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

[MembersSchoolPizza]

I don't know if this exactly counts as a trend, but...

Stop forcing me to use your mother-fucking proprietary organization system for my files, you cockgoblins. I'm mostly talking to app developers for phones and developers of "smart" gizmos like MediaPC software and such, but I'm starting to notice it cropping into some legit PC software too.

I organize my files. I've got terrabytes of files. I have a curated ebook library of over 3000 books. I have terrabytes of video and audio files. I've got files I've successfully held on to and kept track of since I was backing them up on floppies in DOS.

I know where my damned files are. I know what they are. If I want to... I dunno, listen to a novel in audiobook format, I know it's in HAudio\Misc\Audiobooks\Fiction. If I want to listen to an album, it's in HAudio\Music\Albums\<Genre>. If I'm looking for some old photos of Mom, I know they're in GImages\Photos\Personal.

I neither require nor desire you to make me import all my files into your damned "bookshelf" system, where I'm forced to use sub-standard half-ass filing methods and re-order everything. I do not want to have to browse through giant pictures of the DVD covers of my movies to find "Terminator 2", after I guess whether your damned algorithm things that's in "Action" or "Sci Fi".

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

Most people that I know in real life that use Apple Computers would rather use a cheap Logitech mouse than any Apple Mouse.

View attachment 1152454

This is the first time I've ever seen an Apple Mouse, and that thing is fucking hideous. Inconvenient too.

 

[Linako 2.0]

I remember when phones came with their own music playing software.
the best one I remember sorted it by folder, album, length, most played, recently added played and even sorted them by mood.
fastfoward to 2015 and every phone I had ever since comes with Google Music and had to buy Pi Music Player for something decent.

 

[Looney Troons]

I kind of miss IRQs. I have so many USB devices plugged into my computer now, and Windows still identifies the majority of them as a default USB device with no specific name. Troubleshooting when something goes awry is tedious at times, especially when there’s no caution icon next to any of the listed devices. I know this isn’t feasible these days, but it was good to know that when IRQ 5 was throwing up errors, you knew it was your soundcard.

 

[AnOminous]

I detest the trend of making phones larger and larger with bigger screens and higher prices for them. Bitch if I wanted something that big I'd buy a fucking tablet. They should be about the size of an index card.

One major issue is there's something like a square-cube law for how large a screen is and how likely it is to break. Smaller phones practically never break no matter what you do to them and larger screens are just waiting for the first opportunity to break. So you get charged hundreds of dollars more for some shit that is 10 times as likely to break. (Laptop screens are a lot worse than this so never buy a laptop with an excessively large screen.)

The iPhone is about the worst offender in this regard which is why I haven't bought any since the 4s.

 

[אΩ+1]

I detest the trend of making phones larger and larger with bigger screens and higher prices for them. Bitch if I wanted something that big I'd buy a fucking tablet. They should be about the size of an index card.

One major issue is there's something like a square-cube law for how large a screen is and how likely it is to break. Smaller phones practically never break no matter what you do to them and larger screens are just waiting for the first opportunity to break. So you get charged hundreds of dollars more for some shit that is 10 times as likely to break. (Laptop screens are a lot worse than this so never buy a laptop with an excessively large screen.)

The iPhone is about the worst offender in this regard which is why I haven't bought any since the 4s.

The reason why this happens to Apple phones is when they develop the screen glass technology apple tends to make the glass thinner than the research and development recommends, negating any benifits it would've had.

 

[AnOminous]

The reason why this happens to Apple phones is when they develop the screen glass technology apple tends to make the glass thinner than the research and development recommends, negating any benifits it would've had.

This has increasingly happened with later models. The original was built like a brick shithouse.

 

[Dom Cruise]

You can play your copy of Suikoden 5 through PCSX2. Pop the disk into a DVD or blu-ray drive, get the a PS2 bios, and figure out how to configure things just right. You can also get the iso somehow or rip the data off the disk.

I've never had a good experience with PCSX2, I either get a shitty framerate or graphical glitches, maybe I'm just not smart enough to figure out how to properly configure it but it just doesn't seem worth the hassle to me when the majority of PS2 games can be bought for reasonable prices.

Plus if you ask me most 6th gen games don't really benefit from being seen in HD, you want that slight blur a CRT provides for the textures.

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

Have had similar issues with PCSX2. Too lazy to bother configuring most of the time, so I just use my PS2. I don't pirate ISOs of PS2 games since all the games I wish to play are already in my collection. Main reason a DVD drive is in my computer still.

