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

[Flaming Dumpster]

Cars are a kind of tech, right? They also have a lot of dumbass trends too. Behold this monstrosity from Ford

The car is running. What gear am I in? Squint for long enough and you can see barely see that P is ever so slightly lit up, but this thing is so fucking dumb. It's fucking impossible to tell in direct sunlight and also very easy to accidentally turn a little too much and go from D to P instead of R when trying to park.

By the way if you accidentally go into park while doing a maneuver, now the electronic handbrake automatically engages which will not disengage when you return to a driving mode. So to get moving again you have to press down the switch to deactivate it. Great when you've got people waiting for you.

I fucking hate this thing so much. You know the best part? It has Apple CarPlay but not Android Auto. So you get all these wonderful electronic gizmos but you don't get the one fucking gizmo that's useful!

Thankfully it's a rental car, I'm not dumb enough to buy something this fucking stupid and holy shit I'm looking forward to getting something with a normal transmission.

 

[jeff7989]

I agree with that shift knob is cursed, however I'm pretty sure that there's a gear indicator on the dash.

I fucking hate this thing so much. You know the best part? It has Apple CarPlay but not Android Auto. So you get all these wonderful electronic gizmos but you don't get the one fucking gizmo that's useful!

Just give me a double DIN slot I will install a fancy Sony unit or something... You probably can't do it on most modern cars, at least not easily because of lots of shit being integrated into the screen with manufacturer specific CANBUS bullshit.

 

[Sharpeteer]

Just experienced something a couple days ago that compelled me to complain about technology again - I absolutely despise anti-rollback measures that prevent you from downgrading the firmware on your device that you own and paid for. Even worse, when it's implemented in such a stupid manner that causes problems when it's not supposed to.

The last iPhone you could install any firmware you wanted on was the iPhone 3G, that long ago. You cannot downgrade the Xbox 360 dashboard down to the versions that don't push advertisements in your face (even after the device is cut off from MS, still can't), and now the Google Pixel phones are doing this with their newer models. One additional thing in particular that got almost no pushback or attention when it became known - any iPhone 6S or SE model running iOS 9 is now a brick unless you update to the latest firmware, or it locks you out of all functionality. Why? They never explained, and nobody truly knows. Only way to prevent that lockout is to keep it completely offline before the detection.

As for my own experience, the Pixel 8 lineup has anti-rollback, and even though I was certain to flash an Android 15 rom onto it so it would be the latest version, it bricked due to Google's Tensor triggering a security lock thanks to the anti-rollback, makes no sense.

Preventing people from installing any version of the firmware they want on the device they bought and paid for, I hate it. Not just because I lost $300 on a now-bricked Pixel 8 Pro, but because it takes something that should be yours to own, and prevents that. What if you don't want their crappy new version and want to install an older firmware that doesn't have the ads, AI, or bloat they put in? I had an LG TV years ago that became unusable with updates, and no way to downgrade it.

Behold this monstrosity from Ford

That looks genuinely dangerous. I could see so many situations where you can't see it clearly, and are distracted while driving even more so than you would be by your phone on a stand.

 

[Hamstirer]

That looks genuinely dangerous. I could see so many situations where you can't see it clearly, and are distracted while driving even more so than you would be by your phone on a stand.

O it is, look up Anton Yelchin. He was a actor the got smashed by his jeep because of this bullshit knob.


While we are bitching about car knobs, I would like to nominate the electrical 4x4 switch. Cars used to have a lever on the floor for 4x4, pull it and boom it is instantly in 4x4. So why did we switch to a knob and electric gizmos that take 20 seconds to engage and sometimes kick out when they don't fully engage?

 

[DavidS877]

Cars used to have a lever on the floor for 4x4, pull it and boom it is instantly in 4x4. So why did we switch to a knob and electric gizmos that take 20 seconds to engage and sometimes kick out when they don't fully engage?

My previous truck had a knob, it was low on the dash and to the left. It was so easy to hit with your knee while getting in and out and the only way you'd notice was when you tried to park and started wondering why the tires were fighting you, and you realized you hit the fucking knob again. No dashboard light saying "Hey, you idiot, you're in 4-Hi"

 

[Flaming Dumpster]

Not just because I lost $300 on a now-bricked Pixel 8 Pro,

Before you declare it a worthless brick have you tried manually flashing the factory firmware? An old Pixel of mine got felted by the Google back to stock web flashing tool and the only way I was able to rescue it after hours of fighting was by downloading the factory image from Google and using the included batch script.

