Tech you miss/ new tech trends you hate - ok boomers

[AnOminous]

One thing that's been a tech trend for ages now that's always been annoying is how TVs barely have any buttons on the set anymore. I have a Vizio in my bedroom with exactly one button: press it once to turn it on, press it again to change inputs, long press it to turn it back off. Every single other function, including volume, needs a remote.

It's obnoxious as shit when all you need to do is turn it on but you have to find some fucking remote that the dog ate. I have one with literally no buttons, not even a power button. It's idiotic.

Do they still make those 1.4 MB 3.5" floppy disks?

Last I saw one was an external USB. You can probably even get a 5 1/4".

 

[Kiwi Lime Pie]

Do they still make those 1.4 MB 3.5" floppy disks?

I haven't had to use one in I-don't-know-how-long.

My boss is an absolute pack rat. In cleaning out old stuff we don't need prior to the COVID-19 restrictions, I came across an entire package of unused/unopened 3.5" floppies in the back storage sitting and collecting dust for who knows how long.

Last I saw one was an external USB. You can probably even get a 5 1/4".

A quick search shows plenty of options for USB 3.5" drives. However, it looks like any sort of USB 5.25" floppy drive either doesn't exist or requires some sort of jury-rigging.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

One thing that's been a tech trend for ages now that's always been annoying is how TVs barely have any buttons on the set anymore. I have a Vizio in my bedroom with exactly one button: press it once to turn it on, press it again to change inputs, long press it to turn it back off. Every single other function, including volume, needs a remote.

I never saw a single CRT TV without at least Power, Vol + & -, and Channel + & -.

One thing I do hate though is that no matter what TV you're using, you'll always need a remote control if you want to do anything beyond picture stuff.

I got a Sylvania CRT from a Goodwill so I can play older analog systems, but the problem was that I couldn't change the TV to the mode to play the games. To do that, I needed a remote control, which didn't come with the TV. Thankfully, Ebay's got a thriving remote control market where you can buy a replacement remote for damn near any TV, but even so it irritates me that I needed to get one at all. To me, the remote control should be for convenience; you should be able to do everything from the TV itself, and the remote is there so you don't have to be at the TV fiddling with it.

The fact that TVs now have even less buttons to work with is criminal.

 

[Kosher Dill]

A quick search shows plenty of options for USB 3.5" drives. However, it looks like any sort of USB 5.25" floppy drive either doesn't exist or requires some sort of jury-rigging.

You shouldn't be plugging floppy disks directly into modern computers anyway. They'll probably do something stupid like try to write a thumbnails cache directory to the disk the first time you browse it.
Get something like Kryoflux, back up your disks as images, and work off of those.

 

[AnOminous]

You shouldn't be plugging floppy disks directly into modern computers anyway. They'll probably do something stupid like try to write a thumbnails cache directory to the disk the first time you browse it.
Get something like Kryoflux, back up your disks as images, and work off of those.

I think the drive itself will recognize a write protect tab. At least if you remember whether it's with it or without it that's protected, which might be an issue if you also deal with 8" disks. There are probably also special issues with MFM/RLL type floppies, which I wouldn't even remember how to deal with.

 

[⠠⠠⠅⠑⠋⠋⠁⠇⠎ ⠠⠠⠊⠎ ⠠⠠⠁ ⠠⠠⠋⠁⠛]

My boss is an absolute pack rat. In cleaning out old stuff we don't need prior to the COVID-19 restrictions, I came across an entire package of unused/unopened 3.5" floppies in the back storage sitting and collecting dust for who knows how long.

Well, I hope you didn't throw them out. They might need a low-level format before use, but otherwise they'll be fine.

A quick search shows plenty of options for USB 3.5" drives. However, it looks like any sort of USB 5.25" floppy drive either doesn't exist or requires some sort of jury-rigging.

ORDER NOW!

BYOD

 

[אΩ+1]

I think the drive itself will recognize a write protect tab. At least if you remember whether it's with it or without it that's protected, which might be an issue if you also deal with 8" disks. There are probably also special issues with MFM/RLL type floppies, which I wouldn't even remember how to deal with.

Wouldn't depend if the people who maintain the drivers are able to stop that.

 

[אΩ+1]

Here's how windows 10 handles USB external 3 1/2 inch floppy drives

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-hardware/floppy-disk-drive-and-windows-10/26103611-d526-43e1-be09-78daf981b78b

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

I just realized that I will never click A: by mistake again.

 

[AnOminous]

I just realized that I will never click A: by mistake again.