If you're into RPGs and survival horror, a lot of the physical copies are going up in price and have been for awhile. Only going to get worse as PS2 nostalgia becomes more mainstream.

Okami's PS2 version is pretty much butchered on modern displays. Any SMT game on Nocturne's engine handles getting stretched out surprisingly well. Not sure what demonic magic went into that thing.

 

[Still Anonymous For This]

I miss the good old days when most working stiffs could go out and afford to buy a new pickup truck. In 1985, the bog standard Chevrolet C10 fleetsides cost less than $6,000. In today's money that's about $13,500. You can't find a new full-size pickup for less than $25,000. And they were good trucks, too. My grandpa bought a C10 new in the early 70s and drove it until my parents sold it in the mid-90s. I own an old squarebody Suburban that runs like a top.

But holy fuck, go into a dealership these days and you'll be pressured into exorbitant loan terms, ridiculous prices, questionable craftsmanship, and goochie shit for a truck you ultimately just need to use to haul dirt and a trailer. I really don't understand how tradesmen do it these days, because the way modern trucks are built just blows my mind.

I get it. Hardly any fucker who buys a truck actually uses it as a truck. But can't we just get some fucking cheap full-sized platform with a simple V8 that can pull light loads, a manual to keep costs and maintenance down, manual windows, and basic upholstery with a single cab?

 

[Blini Cat]

Not so much the technology but something people do with it, folks if you have a set of wired earbuds with a mic on them don't put the fucking mic in your mouth cause you think it makes you sound better on the other end cause it doesn't. It just makes you look like a jackass and sound like a muffled jackass.

I hate these headphones. It's actually really hard to find a standard set of headphones without the microphone button thing on the wire itself. I use a somewhat older mp3 player on a regular basis. One day I was heading to the gym and forgot my set of headphones. I figured it would be easy enough to buy a standard pair from walmart. Turns out they only sell these anymore. It also turns out that the 3.5mm jack these use is slightly different from a standard one. The long and short of this is this: the headphones won't work with a standard jack unless you click the microphone button. I had to find a way to juryrig the headphones to keep the button pressed down while I was running.

 

[Martys_not_smarty]

I hate these headphones. It's actually really hard to find a standard set of headphones without the microphone button thing on the wire itself. I use a somewhat older mp3 player on a regular basis. One day I was heading to the gym and forgot my set of headphones. I figured it would be easy enough to buy a standard pair from walmart. Turns out they only sell these anymore. It also turns out that the 3.5mm jack these use is slightly different from a standard one. The long and short of this is this: the headphones won't work with a standard jack unless you click the microphone button. I had to find a way to juryrig the headphones to keep the button pressed down while I was running.

I've noticed it on both the brand and what you're using them in, I've had some where they work fine both mic and headphones making calls but on anything Apple the buttons won't work.

 

[RejectedLynx]

IoT shit will kill me. My husband adores the things, wants a app for our washer/dryer, wants a fridge that can speak to him - and I'm just like, "You bitch the internet isn't fast enough as is and you want to overload it?" I know it's such a tiny thing, but I will go nuclear fast. Get your mother fucking lazy ass up and turn the damn knob on the fucking washer and dryer you absolute lazy motherfucker.

I don't mind the apps on the phone since it doesn't bother me too much as I have seven-eight that I use reliably but god damn do I hate there's an app needed to go to my damn grocery store or gas station. Just send me an email if I have to and I'll open up my email on my phone, do not make me fumble with my connection shitting the bed to open up four sets of menus.

Menus. Just get to the point and label them correctly. Do not make me use google search terms just to find a page.

I actually hate the cloud? And I worked with it so much in IT? I just...I rather be neurotic and have like different pen drives for stuff I need portable and a actual tb drive that costs me a lot less in returns than your cloud that will go out of date. Don't get me started on how stupid the Icloud is.

I liked being able to use command line more and mess up my own computer for fun? I actually liked the dorky layout of Windows 95/98 - especially 95's stupid default clouds that had the most obnoxious lines?

Headphone jacks - oh and old boomboxes that I could have reliably good speakers without having 3 different devices to use it? I don't need an Iphone, bluetooth speaker, and a charger for the phone cause it nukes the battery.

I feel like I'm repeating several people in the thread, but like, these things are so obnoxious, I can't help myself.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

miss: Analog stuff and incandescent bulbs being more common.

But it's Current Year, so "everything has to be electronic."

(now I sound really old)

 

[Meat Poultry Veg]

I miss the headphone jack.

Apple's ruhtarded design decision in this regard will keep me a proud non-Apple user until the day I die.

