I never cease to be amazed at the sheer complexity and precision required to make analog electronics work. There are so many parts to a CRT, and about half of them seem like magic (directing electron beams with electromagnets!), and the first was built in 1911. LCDs seem downright simplistic in contrast.

It's kinda the same as the move from internal combustion engines to electric. The discrete parts count drops to a tiny fraction of the former. (Though, I guess if we were to count transistors in an IC as individual parts, LCD trumps CRT.)

Then again, one could build a CRT without a billion dollar fabrication facility. The same can't be said of LCDs (AFAIK).

Regardless, I really enjoy these posts. I don't understand half of it (though I understood more of this one than usual, as my dad owned a TV shop when I was a kid and I got some hands-on experience with CRTs early in life), but they're very satisfying. I wish I could play with cranky old computers more often.