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

[Kosher Dill]

You know, the old Creative Zen audio players were pretty much what you're looking for, minus the SD card storage. Small, no software needed on your computer, nice UI.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZEN_V

Only drawbacks are that it maxes out at 16GB and some of the newer codecs aren't supported.
You all are making me want to dig mine out now.

I did in fact dig mine out and the OLED screen seems to have degraded into a dim shade of orange only.
But in current offerings, the latest low-end Sony Walkmans actually look quite good;

https://www.sony.com/electronics/walkman/nw-e390-series/specifications

Physical buttons, no touchscreen, no Android. However there's no wireless, no SD card slot, and no exotic codecs.

But really, when do you use an MP3 player now that phones can play music and cars have USB jacks and hard drives built right into them? They don't even make you turn off your phone on airplanes anymore.
I used to use one as a car music system as an upgrade from manually juggling burned CD-Rs. But now you don't even need to do that.

 

[Erika Furudo]

Everything is disposable trend kind of pisses me off. But then again its part of the sales model to make you keep buying.

It's fine. The shit that clogs up landfills is made from 2% recycled plastic or some shit, not eat the fucking bugs. I wish more environmentalists would bring up planned obsolescence, even if you give zero fucks about the environment it's a shitty thing for consumers, especially for expensive shit like cars. Do cars count as tech? Because holy shit they really want to make you dependent on manufacturers to fix things, I actually feel bad for mechanics.
You know what really sucks? Having a car with a sunroof where the motor breaks, and the stupid cunts decided "Yeah, let's not include a manual method to close the roof". But hey I have shitty safety features like turning my car off when it comes to a stop (Thank fuck this can be disabled), that totally fucks up my dashcam and sat nav, swings and roundabouts.

If you're in the EU I think there are plans to add built in speed limit devices and black boxes to monitor you. It fucking sucks

 

[byuu]

It's fine. The shit that clogs up landfills is made from 2% recycled plastic or some shit, not eat the fucking bugs. I wish more environmentalists would bring up planned obsolescence, even if you give zero fucks about the environment it's a shitty thing for consumers, especially for expensive shit like cars.

Many are just loud idiots who parrot half-knowledge about recycling.
Even though recycling is one of the less favourable options in sustainable waste management:

 

[longtimelurkerfirsttimepo]

It's fine. The shit that clogs up landfills is made from 2% recycled plastic or some shit, not eat the fucking bugs. I wish more environmentalists would bring up planned obsolescence

All the kool kids and public attention has indeed recently been on just how unsustainable modern mass farming is the past couple decades or so, but the planned obsolescence thing was in the public consciousness a bit more in the past. maybe 20 years ago I believe? Perhaps even longer, as a lot of this really started 40-50 years ago, before environmentalism was a big thing.

It's a real shame as tech companies have just gone mad with it in recent years, making devices that are thinner, run hotter and often run into issues that could be solved if a device was maybe 25% thicker. Right to repair sentiment is also starting to take off a bit, what with many companies completely shutting down 3rd party repairs, especially in phones.

I especially blame tech journalists/reviewers for the phone trend, with them demanding thinner and thinner phones, with screens that reach edge to edge so that you get to enjoy both mis-presses and a shattered screen from small falls. Not to mention phones becoming a status/fashion symbol, and the stupid glass back fad.

I miss my bulky laptop that ran cool, which ultimately I accidentally destroyed trying to take it apart while a screw was still in the chassis. I have had great results applying liquid metal TIM to laptops with underwhelming cooling systems, though, with ~20C differences with my i7-7700HQ.

 

[Erika Furudo]

Many are just loud idiots who parrot half-knowledge about recycling.
Even though recycling is one of the less favourable options in sustainable waste management:

Sure, but they only ever go for "trendy" environmentalism like being vegan, or solar power (even though nuclear is the best option).

I miss my bulky laptop that ran cool, which ultimately I accidentally destroyed trying to take it apart while a screw was still in the chassis. I have had great results applying liquid metal TIM to laptops with underwhelming cooling systems, though, with ~20C differences with my i7-7700HQ.

The worst part is I can't even find older laptops in my area. I did notice the newer ones seem warmer and louder, and they don't even have a fucking disc drive. I don't get why people want thin laptops. You put it in a bag, take it to work/school or whatever and then put it in a desk. It's hardly impractical even if it's slightly bigger.

 

[Ginger Piglet]

But really, when do you use an MP3 player now that phones can play music and cars have USB jacks and hard drives built right into them? They don't even make you turn off your phone on airplanes anymore.

A dedicated digital music player would have better quality audio and more than just 64 GB of space of which half is occupied by unremovable bloatware from the manufacturer / mobile service provider.

 

[longtimelurkerfirsttimepo]

The worst part is I can't even find older laptops in my area. I did notice the newer ones seem warmer and louder, and they don't even have a fucking disc drive. I don't get why people want thin laptops. You put it in a bag, take it to work/school or whatever and then put it in a desk. It's hardly impractical even if it's slightly bigger.