First see if your phone can boot into fastboot before doing anything else. Hold Power and Volume Down then if it works you should see this

If it works then proceed below, if not then maybe it is truly felted.

https://developers.google.com/android/images#husky

Grab the latest version and do not use flash.android.com it's a piece of shit, grab the zip version https://dl.google.com/dl/android/aosp/husky-bp1a.250505.005.b1-factory-29f5f55f.zip

Grab the platform tools from https://developer.android.com/tools/releases/platform-tools
Extract the husky factory zip and the platform tools zip. Copy the contents of the platform tools zip into the husky folder

Install the Google USB driver https://developer.android.com/studio/run/win-usb

Plug in a nice high quality USB cable (like the white one that's provided with the phone) then open a cmd window in the husky folder and type "fastboot devices". If your device is detected then you're ready to flash and can do that by double clicking flash-all.bat

Thoughts and prayers after that. Leave the phone alone until it's complete.

 

[Sharpeteer]

Before you declare it a worthless brick have you tried manually flashing the factory firmware? An old Pixel of mine got felted by the Google back to stock web flashing tool and the only way I was able to rescue it after hours of fighting was by downloading the factory image from Google and using the included batch script.

First see if your phone can boot into fastboot before doing anything else. Hold Power and Volume Down then if it works you should see this
View attachment 7336561
If it works then proceed below, if not then maybe it is truly felted.

https://developers.google.com/android/images#husky

Grab the latest version and do not use flash.android.com it's a piece of shit, grab the zip version https://dl.google.com/dl/android/aosp/husky-bp1a.250505.005.b1-factory-29f5f55f.zip

Grab the platform tools from https://developer.android.com/tools/releases/platform-tools
Extract the husky factory zip and the platform tools zip. Copy the contents of the platform tools zip into the husky folder

Install the Google USB driver https://developer.android.com/studio/run/win-usb

Plug in a nice high quality USB cable (like the white one that's provided with the phone) then open a cmd window in the husky folder and type "fastboot devices". If your device is detected then you're ready to flash and can do that by double clicking flash-all.bat

Thoughts and prayers after that. Leave the phone alone until it's complete.

I appreciate the pointers, but unfortunately I spent about 3 hours fighting with it, and what ultimately put it to a halt is that entering fastboot or recovery is impossible at this point, at least on my own. The only way I was able to get any sign of life out of it was installing a Windows partition (because Linux ignored it completely regardless of it being the OEM Google cable), plugging it in, and it would come up in Device Manager for a split second under the name "Pixel ROM Recovery" then disappear again. Fastboot and recovery still impossible even under Windows. I researched this "Pixel ROM Recovery", and every forum mentioning this concluded that it's a security trip, and the only way to fix it is an internal tool to get it out of that mode, and that tool isn't public at the moment.

So my only option would be to RMA it - I don't view this as a great option considering I don't have a receipt as I bought it used, I unlocked the bootloader and flashed Lineage recovery, which they would absolutely see if they were to bring it back to life, plus I don't have a Google account with my real info anyway.

I'm sure I just did something wrong, but I genuinely don't know what it is, which means I've learned nothing from this except that the Pixel 8 lineup has an anti-rollback, and has a higher brick risk. Never had this happen before.

 

[WULULULULU]

Cars are a kind of tech, right? They also have a lot of dumbass trends too. Behold this monstrosity from Ford
View attachment 7318929
The car is running. What gear am I in? Squint for long enough and you can see barely see that P is ever so slightly lit up, but this thing is so fucking dumb. It's fucking impossible to tell in direct sunlight and also very easy to accidentally turn a little too much and go from D to P instead of R when trying to park.

By the way if you accidentally go into park while doing a maneuver, now the electronic handbrake automatically engages which will not disengage when you return to a driving mode. So to get moving again you have to press down the switch to deactivate it. Great when you've got people waiting for you.

I fucking hate this thing so much. You know the best part? It has Apple CarPlay but not Android Auto. So you get all these wonderful electronic gizmos but you don't get the one fucking gizmo that's useful!

Thankfully it's a rental car, I'm not dumb enough to buy something this fucking stupid and holy shit I'm looking forward to getting something with a normal transmission.

I love shift sticks. The sound and feeling of pulling something with such power to your car beats the gay ass knobs of modern cars.

PC fishtank cases are mega dogshit. Airflow is compromised for the fact that they want to showcase your PC build to randos. So many wasted space where they could use it for additional slots like HDD compartments and other drivers.

