Ironic Lighting: An Antique Replica Emergency Light

[soroban]

Recently my wife bought an emergency light for our home.
It has 12 LEDs, requires 2 D batteries, and is very bright.
It comes in a replica of an antique Brooklyn lantern.
It looks something like this:

            *---*
           /:::::\
       *--*:::::::*--*
       |  *:::::::*  |
       |    *---*    |
       |   / 0 0 \   |
       |  |  0 0  |  |
       |  |  0 0  |  |
       |  |  0 0  |  |
       |  |  0 0  |  |
       |   \ 0 0 /   |
       *----*---*----*
           /:::::\
          *:::::::*
          |:::::::|
          *-------*

Where is the irony?

We have a state-of-the-art lighting appliance
. . and we disguise it as an antique!This reminds of another ironic product
. . I saw some years ago.
It was in a high-tech store like The Shaper Image.

It was a desk clock but it was like a picture frame,
about 5 by 7 inches, which stood up on the desk.

It was an LCD (liquid crystal display),
so it was basically gray with black pixels.

The time was displayed at the bottom of the picture.

The upper 90% of the picture looked like this:

      *-------*
      |       |
      |       |
      |ooooooo|
      *ooooooo*
       \ooooo/
        \ooo/
         *o*
        /   \
       /  o  \
      *       *
      |  ooo  |
      | ooooo |
      |ooooooo|
      *-------*

That's right!
It was an animation of an hourglass!

Now isn't that the height of silliness?

That's in the same class as inflatable dartboards
. . and flesh-colored tattoo ink.

 

[lofgran]

The irony in this situation is that the product is marketed as a state-of-the-art lighting appliance, but it is designed to look like an antique Brooklyn lantern. The use of advanced technology to mimic a traditional design is ironic and humorous. Additionally, the clock that is designed to look like an hourglass is also ironic as it uses modern technology to imitate a traditional timekeeping device. This highlights the absurdity of constantly seeking new and innovative products, even if they serve the same purpose as older, simpler designs.