charm of the Clapper was still resonating in 1997, when "Saturday Night Live" did the parody sketch "New Microsoft Products" (Relevant bit starts at 1:22)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt4SZydEbqo

jauntywundrkind• 3 years ago

I bought one on eBay, thinking maybe I'd make a joke video on how to secure your voice assistant: with a clapper! Clap to turn on the Echo or whatever, wait 27s for it to boot, say 'Alexa, what is the weather, then clap to turn it off.

klyrs2• 3 years ago

If you ask Alexa to clap, can it turn itself off?

rzazueta• 3 years ago

No - the clapper will kill the power to it, so it won't be able to respond. You need to add a Google Nest device that will respond to your request for claps.

The cheesy charm of the Clapper

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