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 426 - Sidekicking
May 13, 2019
Inspired by Emma Clare's Friday newspost about supporting characters, today we're discussing sidekicks! Sidekicks are a useful character type that are used in so many different ways. They can be a specialised type of supporting character that are also a main character or they can be the main protagonist in some cases. In comics sidekicks came in during the early days as a way of giving juvenile readers their own insert character who they could identify with… Bucky Barnes, Jimmy Olsen, Robin etc. They had other functions like giving the hero someone to save, providing commentary, reaction and exposition. Later when that kind of sidekick fell out of favour they became superheroes in their own right.
Episode 256 - Using and creating weapons in fiction
Feb 1, 2016
Tantz Aerine, Banes and Ozoneocean discuss the topic of using and creating weapons in fiction and some of the pitfalls involved- all the things you can easily do wrong and do better! Stuff like using overly specialised weapons in too general a role, like giant swords where they'd be next to useless, or tricked out assault rifles with way too many things hooked onto them so they're oversized and weight a ton- also copying ideas and tropes about weapons usage without understanding why the exist and in the process making many of the same mistakes as others have in the past.
Episode 236 - The Songcast/Drunkcast
Sep 14, 2015
Pitface, Banes, Tantz Aerine and Ozoneocean reunited for a repeat of the legendary Drunkcast of Quackcast 137! Almost exactly 100 Quackcasts later we hit the booze again, but this time we had a goal to pursue with our drunken ramblings: music. We decided to talk about what themes inspire our comics, inspire us and represent our comic characters… and we came up with a LOT, too bloody much for me to link to dammit! We've also included all the links to the Quackcasts where themes for our comics appeared, AND Gunwallace has done the theme to Putrid Meat so it means ALL our comics have themes now!!! So enjoy our silly drunken chatting, this is who Drunk Duck Quackcasts are SUPPOSED to be!
Episode 219 - Sexy and attractive characters, Part 3
May 10, 2015
And now for the last in our series of questioning just what makes characters sexy and/or attractive! We have more interesting contributions to read from and delve into but we thought we'd stop for now so we don't waste all our sexiness in one go. Banes and Ozoneocean are being attractive this time, while PitFace and Tantz Aerine are the sexy ones, a role which they approach with gusto. The subject of the essence of sexiness proved to be contentious and surprisingly complicated! The music we have by Gunwallace this week is the theme for Johnny Bullet- it's a sexy 1970s theme with lots of “chicka-wa” guitar.
Episode 218 - Sexy and attractive characters, Part 2
May 10, 2015
Once again we're chatting about just WHAT makes characters sexy and or attractive. The sexy Banes and Ozoneocean are joined by two attractive ladies, PitFace and Tantz Aerine, so now we have even more insight into the topic! We discuss the topic with humour and intelligence, with the help of the fantastic contributions for some very canny and sexually attractive Drunk Duckers. And of course we have some lovely music by Gunwallace, a secret agent theme for FOX Academy The New Breed!
Episode 210 - DD Fashion Show!
Mar 16, 2015
Have you heard the word about the DD Fashion Show Free For All that's currently going on? No? Well now's your chance, so listen up good! Banes and Ozoneocean interview VinoMas aka Travis Michael Moore about the great community project he's running. Here's the low down: You go to the Fashion Forum in the links here (http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/13117/), desing an outfit for one of the figures there and post it in the catwalk thread for all to see and admire! You can put the outfit on your own figure and offer your own figure up for use as a model too if you like. Join in the fun, it's super easy. As long as you're a member of the forum and know how to host pics on photobucket.com or some other image sharing service you're all set! NOW GO TO IT!!
Episode 203 - The clothescast
Jan 26, 2015
Clothes maketh the man! If that man is a scarecrow... This Quackcast is about drawing clothing. Two esteemed gents from the Drunk Duck repertoire of experts offer their advice on methods for drawing bodies sheathed in garments. Bravo1102 and Ironscarf are two very worldly and experienced men, as they lounged deep in the dark wood panelled cosy confines of the DD private members club, they discussed the tricky subject of convincingly rendering character costumes. Ironscarf traced circles in the air with his custom made talbot pipe, illustrating his descriptions in smoke. Bravo, a fat cigar in one hand, brandy tumbler in the other, chortled into his voluminous beard as he offered counterpoints. It was a lively chat, but for the purposes of this Quackcast Banes and Ozoneocean have re-voiced their parts to protect their privacy: As you're no doubt overly aware, both men are the targets of numerous legions of female stalkers.
