The Newest Technology is not always the most appropriate.

I love Technology. I think science and facts and information are wonderful things when used appropriately. So it with some surprise when I find out that older technology has advantages that newer technology doesn’t. Let me give you a recent example and experience.

I bought for the first time prescription sunglasses and I love them. What I experienced however is that because they are so thin, that newest technology causes something called Chromatic Abberation. That is, it distorts slightly the colors that I see because of the way that the light bends.

I found this a fascinating experience. I noticed instantly when I put them on that the edges of light and dark were slightly purplish/blue. That is the chromatic abberation. I didn’t know what this was of course, I had to google peoples experiences with prescription sunglasses. Then I did some research and spoke the the vision center that made them for me.

It turns out that when you have a high/strong prescription like me, chromatic abberation is more common. I never saw it before because I usually have glass lenses that are not as susceptible to this problem. Even with glass at higher strengths it occurs. If you have ever gone to a 3D movie and worn 3D glasses, it is something similar to the distorted view of the 3d image you get.

What is interesting about this is that the older plastic which is thicker doesn’t do this as easily as the thinner plastic. It also doesn’t seem to happen with contacts, since I had contacts in the past and wore regular sunglasses and never had this issue.

Although I thought my vision was bad at 5 diopters, apparently there are people with a 10 diopter and more problems. At higher values, you can’t avoid chromatic aberration. This is really sad when people can’t see the world clearly. They never get to enjoy paintings, rainbows or the simple beauty in the world.

I don’t care if my lens are thin as paper or thick as coke bottles, but I expect to be able to see well. So the vision place is remaking my prescription with the older polycarbonate lens which I have used before and didn’t have any problems with. I can’t wait to see the world closer to the beauty it is.

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