Iron Curtain

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Eileen Lim and Nicole Lee at Changi Airport Terminal 2 in Singapore

As the day turns to night in Singapore, Changi Airport, a queue of people waiting patiently for a picture with an Old Star .

you drop your bags by a Bank, turn on the cameras, and pose for a photo.

Some smile, some jump like starfish; and Even dances. As you unmoved upload to Instagram, the Old Star watches,.

And Then - a noise. The moment you have been waiting for. The travelers look to turn their cameras round, up and The Star begins the last round.

In a blur of rotation, Kuala Lumpur , Colombo; Brunei turns into Tokyo, and a dozen other cities whirr in somewhere else.

Two People photos, Eileen Lim and Nicole Lee , not Even fly. They come especially to see the departures board.

"It is therapeutic to the name of turn around," says Eileen, A Teacher in Singapore. "And The Sound - I love it. "

Every time when it comes to Terminal 2, Eileen takes a photo with the board. But now, she says goodbye.

In less than Three Hours , which will come billboards, and the signs will come down. The Changi airport, like hundreds of others already, is to whirr, spin, and the door for the last time.

As The Terminal 2 in the queue attests to, split-wait-flap-boards are very popular. You are a romantic reminder of air travel to the so-called Golden age; a menu of The World , a vintage prop for the Instagram era.

we say it this Way : no one is waiting for a picture of the digital display.

But like most of the vintage tech, split-flap boards inefficient. They are harder to update and maintain harder. You don't speak in full sentences. They do not advertise.

When the Changi announced the "retirement" of their boards, she said, Parts - and there are hundreds of thousands of each character were always harder to find.

And so Singapore characters, in the year 1999 installed, must come down - like hundreds of others, too. There is no list of those who survive, But the designers agree on a disappearing sight of the end.

Even The Company That was split-flap boards on The World is no longer sold at airports.

An early split-flap board in Windhoek, Namibia, 1965

Solari di Udine, as it is now known, was founded in 1725, More Than 250 years before the Changi Airport was opened in a Small Town in the North of Italy. It specialised in clocks for towers.

After the second World War , The Company began working with designer Gino Valle . He and Remigio Solari, a character with four flaps, each with ten Digits -

The now-familiar design, with white Numbers on black flaps, won the prestigious Compasso D'oro award in 1956. In the same year, Solari sold his first mobile characters at Liege train station in Belgium.

With The Help of the Belgian inventor John Myer, who developed the design, to the forty-flaps - each with letters and Numbers -That , like the watch, turned on motors and currents.

The Solari board was now ready to take over The World .

Solari di Udine-signs in Liege, 1956

The Company sells "thousands" of boards to stations, airports and railway stations, says marketing manager Katia Bredeon - Even in hard-to-reach markets.

"If it's economic protection in Japan, the only product with non-Japanese Technology was the Solari split-flap board," she says.

Solari was not the only manufacturer on The Other side of Europe's Iron Curtain , for example, the Czech company Pragotron similar products - But , as Hoover, The Italians , became synonymous with design.

Although The Company remains the industry leader, and is still sold to airports and train stations, the signs are now electronic (thin-film transistor and the light-emitting diode).

But , despite The March of Technology - Gino Valle on the split-flap board has not expired. In fact, this Italian design is a Renaissance .

The Airport Jorge Newbery, Buenos Aires , Argentina, 1960

While some airports Solari boards have, They are often held in the museum pieces, because of the inertia or Instagram.

In Australia, for example, there are three works, the boards of the Qantas first class lounges in Sydney and Melbourne.

"you were almost glazed over, The Sound is too important," "Our guests love to hear and to see. "

to find These Days , or rather Solari boards away from the airports, instead of in the interior.

Solari di Udine still have your boards sale "in shops, restaurants, museums and hotels". Others, too, by the sepia-toned nostalgia scene.

Accra , Ghana, 1969

In 2013, six engineers at Drexel University , Philadelphia, formed oat Foundry company, the built-in "cool mechanical things for brands and companies".

Three years later, They were approached by a "fast-casual" restaurant, the wanted to display the orders in a "non - digital Way Without the guests, lights, bathe in the Blue Light ".

The Client suggested, "an Old -school departure board", and after four months of research, They had a prototype.

The Product was a mixture of Old , They tested a whole range of materials "That the iconic Sound of the 1960s, airports and railway stations" - and new: Integration with iPad point-of-sales System .

Osaka , Japan, in 1965

Soon after advertising your product online, They have their second split-flap-Client - the Chicago Cubs Major League Baseball team.

"And That 's when we knew we were on to something," says Jeff Nowak, marketing manager.

you now have "thousands and thousands of modules are" on "almost all the continents". So the question is - why is split-flap boards address?

"It depends on who you ask," says Mr Nowak.

New York Central Station in 1966

"The utilitarian loved That the tone alteration of the information signals. You can keep your eye on The Morning newspaper and just need to check, if necessary.

"For those who live in a city with one of the original split-flap, The Sound is reminiscent of a wistful reminder of Days Gone by. The clack-clack-clack Sound is, the anticipation of the trip.

"[And) for the generations That don't have a history with these shows, it is the eye-catching analog movement. "

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Last year, The Final of the Solari board may be placed on the Amtrak-USA-rail-network-still - in oat foundry home town, Philadelphia. It was a campaign to keep it, and it was later

For Jeff, it was a reminder That the people do not want to always Ride On the tails of 21St Century Technology .

"you would say print and frame a hand-written or type-written letter from Tom Hanks ," he said.

"Would you print an E-Mail from him? It is worth in reality. "

Solari board at JFK airport, New York , 1962. The Executive Board was again in a hotel at The Airport

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Source of news: bbc.com