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

[Kosher Dill]

Also real petty, Windows 10 UI and menu designs legit piss me off.

Open Shell is the way to go.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

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.

Use VoidTools Everything. It's the best. It's absolutely stellar. So good.

 

[AnOminous]

Seriously, fuck off.

The Internet turned to shit the moment they invented http and we had fucking pictures on it. Change my mind.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

The Internet turned to shit the moment they invented http and we had fucking pictures on it. Change my mind.

There were pictures before http. Computers could display and transmit graphics. There wasn't a thumbnail to warn you though on a BBS or Usenet so it cost both time and money to realize that you did not like what you saw.

 

[AnOminous]

There were pictures before http. Computers could display and transmit graphics. There wasn't a thumbnail to warn you though on a BBS or Usenet so it cost both time and money to realize that you did not like what you saw.

Yeah yeah yeah I remember the porn collection on funet.fi. But the Internet wasn't just a bunch of pictures before that Mosaic shit.

 

[Erika Furudo]

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.

Isn't that due to shit like websites being designed with mobile users in mind? Most people have phones, most people only use the internet for social media, youtube, google, etc. Phones can do all of this, so I bet that most people don't even own a regular PC at this point.

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.

I'm really considering looking into linux, but how do people find it when EVERYTHING is done using word, excel, etc. Is there some easy way to assimilate those files on linux so I could get sent an email with an excel file or something, eaily run it, then send it back on something that users could run if they didn't have linux?
I'm not a huge PC guy, but I am really noticing things being slow on windows 10, especially when office is open. Add in the constant fucking updates, and the fact I know MS is spying on me and I really just want to look into alternatives, but everyone else just uses MS and Windows so I feel it would be inconvenient to switch.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

But the Internet wasn't just a bunch of pictures before that Mosaic shit.

Yeah you had to download them first. If you measure it in bytes, and you pretty much had to, I would disagree and urgh some of the pictures that took a while to download. No thumbnails. People were drawn to binaries because those were useful and that started in the 80s. The impact on your wallet of the old internet is not the same as the impact on your wallet now. Unless you're on mobile.

 

[The Real SVP]

Isn't that due to shit like websites being designed with mobile users in mind?

Mac OS and gnome started that trend long before smartphones were a thing.

so I could get sent an email with an excel file or something, eaily run it, then send it back on something that users could run if they didn't have linux?

Yes, unless the document use certain Microsoft exclusive features. Try switching to LibreOffice on Windows to see how it works for you.
You can also easily try out Linux on a live USB stick. Grab 4+GB USB stick you don't mind erasing, download an iso with a live environment, and use Rufus to write it to the stick and make it bootable. I suggest you try the latest versions of Linux Mint Cinnamon for a Windows like experience, and Pop!_OS for something a little different.

 

[Kiwi Lime Pie]

Isn't that due to shit like websites being designed with mobile users in mind?

With so many people browsing on their phones or other mobile devices, sites that don't accommodate those users will likely be avoided and shunned for looking like crap. Sad part is that many sites' mobile versions have a shitty UI and navigation (usually through a corner hamburger menu). A site I visit that's easy to navigate on a desktop is far more cumbersome to browse on a mobile device because of this.

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.

The mechanic I discovered on YouTube who has many DIY videos for what's usually simple repairs has lamented about the same thing because he encourages people with both the confidence and the know-how to fix what they can in order to save on labor costs that can run around US $100 or more per hour. Just last week, I learned my thermostat was bad and needed replacing. Had it been housed in the upper radiator hose like it is in many cars, I might have been able to fix it myself for just the price of a new thermostat. But no, the thermostat on my car is hidden in the back of the engine near the exhaust manifold, so I had to let my repair shop do it. Even the guy who checks customers in and out there admitted, "That's a bugger to get out... two hours of labor to replace it."

That's what annoys me about many environmentalists, they're sending mixed messages in many ways because they don't think things through.

I forget how long ago it was when dishwasher soap had to eliminate the phosphorous from it because it was deemed environmentally unsafe for wastewater. The new soap was less effective to the point that many people had to use a second cleaning cycle -- and therefore use more water than before which negated the benefits of using the non-phosphorous soap. I'm all for trying to be as environmentally responsible as possible, but a lot of the stuff being touted or imposed on people has unintended negative consequences that offset the benefits or prove to be more detrimental than the original situation because the powers that be don't do any sort of critical or cost-benefit analysis that would identify these issues before changes were made.