I remember an old Win 3.1 (not 3.11) system that handled the floppy badly, so if you did that, it would spin up the (usually empty) drive which would then make grinding noises for about a minute while the system locked up. Or if you had a scratch disk handy you could just put it in and it would cope. One day I unplugged it and I don't think I've used one since.

 

[Kosher Dill]

ORDER NOW!

Package contents:

• FC5025 USB 5.25" floppy controller
• Mounting brackets and screws
• USB cable
• Floppy cable
• Drivers and manual on CD-ROM

What the hell is a CD-ROM?

 

[Ruin]

What the hell is a CD-ROM?

Ok Zoomer.

 

[Orange Rhymer]

I would if I could. A consequence free digital paradise sounds like fun. The problem with AI I see is that people will become too reliant on it to analyse data to the point where it won't get questioned. AI is all well and good if you want a bunch of data analysed but when it comes to making actual decisions that affect actual people, a human should be involved. I think as AI takes over things like manufacturing governments will be forced to reconsider exactly how the economy works and do real studies on the viability of universal basic income, proxy payments and automation tax.

They always promise you Heaven

Spoiler: punchline

to lure you into Hell

(enjoy coding for eternity)

 

[Salad Dodger]

I miss flip phones. The open and shut functionality also had dramatic appeal. A lot of drama is missed in movie and tv scenes when the actor merely hits the home button to end a call as opposed to flipping that shit shut.

I also didn't mind the slide phones. I miss them too.

I definitely miss AIM. It was such a simple program that in the old days you could exchange screen names, you didn't have to give out your FB, phone number etc. It wasn't like discord, pretty much everyone of a certain age used AIM back in the day.

 

[King Daddy Telomerase]

Nothing, really. I'm one of those techies that embrace all advancements.

I guess I'm bored with how easy it is now. Everything I used to do, I can do on my PC. I used to find joy in building up my burned games collection, and my XBMC streaming collection. And when my parents would buy me the odd cartridge games before that when I was a kid. Now I just sit on my ass and have everything, and can take it wherever I want.

 

[Kiwi Lime Pie]

Well, I hope you didn't throw them out. They might need a low-level format before use, but otherwise they'll be fine.

Getting rid of other stuff is more of a priority for now, so I left the disks where they're at. Unless they've all gone bad from not being used for years, I have no interest in throwing them out. At worst, they make good gag-gifts.

 

[Return of the Freaker]

I miss actually owning games and software. Yes I know you still can (for now). But I feel like normies are just unthinkingly adopting a lot of bullshit cause they think its convenient. So much shit is being moved to XaaS. At least that's how it seems idk.

See also lazy fucks adopting totally secure we promise home monitoring and automation and relying on siri to use the sink for them

 

[stupidpieceofshit]

I miss actually owning games and software. Yes I know you still can (for now). But I feel like normies are just unthinkingly adopting a lot of bullshit cause they think its convenient. So much shit is being moved to XaaS. At least that's how it seems idk.

See also lazy fucks adopting totally secure we promise home monitoring and automation and relying on siri to use the sink for them

I hate having to pay monthly/yearly feels on everything.
I hate how the cost of everything went up but "it is so low at just 20 dollars a month"
I hate how even when "free" you are bound to their update whims even when it can fuck over everything (windows 10 and MS' history of updates that go horribly wrong even before Windows 8/10)
I hate how consumers and companies just roll over and accept XaaS even when its not in their benefit.

 

[a_lurker]

Do they still make those 1.4 MB 3.5" floppy disks?

I haven't had to use one in I-don't-know-how-long.

If I'm remembering correctly, last manufacturer of new 3.5 floppies stopped production in 2012.

A lot of drama is missed in movie and tv scenes when the actor merely hits the home button to end a call as opposed to flipping that shit shut.

I used to work with a dude who wore his flip phone clipped on his belt. It was fucking hilarious when his wife called and he was busy and didn't wanna answer. He did this one handed quickdraw move like a cowboy in a duel in an old western to decline the call.

"Riiii- flip-flap. God damnit I could get some work done if you'd stop calling every five minutes"

 

[Recoil]

Nothing, really. I'm one of those techies that embrace all advancements.

I guess I'm bored with how easy it is now. Everything I used to do, I can do on my PC. I used to find joy in building up my burned games collection, and my XBMC streaming collection. And when my parents would buy me the odd cartridge games before that when I was a kid. Now I just sit on my ass and have everything, and can take it wherever I want.

That phenomenon has really taken a lot of the magic out of it for me.