Poetry for Seiko Messagewatch

February 7, 2005 12:51 PM

The Seiko Messagewatch may have been one of the few elements gunned down by the Y2k hype, but, in it's wake, a new form of poetry has emerged.
posted by krysalist (4 comments total)

For those whose eyes bug out when trying to read the LCD text:

Sundials Persist
Eternal Cycles
Unfair Gods
Lazy Coders
Youth Departs
Absense Is Felt
Great n Nobel
Letter Hourlog

Beautiful, though I'm afraid I have trouble comprehending the last two lines -- perhaps I misread a character, but I can't think of any other permutations. Apparently M, W, X, Z, V, and K are displayed "ambiguously" -- V must look like U, and K like H, I'm guessing.

This is similar to Calculator Haikus but without having to turn the device upside-down, and with the benefit of more characters.
posted by afiler at 2:20 PM on February 7, 2005

"Great and nobel
Letter hourlog"

That is, this timepiece and palimsest: great, nobel.

Also, the casual link to Eunoia ate up a decent chunk of my afternoon. Reminded me of (that portion of an English translation I once read of) George Perec's "La Disparation", which isn't surprising since Eunoia references it directly in Chapter E.

I suppose it shouldn't be surprising that google turned up a few reviews (1, 2) of the Perec translation following the same restriction -- no "e"s whatsoever.
posted by cortex at 3:15 PM on February 7, 2005

It seems the messagewatch was not a victim of y2k hype, but of actual y2k bugs in their transmission system that they were unwilling to spend the money to fix.

Or maybe that was just a good excuse to stop supporting a system that wasn't selling them many watches.

done in by bugs
not just hype
or perhaps
the bean counters
stingy brutes
posted by jeffj at 9:31 PM on February 7, 2005

(My friend captured that from the Waking Life DVD extras.)
posted by Eideteker at 7:14 AM on February 8, 2005