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

[MadStan]

A walkman.

Perhaps I was younger and the memories are better...but the preparation in the moment - headphones, batteries and you having to decide what tapes to select to take with you seemed to make it simply a more enriched experience than an iPod today.

 

[Boom Boss]

What's the point of buying physical games if you STILL have to connect online to even USE the software? Online only games I can understand, but I shouldn't have to authenticate the product I've purchased that I tangibly own.

When the 90s Doom games were rereleased, it sucked having to authenticate them. The new Crash Bandicoot games forces everybody to scroll through and accept the terms of service and acceptable use policy before allowing anybody to play them. Gaming companies suck so much ass now.

 

[The Last Stand]

The new Crash Bandicoot games forces everybody to scroll through and accept the terms of service and acceptable use policy before allowing anybody to play them. Gaming companies suck so much ass now.

I remember the remake of CTR not having microtransactions, then added them a month after release. That's just wrong.

 

[Bonesjones]

In all the usual connector standards there's also support for a communication protocol with which you can basically remote control the screen via the connector, if both signal source and screen support it. A surprising amount of screen these days do support it (probably because it's just the same IP block copy/pasted between controller designs) it's just somehow rarely used. In some screens you have to toggle it on via the OSD. So if ever that day comes where screens have no buttons, you can probably just turn it on/off/adjust brightness/set signal source etc. via the computer, which frankly, isn't too bad. (and also allows e.g. scripting) I even used to have such a screen with no controls, a 19" 1280x1024 Samsung LCD from 2008, so that tech isn't exactly new either. (but let me tell you it was a PITA with 2008 Linux; iirc the standards are from the 90s)

I also honestly never had an LCD break these days. Especially since LED backlights these things don't really have a lot that can break anymore, except the power supply which is usually repairable. There's quite a few screens these days that have external power supplies, so getting a new one would just be a matter of buying a new power supply. Older LCDs where all the processing was chopped up between 7 different custom ICs (which all got amazingly hot) and CCFL backlights which just die eventually, (and their often considerably more complex power infrastructure) yes, their days are limited.

I really dislike capacitance touch buttons, but usually "business" versions of screens still have proper, pressable buttons and often even a power switch that physically cuts the power. (and also come in colors other than "black") Yes, another premium price tag on something that should be standard but what you're gonna do.

Liquid cooling these days is IMO a complete waste of money, if it ever wasn't that is. Invest into good PWM fans and buy a case/heatsinks where the fans can be physically as big as possible (the bigger the fan, the less RPM to move the same amount of air - simple physics) and you probably have to press your ear to the case to even hear the fans in normal operation.

The point of watercooling is making temperature spikes more even and allowing larger cooling fan solutions in a given space. Your pc can only generate a specific amount of heat unless you are overclocking, so putting a heatsink/100mm fan combo on is exactly the same as a watercooling loop with a 100mm fan on it. The only difference would be if the watercooling loop let your case internal temps be lower due to better airflow and the ability to wick the heat into the cooling loop before it could spike high enough to cause issues temporarily.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

The new Crash Bandicoot games forces everybody to scroll through and accept the terms of service and acceptable use policy before allowing anybody to play them.

Elden Ring does that every time it starts up, it's annoying. It does it again when you want to quit the game, that is infuriating.

 

[moocow]

Elden Ring does that every time it starts up, it's annoying. It does it again when you want to quit the game, that is infuriating.

It demands you agree to online ToS to quit the game? What fresh hell is that?

Can I assume the game is also built in such a way that just turning off the fucking console (the definitive "quit" button) will ruin the save somehow?

 

[Road Work Ahead]

It demands you agree to online ToS to quit the game? What fresh hell is that?

Can I assume the game is also built in such a way that just turning off the fucking console (the definitive "quit" button) will ruin the save somehow?

It does it whenever the game loads the main menu. There is not quit to desktop option in game, so you have to return to the main menu first to quit. It's not the devs trying to be sneaky, just lazy. You can just alt-f4 with no issues and save the hassle.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

It demands you agree to online ToS to quit the game? What fresh hell is that?

Can I assume the game is also built in such a way that just turning off the fucking console (the definitive "quit" button) will ruin the save somehow?

It will complain if you just shut it off. It also needs to login to the servers before you can agree to the agreement that leads you to the menu where you can quit. It's also got an anti-cheat function of some kind which makes me hesitant to just alt-F4, which works but the game gets pissy about it. Then when you are back in Windows it takes a minute or two before it is actually shut down - that part I thought was a bug and terminated the process manually, but it isn't a bug.