 

[Thiletonomics]

Cars are a kind of tech, right? They also have a lot of dumbass trends too. Behold this monstrosity from Ford
View attachment 7318929
The car is running. What gear am I in? Squint for long enough and you can see barely see that P is ever so slightly lit up, but this thing is so fucking dumb. It's fucking impossible to tell in direct sunlight and also very easy to accidentally turn a little too much and go from D to P instead of R when trying to park.

By the way if you accidentally go into park while doing a maneuver, now the electronic handbrake automatically engages which will not disengage when you return to a driving mode. So to get moving again you have to press down the switch to deactivate it. Great when you've got people waiting for you.

I fucking hate this thing so much. You know the best part? It has Apple CarPlay but not Android Auto. So you get all these wonderful electronic gizmos but you don't get the one fucking gizmo that's useful!

Thankfully it's a rental car, I'm not dumb enough to buy something this fucking stupid and holy shit I'm looking forward to getting something with a normal transmission.

Speaking of bad Knob controls, the 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan has a large knob with baffling functionality, and even has a touchscreen on it:



In the default mode, this knob controls audio volume. When you press the knob, it changes it to Drive Select mode where you turn the Knob to change driving modes, and you can swipe the "screen" to change its "Atmospheres" function.

But then there's the third screen. It's down on the center console as part of a rotary dial. This puck defaults to volume control, showing the loudspeaker icon with a ring indicating the level that appears when you turn it. Press down on the dial and its function and display changes to the drive mode; then, with a swipe, you can control the Atmospheres function (included on all but the base trim), which tailors things like sound and ambient lighting to set a mood. While it's not necessary to look down at the dial to see this visual feedback—you get more information and can make adjustments through the center screen—having anything to look at down there invites you to take your eyes off the road, which can only be distracting.

We thought Volkswagen learned its lesson about gimmicky interface controls. Critics collectively derided the touch-sensitive "buttons" and sliders that debuted with the latest GTI, after which the automaker restored conventional hardware and brought back volume knobs. But here we are again with a distracting interface that no one asked for.

So VW once again continues to double down on combining multiple controls into a single switch to cut costs, even though people hate this dumb shit.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

miss: Being able to leave a landline phone on without being bothered by telemarketers (at least if signed up to the Do Not Call list).

diss: Scammers in India somehow managing to endlessly call every phone and "smartphone", in at least America, day after day after day.

 

[ForkyMeetsPorky]

BlackBerry 10. It had an Android emulation layer and was one of the first mobile OSes (if not the very first) to embrace touch gestures. I also just like physical keyboards. The UniHertz chinkphones just aren't the same, plus they're all running old versions of Android. I'd use a Classic if it still worked on modern cell towers (despite being 4G, it's some older implementation of VoLTE)
View attachment 7102685

For me it was Blackberry 10 OS and - less important - physical keyboards on smartphones. RIPView attachment 7234526

This and Windows Phone 7 were my preferred mobile OS of their time. BB10's Android layer was pretty good at running games, although it struggled with productivity apps since Blackberry was insistent on riding out the Snapdragon S2. Android apps were mainly delivered using the Amazon app store (which has just been phased out for third party devices) but you can easily sideload your own apk, or even the Google Play Store itself. The Priv was their attempt at creating a regular Android device with a physical keyboard, but never really took off due to its high price. No idea on the DTEK or Evolve models but they appear to be TCL rebranded chinkware with some BlackBerry software bundled in.

WP7 really should have taken off, it was a nice, clean optimized OS that ran butterly smooth on even low end devices that Nokia/Microsoft started pumping out. Sadly app support was always a problem and it didn't help that Microsoft were launching their own apps on iOS/Android instead of WP. With Zune long and gone, Xbox appears to be the only entertainment-consumer brand Microsoft have, and i think it's days are numbered.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

my dad's in town so I'm finally trying to use the fucking roku remote holy shit it's like sword and the stone we all take turns trying to get the damn down button to work

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

got the universal from walmart
I'm still not of fond of navigating menus with a remote but it's a lot less tiresome when the arrow keys work right instead of having to kick the crap out of them
I might bother to try watching cable outside of wrasslin with this

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

I hate glass panals on cases. All I want is a big black box to put my parts in.

 

[Jace on ice]

Apple is the real life Umbrella Corporation, I hate them so much. Everything they create is garbage, they pioneer censorship, and their locked down OS breeds tech illiterate retards who are dependent on apps to function.

