The unexpected usefulness of old and new things

Our navigator had the pleasure of attending a fencing match this past weekend as a spectator.  The range in ages of the participants was unusually large, which highlights some important considerations about newer and older people and things.

This was the annual Midshipman-Alumni Meet at the U.S. Naval Academy.  As many alumni as can gather, pick up their weapons and face the young, extremely fit, fencers of the current team.  Surprisingly–for fencing is a very fast sport–the alumni won.  And these are not solely recent alumni; only two of the dozen or so graduated in this century.  Indeed, the senior member was from the class of 1960–and he won his two bouts.  (The superiority of older swordsmen is the general theme of Terry Pratchett’s novel Interesting Times, so won’t be new to some readers.  But the alumni meet is not fiction.)

This prompts the conclusion: newer is not always better.  Which is so obvious that it really should go without saying.  And it’s not always useful: the football team of, say, 1980 would not do well against the current team, and should not try.

As a contrast, the navigator remembered his watch (the timekeeping device, not his period of duty on the bridge).  Years ago, while sailing on a merchant ship, his old watch ceased to function and the Chief Mate gave him an extra one.  It’s about the least expensive kind one can get–there are cups of coffee that cost more.  And it has been through the laundry at least once.  But checked against an accurate time signal (a navigational habit), the watch keeps a constant rate over four to six months to within a fraction of a second.  Even the best mechanical timekeepers would struggle to do this, and they wouldn’t go through the laundry well at all.  So sometimes the new is very much better.

Like lots of unhelpful blogs and business books, we’ve now pointed out two staringly obvious facts, but given no hints as to how to use them.  (Well, at least we haven’t claimed some new and penetrating insight.  And we haven’t charged you a thing.)  And we can’t, really, give definite guidance for a general situation.  But perhaps by giving you the picture of an old fencer wearing a cheap watch we can keep the ideas in you mind.  Having an unusually wide experience of technology, old and new, here at Five Colors we’re probably in a better position to exploit these things.  So maybe your best tactic when you’re faced with deciding between the old and new (which the watch-wearing fencer has suggested to you) is to gather a grandfather and a millenial together and ask specific questions: not “which is best?” but “which is faster, easier, cheaper?”  And listen to the answers!