 

[Thiletonomics]

not sure if the correct thread but FUCK INFOTAINMENT SYSTEMS in cars. give me a simple single/double din head unit and 3 dials for hvac controls. I don't need a federally mandated backup camera and I dont need to mash my finger against a screen to change basic controls. just let me go 10 minutes without my eyes being raped by an lcd display

The obsession with gigantic ass screens in cars is getting worse and worse these days.

And Toyota's new EV, the bZ4X, not only has a really dumb as fuck name, but it does not even have a glovebox. Really, is cost-cutting to the point that gloveboxes are no longer needed in cars?

The bZ4X's range is also disappointing, given it's price point (starts at $43k), it's as if Toyota was using the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Bolt as benchmarks for EV range.

 

[Boom Boss]

The obsession with gigantic ass screens in cars is getting worse and worse these days.

The screens are always shit quality to the point they don't respond well to touch. Bring back the knobs and buttons.

 

[Picklechu]

We need a third smartphone platform (preferably more, but at least 3 would be nice). The Apple/Google duopoly is bad for consumers and for privacy in general, and it will probably be worse as time goes on. Apple wants to wall people in to their ecosystem, and Google supposedly wants to transition away from Android (which they develop but technically don't control fully) to Fuchsia (which they do control fully), and is also fucking Google.

People have to have their apps though, without backing from another large tech company (Amazon trying again, for example), I don't know that the incentive exists. KaiOS isn't going to cut it in the first world.

I got super nostalgic for the iMacs from the late '90s a couple of weeks ago for some reason. I remember always wanting one, but I honestly could barely afford one now factoring in inflation, so I understand why my parents wouldn't buy one for an elementary schooler.

Two-Step Authentification is a pain in the ass and just about every website has it nowadays. Wouldn't be too bad if I only had to do it when the log-in seemed suspicious but they force me to do it every fucking time. I just wanna be able to access my shit without having to have my goddamn phone on me at all times.

I like having it always for banking, but it gets annoying as shit having to do it to access the portal to pay a bill. Like, oh no, please don't let someone pay my power bill for me!



Related, I hate how every website and service forces you to sign up with a phone number. Most of them won't even let you use one of the "second number" type of apps either - you have to give a real phone number. You can get a SIM with free service for $0.99 if you absolutely have to, but it's annoying as shit. I think it was like 2016 or 2017 when this started spreading.

 

[BootlegPopeye]

I really hate the fact that there are basically two browsers now. On the one hand, you have the gay tranny browser Firefox which has slowly declined over the years, we know it's problems. Then you have chromium and the myriad of browsers that are essentially chromium reskins. The only alternatives are a bunch of poorly functioning literally who? Browsers that have no market penetration.

 

[The Last Stand]

The Xbox 360 had the ability to rip CD tracks from the CD into the console. You could literally compile your own game soundtrack with CDs you have onto your 360. Some games would even recognize it natively.

This was when CDs were still relevant as a media. Actually, the OG Xbox had that feature as well.

 

[THEY STOLE MY FORESKIN]

I went to install Hollow Knight and it takes up 7.4GB of space. Dude, why. Unreal Tournament 99 is a full blown online 3D arena shooter that was making graphics cards explode when it came out and it takes up only around 500MB. How can modern games be so horribly unoptimized. How.

 

[The Last Stand]

I went to install Hollow Knight and it takes up 7.4GB of space. Dude, why. Unreal Tournament 99 is a full blown online 3D arena shooter that was making graphics cards explode when it came out and it takes up only around 500MB. How can modern games be so horribly unoptimized. How.

I would think it would inverse in newer games having less space than older games. I guess it's textures.

 

[THEY STOLE MY FORESKIN]

I would think it would inverse in newer games having less space than older games. I guess it's textures.

Maybe, and it must be because of the huge map as well, but I can't accept that a crappy cartoony 2D metroidvania takes up more space than Assassin's Creed 1.

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

Maybe, and it must be because of the huge map as well, but I can't accept that a crappy cartoony 2D metroidvania takes up more space than Assassin's Creed 1.

A lot of those gigabytes are probably audio. Final Fantasy 13's PC port takes up more space than the console versions because of uncompressed audio.

 

[Enig]

A lot of those gigabytes are probably audio. Final Fantasy 13's PC port takes up more space than the console versions because of uncompressed audio.

The use of uncompressed audio in a PC port is beyond retarded when no one can discern the fidelity while playing the game on top of it being a PC port meaning way more overhead for decompressing. This and AAA slave laborers not optimizing the color space used by textures is killing drive space like mad.

 

[Pissmaster]

Maybe, and it must be because of the huge map as well, but I can't accept that a crappy cartoony 2D metroidvania takes up more space than Assassin's Creed 1.

Another game of the same genre:

 

[Kosher Dill]

Another game of the same genre:
View attachment 3215928

Ah, a fellow man of culture.

Too bad the sequel is 429843298 GB.