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| 21 Nov 2015 11:12 AM |
[ NERD CONTENT WARNING: PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK ]
( 1. Why were old computers always eggshell white? ) Keyboards needed letters printed on the keys so people who weren't touch typists could see what they were typing. Back then, there were only three processes that could allow you to print on keys. These three processes were called double-shot moulding, laser-etching and dye-sublimating. The first one was the only one that allowed you to print white letters onto black keys, but at the time (and even now), double-shot moulding costed a ton to manufacture. Therefore, companies often used laser-etching as it costed a lot less, but it could only print letters darker than the plastic it was on, and since black cannot get blacker, laser-etching was pointless on black plastics, and the same applied to dye-sublimating. This is why computers were always white, because it was always easier to print on white.
( 2. Why do old computers yellow over time? ) Now, sometimes computers turn yellow, even though they are white. You may notice this on regular plastics as well, such as the plastic on a SNES. This is because ABS plastic is very commonly yellowed by the exposure of UV light. ABS (a thermoplastic polymer composed of acrylonitrile, butadiene, and styrene) is often used for many products. You know Legos? Yeah, they're made of ABS. For many complicated reasons, this form of plastic yellows when it is exposed to UV light, or sunlight, for long periods of time. Sometimes, it can get so yellowed to the point that it looks solid orange. I'm not kidding. It can be reversed by applying hydrogen peroxide cream to the plastic and leaving it out in the sunlight for a few days (yes, the yellowing is reversed with the assistance of something that causes the yellowing, weird right?) So, if you have some old SNES that has yellowed like crazy, now you know what to do. |
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| 21 Nov 2015 11:13 AM |
| you sure do like your keyboards |
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| 21 Nov 2015 11:14 AM |
"you sure do like your keyboards" I had to mention keyboards. That's why computers were all eggshell white. Didn't you read the post? |
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talkbar
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| Joined: 29 Sep 2009 |
| Total Posts: 21034 |
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| 21 Nov 2015 11:17 AM |
| this is actually quite interesting. |
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