the.com/switch
A tiny lever that splits the universe into before and after.
means A device for opening or closing an electrical circuit, or more broadly, the act of changing from one thing to another.
from First an English word for a thin, flexible riding-whip or twig (the kind that swishes through the air), likely borrowed from a Low German or Dutch source like 'swijch,' a bending branch. From the flick of that whippy stick came the verb to 'switch' — to flick, swap, or redirect — and when the 19th century needed a word for the little lever that flicks a train onto a new track, or current onto a new path, 'switch' was already waiting, ready to flip.
- binary heart
- Every computer is just billions of switches flipping fast
- railroad origin
- The word once meant rerouting trains onto new tracks
- toggle vs button
- A switch remembers its state; a button forgets instantly
- bait and switch
- Old con: show one thing, deliver something cheaper
- plant defense
- Switchgrass survives drought and fuels biofuel research
nintendo switch — hybrid gaming console released 2017, over 139 million units sold
nintendo switch oled — upgraded model released october 2021 with organic display