opticians today vs opticians in the past
Recently I had a conversation about optician skills, knowledge and overall skill level comparison from opticians 30 years ago. The optician 30 years ago had to be more conscience of the frame fit because the lenses and frames were much heavier. Ordering the proper bridge size, bridge style and temple length was more crucial to making a patient comfortable. Aphakic lenses and facet eyewear is a thing of the past which needed a highly knowledgeable Optician to fit and dispense. Repairs, like hidden hinges soldering and custom work was an art that very few opticians do or know about today. Lab work was much more time consuming and difficult, making sure lenses fit properly and was accurate was an art and showed a disparity between different levels of skill, which was clear in the final product. Making patterns, calculating measurements, custom tinting made making a pair of eye glasses take more time and skill then using the automized lab equipment that we generally use today. Tinting and UV coating lenses that was done 30 years ago has primarily been replace with transition and polarized lenses. Dispensing was also a speciality that patients recognized someone that could properly fit and adjusted a pair of eyeglasses. Today, because the styles are generally small and the material are very light are not as uncomfortable, even if not fit properly. Fitting for progressive lenses and digital technology is continually changing, staying updated is much more important for todays opticians. Fitting today, regardless if you are using a digital centration system or not is more important to be accurate than when selling flat tops, kryptoc and executive bifocals. Added measurements such as face form, vertex distance and panto angle are needed today when selling the most advanced personalized lenses, which were not needed before.
Do you have a good stock on new chairs ????????????..........
Quote:
Originally Posted by
PhiTrace
I fear onlien optics about as much as I fear the sky falling down. Your assumption that I pass off what I sell as my own is completely false. I let them know who designed their eyeglasses, ME. I put together a set of options form a number of different vendors that will provide the best solutions they could possibly need and I go to the best first.
Solder a frame, NEVER. Was there a time I did yes, but I was young and naive then.
You want a new frame instead of the one from the boards, absolutely ma'am I don't like wearing others peoples face sweat either.
I'm their optical *****.
My clients will get everything they want from me "absolutely no exceptions", and they will pay me what I want "absolutely no exceptions". It's a great barter system called capitalism.
5 am.....................and I am speechless..................
Just one question: Do you have a good stock on new chairs ????????????..........so your customers do not have to sit on one somebody else's A$$$$ has sat on ?????????????????????? Yack :bounce:
his knowledge comes from those that have come before him........................
Quote:
Originally Posted by
gmc
Wes, I don't see anyone discounting that PhiTrace is very sharp. But unless he has made some scientific advance of which I'm not aware, his knowledge comes from those that have come before him.
gmc................Thank you. Even us oldies learned from the then older ones, and the ones that were fortunate like me, went from an apprentiship in Europe, to an optical school for a 3 year fulltime course.
Furthermore I would like to add that without the technology with computer assistance of today, formulas had to be calculated by hand, using a sliderule if you knew that technology, besides adding machine there were no calculators. You had to grind glass lenses to perfect shape by hand. Frames were of better quality right into the 1980s and also did cost more at source than today.
Opticians in the UK did not use lensometers, contrary to the ones in Europe, until the 1960s and you had to neutralize lens powers with trial lenses, which got a little harder when a cylinder was involved. However I can still do it today, can you?
We actually managed to make perfect jobs with those you would call primitive tools and machinery, because we had to learn und understand the how and the why, and develop the use of our hands and fingers.
In todays world one can be a specialist by being good at understanding the elctronics of a machine that does the work but will never know the why......................it is that way, because it is all based on how it was then.