Episode 723 - Changing tech and design
Jan 20, 2025
We're talking about how technology and design changes so much over the years and how that can change things with plot in story and it can also help pinpoint the date of something sometimes better than other things like fashion. The biggest one we talked about were phones, which have changed so much over the last few decades. Universally connected smartphones mean huge story changes- characters can all look up whatever they need at any time, communicate with people instantly, entertain themselves, take photos and videos etc. That can massively affect plots!
Topics and Show Notes
But the look as well as the use is very distinct too. Early phones were the famous candlestick design with the separate speaking tube and you couldn't dial directly, you needed to ask an operator to connect you. Eventually we got rotary telephones with a heavy symmetrical hand-piece on a cradle, they started off with a rotary dial but later versions had buttons, they also featured the classic curly cord between the hand-piece and the unit. The next big change were phones that didn't have a cord, they were connected to the base unit by radio, those were very popular in the 90s and are still in use today, although much sleeker and smaller.
Then came mobile phones, handys or cellphones… The early versions had to be large units because there were almost no phone towers so their batteries and radios had to be very powerful and large to compensate, so initially they were only in cars and a sign of wealth because they were very expensive. They shrunk down but you still needed to carry around a large “brick” with a handle to boost their power due to limited tower infrastructure. When we got more towers that allowed for much smaller phones, although still pretty large, but they could fit on a belt. The next big change was smaller phones with digital screens for texting and they could actually fit inside your pocket! This was dominated by the famous Nokia phones from Finland. Then came along folding “flip-phones” that could be smaller and status and wealth was shown by how small your phone was, Motorola and Samsung dominated there.
We got phones with cameras, this required larger coloured screens and phones increased in size again. The all metal Motorola Razar flip-phone was one of the stand-out designs, but there were many form factors and brands. After that the next big change were the first smartphones, which were dominated by Palm and Blackberry. People could use the internet and full email on them and they were a status symbol for celebs and businesspeople. After that of course the touchscreen smartphones came along, Prada had a famous model but it was the iphone by Apple that kicked off the trend and democratised smartphones for everyone. Google followed with the Android operating system and democratised the concept even further, becoming the “Windows” of phones, with Android being on phones from many makers and creating phones of different price-points and capabilities from basic cheap models to incredibly high end creations.
Things are still changing but the next big change were big size smartphones, lead by Samsung and their “phablet” Note phones that even included Wacom stylus tech, making them mini portable Cintiq tablets. That was initially laughed at by Apple and others but of course everyone eventually followed the new trend. Now we have folding phones with flexible screens, smart watches, smart-rings etc, but none are really taking off yet. “AI” seems to be the next big change but no one really knows what to do with it besides photo editing and writing phone messages for us.
I didn't cover beepers, pagers, tablets, computers and so on but they're significant as well. All this tech has changed a lot, changed us and changes how stories are made. When I did my first big trip over to the USA in 2010 I got my first smartphone, an HTC Desire, the best Android phone at the time, because I didn't like Apple and Android allowed me more freedom. I got a local sim when I went to the states and it was an essential device to me. I justified the purchase because I knew I could have my music on there, it would be my camera, computer, email device, phone, map, newspaper, and everything else I needed. I've had many smartphones since but remember it fondly.
How has tech changed things for you, in your stories, or reality? Does it help you date stuff you watch and read?
This week we're doing another Best-off! Gunwallace did these themes inspired by Bottomless Waitress a few years ago. He was So inspired he gave us TWO!
Bottomless Waitress I - This is such a happy sounding, Southern, joyful track, filled with banjo and layers of guitar, twanging away… bringing notes of sunshine, natural wood, the light glinting softly through tree leaves and making dappled shadows on the ground… Perfect for an advertising jingle!:
Slip into a comfy booth, get your butt comfortable on our soft cushions, and enjoy a plate of down-home cook’n in this fine establishment, filled with a cast of friendly ladies. Try a plate of our famous bottomless fries, a cup of our delicious bottomless coffee, and the sight of our lovely bottomless waitresses!
490 - Bottomless Waitress II - Part two of the BW cannon! Revenge of the banjo! We start off with a tractor roaring into life and a banjo opening us up to the sounds of rural Midwest America- wide open corn fields, golden wheat, grain silos, quiet back-roads, haystacks, big red barns, and a kinky little diner where the coffee is bottomless and so are the staff! Ava’s diner is a welcoming place for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Buttered buns, glazed donuts, and creamy desserts are a house speciality! So swing on by. No entry at the rear, we prefer you to come in by the front door.