Apple is why like 80% of zoomers can't figure out how to use file explorer.

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

Apple is the real life Umbrella Corporation, I hate them so much. Everything they create is garbage, they pioneer censorship, and their locked down OS breeds tech illiterate retards who are dependent on apps to function.

Apple is why like 80% of zoomers can't figure out how to use file explorer.

I think Google would be to blame for that since many zoomers have only used Chromebooks as their main laptop.

 

[𖦹Junkpop𖦹]

Apple is why like 80% of zoomers can't figure out how to use file explorer.

That and chrome os along with Microsoft dumbing their UI down

 

[Aero the Alcoholic Bat]

Apple is why like 80% of zoomers can't figure out how to use file explorer.

A long while back, I actually found myself arguing with a boomer who literally bragged about being too dumb to figure out how to use a file explorer.

 

[Atli]

I HATE MAKING ACCOUNTS.
Everytime I have to sign up for something I dread it. And I avoid it as much as I can. Remember when you didnt need to give websites your address, phone number, create a pin, get email confirmation, and a bunch of other personal information just to make an account? I'm not even that old, I was barely even online before 2010. But it was like barely a decade ago before I noticed how obnoxious it is making accounts now. And Lord help you if you need to update your email address.

Similarly is making user accounts on your own pc. I despise that you have to connect it to a microsoft account now. I remember growing up (not sure which OS, probably windows 98 or XP) and everyone in my family had their own account on the family pc. No internet connection or microsoft account needed. Windows 10 is probably one of the worst things Ive ever had to deal with. Im in awe microsoft even functions anymore, I refuse to believe anyone with any semblance of technical knowledge still works there. I'm just praying they get busted up for being a monopoly some day or just utterly collapse under the weight of their own bloated incompetence, with no federal aid to bail them out

 

[Sharpeteer]

That and chrome os along with Microsoft dumbing their UI down

I cannot stand overly simplified and dumbed-down UIs. It makes it way more difficult to find or do anything beyond the basics. Or ones that talk to you like you're a child. I'd honestly prefer an elitist manual that gives you just enough, then tells you to figure it out. That's how I learn things the best.

I HATE MAKING ACCOUNTS.
Everytime I have to sign up for something I dread it. And I avoid it as much as I can. Remember when you didnt need to give websites your address, phone number, create a pin, get email confirmation, and a bunch of other personal information just to make an account? I'm not even that old, I was barely even online before 2010. But it was like barely a decade ago before I noticed how obnoxious it is making accounts now. And Lord help you if you need to update your email address.

Similarly is making user accounts on your own pc. I despise that you have to connect it to a microsoft account now. I remember growing up (not sure which OS, probably windows 98 or XP) and everyone in my family had their own account on the family pc. No internet connection or microsoft account needed. Windows 10 is probably one of the worst things Ive ever had to deal with. Im in awe microsoft even functions anymore, I refuse to believe anyone with any semblance of technical knowledge still works there. I'm just praying they get busted up for being a monopoly some day or just utterly collapse under the weight of their own bloated incompetence, with no federal aid to bail them out

Even worse are websites that will not allow you to delete the account.

I will give MS one thing - regarding their accounts, their "security" isn't as strict as something like Amazon - you can use all fake information: fake name, burner address/phone, privacy.com card, etc. They don't stop you at all, whereas you're very likely to get banned from Amazon for doing this. I know, because I lost an Amazon gift card doing that awhile back. My lesson learned, don't use Amazon. I'm not at all saying this makes their accounts good, but something to keep in mind if you decide to get an MS account.

There is a workaround or loophole to allow local accounts on Windows 11 via commands during the installation process, but this should not be considered a solution by anyone, as it's a loophole that can be patched anytime, and it's clearly not Microsoft's vision for things going forward, so even if you can use a "hack" or workaround to get a local account on there, the very idea of having to "hack"' your computer just to make it more user friendly or things of that nature is just retarded. I'm not talking about customizations such as themes, custom file explorers or anything like that, but altering the way the OS is designed to work just to make it the way it was before is ultimately a losing battle because they can probably keep this shit up way longer than the user will be willing to. Plus how long until you need a hack for the hack for the hack for the workaround? At some point it's like why am I fighting my own computer.

Also as for their technical knowledge, good luck getting anyone that's not in India reading some unhelpful script to help, as they are only going to quote KBs you've likely already read, and weren't relevant in the first place.