I miss that fact that backup technology tends to become obsolete over time or has no backward-compatibility. I found some backup tapes recently that, if not degraded, have data I'd love to restore if possible. The only problem is I don't know if I can find a tape drive that would be compatible with those tapes and also run on a modern version of Windows. My best hope at restoring the data (assuming the tapes are still good) might be to buy the drive that would work on the Windows 98 box I still have in storage and hope for the best.
(Edited for spelling)

 

[Jones McCann]

I'm really considering looking into linux, but how do people find it when EVERYTHING is done using word, excel, etc. Is there some easy way to assimilate those files on linux so I could get sent an email with an excel file or something, eaily run it, then send it back on something that users could run if they didn't have linux?
I'm not a huge PC guy, but I am really noticing things being slow on windows 10, especially when office is open. Add in the constant fucking updates, and the fact I know MS is spying on me and I really just want to look into alternatives, but everyone else just uses MS and Windows so I feel it would be inconvenient to switch.

I think word documents are pretty much standard, even if not there are programs that accept multiple file types. I'd definitely recommend switching, linux is a breeze if you're willing to learn how to use it. Terminal is much easier for most things once you get used to it. The fact that microsoft records everything you do on their software should be reason enough to switch, I'm sure they log every key pressed in every product they have (edge, word, notepad, etc).

 

[stupidpieceofshit]

I forget how long ago it was when dishwasher soap had to eliminate the phosphorous from it because it was deemed environmentally unsafe for wastewater. The new soap was less effective to the point that many people had to use a second cleaning cycle -- and therefore use more water than before which negated the benefits of using the non-phosphorous soap. I'm all for trying to be as environmentally as possible, but a lot of the stuff being touted or imposed on people has unintended negative consequences that offset the benefits or prove to be more detrimental than the original situation because the powers that be don't do any sort of critical or cost-benefit analysis that would identify these issues before changes were made.

Oh and the disaster that was/is low flow toilets that were so ineffective people had to flush 2 (So using the same amount) or 3 times or more.

Environmentalists as a whole (not all though) fall in to the same type of people in politics that I have observed who believe "action now, nothing else matters" is a good thing, if they took just a bit more time before demanding things be done the low flow toilet and environmentally damaging other issues as a direct result of their own "We must save the earth" could have been prevented.
They also are the reason why nuke power isn't more common and it being greener then most "green" tech today, granted there is the real issue of "where do we put the waste" but 99% of their stance is NIMBY and fear mongering

 

[Ginger Piglet]

Environmentalists as a whole (not all though) fall in to the same type of people in politics that I have observed who believe "action now, nothing else matters" is a good thing, if they took just a bit more time before demanding things be done the low flow toilet and environmentally damaging other issues as a direct result of their own "We must save the earth" could have been prevented.
They also are the reason why nuke power isn't more common and it being greener then most "green" tech today, granted there is the real issue of "where do we put the waste" but 99% of their stance is NIMBY and fear mongering

This is also why the VW emissions scandal happened.

So, Volkswagen and a bunch of other European car makers make diesel cars that are as responsive and good to drive as petrol cars. And they are way more fuel efficient! 50 MPG anyone? At European heavily taxed fuel prices? Yes please.

The EU then hops on board and starts giving huge tax breaks and subsidies to diesel engines. Loads of us, my old man included, drinks the Kool Aid. We're saving the planet, burgers! We've got 50 MPG diesel cars and you think your Toyota Pious hybrid is efficient at 35 MPG! *huffs own farts*

Turns out they aren't as efficient as all that and in 2015 it comes to mind that they only got those fuel efficiency and emissions numbers to qualify them for tax breaks by cheating. As in, they had a secret compartment full of urea (which can absorb nitrogen oxides) and a hatch to them which pops open when the engine's microcontroller figures out it's on an emissions test bench. And VW only took the brunt of it because they got caught. Everyone was doing it. Whoops.

