Switch in Time

(Image of GT90 remote from Terapeak)

So I was talking to a couple of software engineers from a very large and well-known company (you probably access its site every day, dear reader), and I brought up the subject of my ancient Genie garage door opener. It's so old that the remote control uses a DIP switch; I tried replacing the beat-up remote, but newer DIP-switch-less ones can't communicate with the garage door opener.

To his credit, BTW, one engineer wasn't afraid to ask, "What's a DIP switch?" (DIP switches could be found in every PC or video game circuit board until the mid-1990's.) Such a basic part of electronics history was unknown to him, and he didn't need it at all to do his job well.

Fitzgerald's words popped into mind, though I know that was not the writer's intended meaning:

And then one fine morning—
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.