Because they are wonderful devices which can put out so much light as to outshine the sun. Light is amazing, time doesn't exist for light, the physics for lasers is awesome too. The fact that they are a bit dangerous has a bit of appeal to me for some reason I can't put my thumb on too. The distance they can be seen at is a huge part of it for me too but also makes me wary of using them outside, a double edged sword.
Well, I Started off where i wanted a Laser for my paintball gun so i could "Hipfire", then i Landed at WICKED LASERS, i looked for reviews on WL which were bad reviews, Then ended Up here, then Got A Jayrob Kit, Now Im Addicted... Probably only at the start of my addiction compared to some others here on LPF ,
So Yea Thats how i got here and i Dont Think i will ever dislike lasers!
CheerZ
That's a tough question. I guess I like lasers for the things you can and can't see. I love harnessing the power of lasers to do some really cool stuff. It's also amazing to turn on your laser on a dark night and see the amazing beam fly out of the device that you're holding! I also love learning about how lasers are made. Like what all the parts are and how they come together to make an amazing device. I also enjoy collecting them just for the fact that collecting is fun. O and it's also fun when I show my lasers off to my friends.
Me like Shiny!!! I have always been interested in science and lasers are just a extension of this.. Do I understand every thing at makes a laser work for the most part but there are some things im still researching... But the main reason ME LIKE SHINY!
Lasers make life easier-
==== now considered by many to be a more significant invention than Edison's soon to be obsolete light bulb.
I tell many that asking the question alone means they may not understand my answer.
Also its a question asked of many others-- like coin or butterfly collectors-and
much more--
HOWEVER hardly anyone asks why when they see my laser shows- more WOWS than WHYs--
Let them sit at the controls and that is where they can really see the fun.
I spend more time with many of my projectors than all my handhelds combined.
I removed them from my sig.. as that may be where the FDA starts when they come to take them away....
I just love the fact you can collect different wavelengths and each wavelength has it's own properties. For example some are more visible then others, each one is unique! Also, having a rainbow of colors is amazing to have
I like the pure colors, and seeing the beam of light.
Plus in the case of my 1.4 Watt 445, I like being able to burn things using just a beam of light! Never ceases to amaze me what these mass-less particles(?) can do!
There are various reasons I like lasers, first of all there is the obvious - the basic sensory input namely vision, what you perceive with your eyes. The colours are nice to see and the seemingly endless beam of light is intriguing, which brings me onto my second point - the psychology of seeing it. Seeing is believing and to see a beam of light come out of the laser and travel to infinity says to our instinctive mind that the beam must be solid. it is quite clearly not however and even if we don't realise it this is a concept our minds find interesting and bizarre. It's the reason why when you turn on any visible beam laser you usually need no words to describe why you like it and brings me to the very subject - how I explain my interest in the lasers.
Outside of science fiction most people have never seen, or are aware of the existence of, visible beam lasers. Usually switching it on is all you need to do to justify the fascination.
As an addendum, anyone who thinks lasers don't have a purpose just has to think of the interest it generates, which is as valid a purpose as any. This is of course aside from all of the "practical" purposes, ie the machines that house many lasers.
My love of lasers stemmed from watching sci-fi as a little kid in the 60's. Not for the monster killing the beam weapons did but for the beautiful coherent beams of light that could go long distances!
As an electrical engineer (but for the last 10 years working in film post production in color science) I loved learning the technology as it grew from crystal & gas types to laser diodes and got to do some design with them (pumping long distance fiber for communications) in the 90's.
It's been a little kids dream to finally put actual lasers into the beam weapons I saw in sci-fi in the 60's!
1. Their nature fascinates me. All my life having only seen light diverge makes it amazing to see a coherent sort of light which keeps its size mostly. Not to mention the beam. I never saw a laser beam until I joined this forum. It blew me fuckin socks off.
2. The thermal properties of lasers is one which never ceases to amaze me. The fact that something so beautiful can also be so destructive is poetic and draws me to them all the more. People love to court destruction, but is not the courting all the more delightful if the object is lovely?
3. Building lasers is absolutely one of my favorite things. Being able to design and assemble a fully working handheld laser pleases me and sates the desire to do so which I have had since 7th grade; before I ever knew of LPF(7 years before), I took apart my brother's CD player and stole the diode out of the optical tray. Didn't know how to make it work though. My brother was kind of mad lol.
4. Shiny! I am one of those birds that steals all the shiny shit and hides it. Or something.
Anyway. Lasers have always been fascinating to me and now that I can build them myself it puts me in such an awesome mood!