Topics and shownotes
Links
Featured comic:
TEMPERAMENTAL - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2025/jan/12/featured-comic-temperamental/
Featured music:
Bottomless Waitress - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Bottomless_Waitress/ - by Banes and Ozoneocean, rated M.
Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
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Episode 668 - Year in Review!
Jan 1, 2024
Happy new year. Happy 2024! We're doing a year in review show this time because what else do you talk about in the last recorded thing/first presented thing of the year? We chat a bit about the progress of Drunk Duck's massive update and we each talk about what we personally achieved with our own webcomics- Tantz with Verdant and finishing Without Moonlight, Banes with Kaiju Valentine, me with Pinky TA and Bottomless waitress with Banes, and our new 3 way group comic called Key of Dreams, which is still in the planning stages.
Episode 657 - The art of the tease
Oct 16, 2023
The art of the tease is what we're talking about here. It's something Banes and I work with on Bottomless Waitress and it's what you see in a lot of raunchy comedies, you also see it in other applications too, like in a slasher thriller where it's teased that a character will become a victim but they never do. My fave application though is the traditional sex comedy where there's never anything explicit even though that is the thing you're always led to expect is just around the corner. The art is to keep people hanging on with the internal expectation of seeing something, while never actually delivering on it and yet not pissing them off.
Episode 625 - Designing Women
Mar 6, 2023
Character design is a fun process but not without its challenges. Do you design the character or their story first? I've followed both of those approaches, they have pluses and minuses. On one hand when you create the character first that can make it a real passion project, you make a cool character and then create a story for them to live in and be themselves. But that can also lead to Mary Sues, wish fulfillment and self inserts, which makes for a weak story. Creating characters to fit a story can sometimes lead to using a lot of stereotypes and ending up with fairly generic and bland characters, which can make for a dull story. So it's best to use a bit of balance and judgment.
Episode 617 - Adventuring we go!
Jan 8, 2023
Adventure is a fun genre! Not as many things get made for it these days but it used to be hugely popular in the past. It's one of my favourite genres and this is what we're chatting about for the Quackcast. What IS adventure? I think it usually involves a whole lot of different things like exploration, action, discovery, heroic protagonists, rivals, travel, exotic places, fights etc. It can be set in the past or in the modern day. Good examples are The Mummy, Indiana Jones, the original Tomb Raider, the two new Jumanji films, Strange World, Pirates of the Caribbean, Ducktales, Tailspin, Jungle Cruise, Uncharted and so much more. I'd love to know your faves!
Episode 549 - Love stories
Sep 20, 2021
In today's cast we're chatting about LOVE stories! This isn't a subject we get into much but it's a huge genre so we thought we'd tackle it. We thought none of us even WORK in that genre till I belatedly realised that Banes and I sort of DO with Bottomless Waitress hahaha! There's all sorts of love in there… Sorry for the sound quality with this one I've no idea what went wrong.
Episode 490 - Genres of webcomics!
Aug 3, 2020
Aren't genres great? They're so useful for categorising what we like and selling our work. Today we're chatting about all the genres that are popular in webcomics now, that we know of. Back in the day webcomics were mainly defined by TWO genres: slice of life, and gaming. And out of those two gaming was king! Actually a lot of comics combined the two. The biggest were things like 8 Bit Fantasy, PVP, Penny Arcade, and Ctrl Alt Delete.
Episode 423 - Fave weapons in fiction?
Apr 22, 2019
What's your favourite weapon in fiction? Mine are ridiculously giant swords, huge anti-tank rifles, and mecha. There are a lot of complex reasons for weapon choices in fiction, a Kalashnikov assault rifles for example signals certain things about the person carrying it: They're usually a bad guy for a start. This originated during the cold war, with certain types of bad guys using AKs. First it was Soviet Bloc soldiers, then it was Viet Con and rebels from South East Asia, then it became the “terrorist” weapon. The sub machine gun is the weapon of the bad guy. Terrorists used to use Uzis (before they turned to AKs), bank robbers used to use Mac 10s, now it's the HK MP5. Good guys carry an M-16 or AR-15 rifle. In historical fiction traditionally the bad guys carries curved swords while the good guys had straight swords, this came from crusades. Minor characters carry spears and heroes carry swords. Women, weaker characters and rebels carry bows. Giant swords and guns are often given to smaller characters in anime (usually female), as an obvious contrast with their small size. It's meant to emphasis the fact they're sort of a “mighty mouse”.