 

[Pissmaster]

I detest the trend of making phones larger and larger with bigger screens and higher prices for them. Bitch if I wanted something that big I'd buy a fucking tablet. They should be about the size of an index card.

One major issue is there's something like a square-cube law for how large a screen is and how likely it is to break. Smaller phones practically never break no matter what you do to them and larger screens are just waiting for the first opportunity to break. So you get charged hundreds of dollars more for some shit that is 10 times as likely to break. (Laptop screens are a lot worse than this so never buy a laptop with an excessively large screen.)

The iPhone is about the worst offender in this regard which is why I haven't bought any since the 4s.

Even as a phablet man myself, it's ludicrous that there aren't any smallish screened phones anymore. Hell, I remember when the Galaxy Note was new, and how much it was mocked, called a clown phone, criticized for not having the entire thing accessible with one hand, and it was a 5" phone. Even the smallest flagship Galaxy phone today has a 6" screen. Oh but that's okay because the phone doesn't have bezels anymore, so you can't use it without misclicking stuff. And because there are no more bezels, the screen itself needs to have notches and holes carved out, because God forbid the phone have a single millimeter of surface area that doesn't let me consoom.

And speaking of smartphone screens, shit's getting worse! What's worse than a $1,000 phone that shatters when you drop it the wrong way? A $1,400 phone that gets damaged when it comes in contact with your fucking FINGERNAIL

Foldable phones need at least another decade in the oven. That shit's flat out unacceptable. Gorilla glass is pretty remarkable, it ain't magic, it doesn't even keep your screen from being thoroughly scratched up after a couple of years, but it's pretty damn good at being jostled around. But no, fuck that, we need soft plastic screens because muh folding. That is a phone for Saudi princes, lottery winners, and Youtubers who blew up overnight.

 

[Reverend]

I miss Nextel phones. The Bat Phone, that just had the walky talky shit and a battery life of a month.

I'm doing some global traveling and I'm leaving all my tech at home and finding the most basic electronic shit I can get away with as a test. I'll buy a damn chromebook in whatever part of the globe I need a laptop for because they are cheap and they just work for what I need them to do (Remote Desktop, Email, Web). I can toss everything in the trash when I'm done and fly through TSA with a smug "FUCK YOU" look as I carry nothing electronic beyond the RFID chip in my passport (and no you can't deactivate that, you'll waste more time dealing with why it's not working from basic TSA drones)

 

[AnOminous]

I'm doing some global traveling and I'm leaving all my tech at home and finding the most basic electronic shit I can get away with as a test. I'll buy a damn chromebook in whatever part of the globe I need a laptop for because they are cheap and they just work for what I need them to do (Remote Desktop, Email, Web).

I usually just get a blank drive for whatever it is and then just do a vanilla install of the OS on the laptop, so I can boot it up if they do that shit. Then wipe it on the way back if for whatever reason that's necessary. You aren't getting shit, motherfuckers.

 

[Pissmaster]

I usually just get a blank drive for whatever it is and then just do a vanilla install of the OS on the laptop, so I can boot it up if they do that shit. Then wipe it on the way back if for whatever reason that's necessary. You aren't getting shit, motherfuckers.

20gb Xbox 360 drives use SATA interfaces and are like $3 at a lot of game stores, just rip open the shell and pop one in if you need a cheap boot drive.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

I remember when phones came with their own music playing software.
the best one I remember sorted it by folder, album, length, most played, recently added played and even sorted them by mood.
fastfoward to 2015 and every phone I had ever since comes with Google Music and had to buy Pi Music Player for something decent.

Google Music is so bad that I now just use VLC as a music player. It plays FLAC and let me sort by directory instead of tags only.

Mystery decisions annoys me, those would be part of the software enabled half-assed/half-finished and abandoned features and functionality that seems to become more common.
I have this mouse:

It's a pretty good mouse and it is repairable which is nice, that's a good decision. What's a pure mystery decision is the scroll wheel, it has that thing where it can be tilted and clicked left and right. What does that do? Absolutely nothing it would seem. It's like an undocumented opcode, a total mystery. Through trial and error I found out what it does though, if I hold the cursor over the speaker/sound icon on the taskbar I can lower and raise the volume by 10 per click in each direction. That's all it does. These button presses cannot be changed or expanded to other programs. MS Keyboard & Mouse center allows for macros and changing functions of keys, but not this one. Not even by going into the associated XML file and fucking around with the unlisted stuff does anything because it's not in there, it's hardcoded into the driver itself.

What the fuck.