I suspect a lot of people just dispose of old laptops rather than sending them to refurbishers, and getting then back into the market. I personally don't mind thin devices, just think it's gone too far. Laptops before tablets took off were a great option to watch videos/browse the web on the couch/bed and them being lighter was a welcome 'feature'.

I'm personally eyeing a 2013 macbook air, which a family member is having issues with, that I intend to repair and use to fill up space in my house with more outdated computers that I probably won't touch.

 

[Kosher Dill]

A dedicated digital music player would have better quality audio

Sure, but to play through what? If you're listening on a pair of headphones (or worse, wireless earbuds) while walking down the street, I can only imagine the quality of the audio circuitry has a negligible impact compared to the background noise and speaker quality.

But on the other hand, if you are listening on fancy speakers in a quiet room, why are you using a Walkman instead of some audiophile CD player or plugging your computer's audio interface right into the receiver?
I really want to see a use case for the Walkman but I'm just not finding it.

 

[byuu]

Sure, but to play through what? If you're listening on a pair of headphones (or worse, wireless earbuds) while walking down the street, I can only imagine the quality of the audio circuitry has a negligible impact compared to the background noise and speaker quality.

But on the other hand, if you are listening on fancy speakers in a quiet room, why are you using a Walkman instead of some audiophile CD player or plugging your computer's audio interface right into the receiver?
I really want to see a use case for the Walkman but I'm just not finding it.

It's much harder/expensive to get really good sound out of speakers than headphones.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

Sure, but to play through what? If you're listening on a pair of headphones (or worse, wireless earbuds) while walking down the street, I can only imagine the quality of the audio circuitry has a negligible impact compared to the background noise and speaker quality.

But on the other hand, if you are listening on fancy speakers in a quiet room, why are you using a Walkman instead of some audiophile CD player or plugging your computer's audio interface right into the receiver?
I really want to see a use case for the Walkman but I'm just not finding it.

Is the PS1 turned upside-down still the best CD player on the market according to lunatics?

All the kool kids and public attention has indeed recently been on just how unsustainable modern mass farming is the past couple decades or so, but the planned obsolescence thing was in the public consciousness a bit more in the past. maybe 20 years ago I believe? Perhaps even longer, as a lot of this really started 40-50 years ago, before environmentalism was a big thing.

Ban mass farming for being unsustainable, grow organic low-yield spelt instead of turbo-wheat! Norman Borlaug is screaming in heaven.

That's what annoys me about many environmentalists, they're sending mixed messages in many ways because they don't think things through. Recycle plastic bottles to save on energy! No, recycle them so we don't have plastic everywhere, the deposit is just an incentive to dispose of them properly instead of throwing it in the bushes and there will often be someone to collect it if they just chuck it. No one wants garbage strewn everywhere, that's an environmental policy I think almost 100% of people can agree on. People would also agree that less road congestion and better air would be nice in a big city but a death cult pushing for the need to ban traditional cars, in big cities and in rural ares, or the world will end will just polarize people.
Everyone wants a greener and more pleasant world but it's hard agreeing with the green nutters.

 

[AnOminous]

Everyone wants a greener and more pleasant world but it's hard agreeing with the green nutters.

Remember that a lot of "deep ecology," like that of Arne Naess, is fundamentally merely anti-human. The extinction of the human race would actually be a good thing in their eyes. You have to analyze their policy proposals with this fundamental opposition to the existence of humanity in mind. At the very least, they want to destroy civilization as it exists and reduce the population by 90% or more.

 

[⠠⠠⠅⠑⠋⠋⠁⠇⠎ ⠠⠠⠊⠎ ⠠⠠⠁ ⠠⠠⠋⠁⠛]

I loved the netbook form factor, just between fullsize and sub notebook, but I never got one because the actual hardware was shit. I am considering getting one for nostalgic reasons. I have seen good condition ones sell for ~20€, and the batteries should not be too expensive either.

Love the early EEE PC's. Worked fine with console software, and basic X windows with simple text editors etc and a tiling window manager. You could get extended batteries and get some real work done. The keyboards weren't even that terrible. And they had a decent number of USB ports to hook up USB-serial devices etc to connect to equipment.

 

[Stasi]

Love the early EEE PC's. Worked fine with console software, and basic X windows with simple text editors etc and a tiling window manager. You could get extended batteries and get some real work done. The keyboards weren't even that terrible. And they had a decent number of USB ports to hook up USB-serial devices etc to connect to equipment.

I had an EEE too, used it mostly as a travel device for internet and light multimedia. It was pretty nice. I dont remember it being slow or a pain to use, though I installed a light linux distro so maybe thats part of it.

Its a shame that form factor is mostly gone. I would like to pick up one of these GPD machines to mess about with but the price is a bit steep for me.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

I had an EEE too, used it mostly as a travel device for internet and light multimedia. It was pretty nice. I dont remember it being slow or a pain to use, though I installed a light linux distro so maybe thats part of it.

