MIKE ROSS wrote in a message to Greg Mayman:

 MR> "Greg Mayman" bravely wrote to "Mike Ross" (25
Aug 03  09:06:00)  
 MR> --- on the heady topic of "WATTS UP? KILOWATT-HOUR M" 

 GM> Remember the "falling leaf" digital clocks that were driven by 
 GM> sync motors? 

 MR> Those displays were a sort alphanumeric. The word digital only
 MR> applies  but when some kind of computer counter logic circuit is
 MR> used. Otherwise  things like mechanical odometers would be
 MR> considered digital.

Well,  they are,  sort of.  Except that the ones I look at from time to
time seem to be able to show you digits that are halfway between, 
sometimes making it difficult to see what the reading actually is.  A truly
"digital" device wouldn't do that,  but would snap from one digit
to the next.  I think those clocks qualify.

 MR> Speaking of displays, I just purchased a surplus white light led 
 MR> the other day in the standard size package and I was curious, 
 MR> seeing how  very bright it was, how many mcd's this thing emits.
 MR> The funny thing is  the led white light seems slightly bluish,
 MR> rather than what we are used to from incandescent lamps but it 
 MR> looks different from fluorescent.

Those,  and the blue ones seem to be popping up all over the place.  I see
them in store displays,  one grandkid had sneakers that were using blue as
well as red in those ones that flash,  and there are roadsigns around here
that seem to use an array of the "white" ones.

I've yet to get my hands on any.  But OTOH,  I haven't done much of
anything yet with the more common ones that I already have,  so that's no
big deal.

I've also noticed that more and more vehicles,  particularly on trucks, 
are using LED taillights.  I guess when a bulb burns out they just replace
it with an LED unit and don't have to worry about it for quite some time
after that.  I'm a bit surprised at how far it's gone,  though.

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