Its a shame that form factor is mostly gone. I would like to pick up one of these GPD machines to mess about with but the price is a bit steep for me.

Fujitsu had a great line of tiny of sub-10" notebooks. With great hardware at the time!

This one is a bit funky, it turns into a tablet PC and runs on a Core2Duo instead of Atom, it uses an IPS screen and is upgradable.

It's one is pretty garish, very late 2000's, the thing that sticks out on the front is a larger battery. Here's a better picture.


They had some really sleek ones later on and while the one below is a bit larger it certainly looks better. (I have trouble finding the model I used, it was sub-10" and looked great).

Problem was always price, these were premium products with good hardware and were priced at over $2000 at stock configuration while netbooks cost a tenth of that.

 

[The Real SVP]

Edit:
Another fun aspect of netbooks was that they were probably responsible for PC gaming coming back to Japan. I remember a big influx of Japanese dudes into some of the gaming communities I was a part of around 2008. Turns out they all bought netbooks to use during their commute on public transport (This was before smartphones and tablets were as ubiquitous and affordable as they are now. Especially in Japan where people clung to their feature phones for much longer than we did in the West.) and then discovered that there was a whole world of PC gaming beyond dirty VNs.

Fujitsu had a great line of tiny of sub-10" notebooks. With great hardware at the time!

This one is a bit funky, it turns into a tablet PC and runs on a Core2Duo instead of Atom, it uses an IPS screen and is upgradable.
View attachment 1946527 View attachment 1946526
It's one is pretty garish, very late 2000's, the thing that sticks out on the front is a larger battery. Here's a better picture.
View attachment 1946594

They had some really sleek ones later on and while the one below is a bit larger it certainly looks better. (I have trouble finding the model I used, it was sub-10" and looked great).
View attachment 1946554

Problem was always price, these were premium products with good hardware and were priced at over $2000 at stock configuration while netbooks cost a tenth of that.

Those are subnotebooks and convertibles. Netbooks tend to be a bit larger and much less powerful. Another important feature of netbooks was their low price, they were pretty much at the opposite end of the price spectrum from subnotebooks and still noticeable cheaper than your average small notebook.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

Those are subnotebooks and convertibles. Netbooks tend to be a bit larger and much less powerful. Another important feature of netbooks was their low price, they were pretty much at the opposite end of the price spectrum from subnotebooks and still noticeable cheaper than your average small notebook.

Yeah they were absolutely on the other end of the spectrum in almost every way except size and my post was was mainly about the form factor. And I think they're really cool.

 

[Michael Jacks0n]

Comparing old school internet to newer internet I don't know what's worse: pop-up ads back in the wild west days, or the fact that EVERY FUCKING WEBSITE on the net nowadays interrupts you with ridiculous prompts about subscribing, getting a coupon code, getting alerts, or whatever the fuck it is. EVERY site (except the Farms, of course) does this. I go to IGN to get cheats for old PS2 games since it's the first search result, and after 5 seconds the screen gets dark and tells me to sign up to their mailing list. I visit a recipe website to figure out how to make pancakes, and within seconds a prompt blocks the page to tell me to join and see more recipes. I visit a battery website to get an obscure battery for an outdated electronic device, and the page darkens and prompts me to tell me to order in the next 15 minutes to get 5% off or some shit. I've even seen websites that interrupt you when you visit to welcome you and tell you to browse to find products, and I'm like, "Bitch, what the fuck you think I'm trying to do? I can't browse your wonderful products if you interrupt me like this."

Seriously, fuck off.

 

[Johan Schmidt]

How clunky everything is now. Microsoft office is slow as fuck, I hit save and it takes it a good ten seconds to shart up the menu (at the same time it always defaults to the fucking internet save system rather than my documents) to save with. It's like people have just given up on any optimising of any programs.

 

[skjora]

What I hate more than anything is how so much software and so many websites are designed with what I think of as "false user-friendliness", where there's barely any options or preferences available at all, and the UI doesn't allow even the most basic QoL functionality. Supposedly this simplicity is to make the program or site easy to use, but it just makes it a nightmare if you want to take even a single step outside of the intended flow chart of use.

 

[Johan Schmidt]

What I hate more than anything is how so much software and so many websites are designed with what I think of as "false user-friendliness", where there's barely any options or preferences available at all, and the UI doesn't allow even the most basic QoL functionality. Supposedly this simplicity is to make the program or site easy to use, but it just makes it a nightmare if you want to take even a single step outside of the intended flow chart of use.

Holy shit this. I built a new PC recently and half the day after I set up the software was going through the shit I've paid for and turning off half the settings, or downloading shit that will even let me touch the settings purely so I can use it without an assistance program popping up and trying to direct me to do shit I don't want to/need to do. It's infuriating.

Also real petty, Windows 10 UI and menu designs legit piss me off. Like, full on seething with anger at them. They're arse to use. The quick locate file system also annoys me.