 

[Never Scored]

I'm really considering looking into linux, but how do people find it when EVERYTHING is done using word, excel, etc. Is there some easy way to assimilate those files on linux so I could get sent an email with an excel file or something, eaily run it, then send it back on something that users could run if they didn't have linux?
I'm not a huge PC guy, but I am really noticing things being slow on windows 10, especially when office is open. Add in the constant fucking updates, and the fact I know MS is spying on me and I really just want to look into alternatives, but everyone else just uses MS and Windows so I feel it would be inconvenient to switch.

Libre Office runs most MS Office documents fine. You can even configure it to save as .Docx and .Xlsx by default. There is some slight variation in formulas between Excel and Libre Calc, though. For example when referencing a cell on a different sheet in excel you'd go ='sheetname'!cellnumber, in calc you go =$'sheetname'.cellnumber. If you're not fucking around with spreadsheets all day like I am you probably won't notice, but at work I absolutely have to use Office because of it.

 

[Erika Furudo]

Libre Office runs most MS Office documents fine. You can even configure it to save as .Docx and .Xlsx by default. There is some slight variation in formulas between Excel and Libre Calc, though. For example when referencing a cell on a different sheet in excel you'd go ='sheetname'!cellnumber, in calc you go =$'sheetname'.cellnumber. If you're not fucking around with spreadsheets all day like I am you probably won't notice, but at work I absolutely have to use Office because of it.

I guess I would have to use Office then. I don't use spreadsheets that often, but I do need to use them for important things and that stuff is sent via excel, and the person would expect it back, and run it through excel. I wish places atleast offered an alternative, at this point you don't stay with MS due to quality, you stay with MS due to the sheer fucking size and pervasiveness of it, it's so fucking dumb people will buy new smartphones every fucking year, but God forbid you move from some ancient software. If you had a choice would you go with Libre over Office? Would you say it's better overall?

 

[Never Scored]

I guess I would have to use Office then. I don't use spreadsheets that often, but I do need to use them for important things and that stuff is sent via excel, and the person would expect it back, and run it through excel. I wish places atleast offered an alternative, at this point you don't stay with MS due to quality, you stay with MS due to the sheer fucking size and pervasiveness of it, it's so fucking dumb people will buy new smartphones every fucking year, but God forbid you move from some ancient software. If you had a choice would you go with Libre over Office? Would you say it's better overall?

I actually prefer Libre Office overall. I track my personal finances in a series of Libre Office spreadsheets, but I need my compatibly with people using Excel to be flawless at work, so I have to use it because everyone else does. I hate the way MS Office saves now, where it lists a bunch of suggested places to save and you have to click browse to get the actual save as dialogue. I hate the fucking share and sign-in buttons everywhere too. I just want a simple fucking spreadsheet program that is compatible with everyone else's, but it's littered with all this shit.

 

[Stasi]

I actually prefer Libre Office overall. I track my personal finances in a series of Libre Office spreadsheets, but I need my compatibly with people using Excel to be flawless at work, so I have to use it because everyone else does. I hate the way MS Office saves now, where it lists a bunch of suggested places to save and you have to click browse to get the actual save as dialogue. I hate the fucking share and sign-in buttons everywhere too. I just want a simple fucking spreadsheet program that is compatible with everyone else's, but it's littered with all this shit.

I swear the Microsoft design department is staffed by absolute mongoloids. We've gone nowhere UI wise in almost 20 years. XP was genuinelly a better user experience than any of the latest Windows.

Speaking of annoying MS shit - aggressively pushing their services in Win 10. I have no interest in setting up a microsoft account or using onedrive but every now and then when I boot up a windows machine it will hit me with a blue screen with "Lets finish setting up your device" asking me to make an account, give them my phone number and set up onedrive. There is no option for "fuck off, no" only "yes" and "maybe later". You have to go root around in the settings to disable this shit.

Also, windows security center giving a warning if onedrive isn't set up. Me not wanting to use your shitty cloud service is not a security threat, fuck off.

 

[AnOminous]

Libre Office runs most MS Office documents fine. You can even configure it to save as .Docx and .Xlsx by default. There is some slight variation in formulas between Excel and Libre Calc, though. For example when referencing a cell on a different sheet in excel you'd go ='sheetname'!cellnumber, in calc you go =$'sheetname'.cellnumber. If you're not fucking around with spreadsheets all day like I am you probably won't notice, but at work I absolutely have to use Office because of it.

Yes but there are oddities and artifacts and if people are paying you to generate documents for them and they're weird in even the slightest way, you don't get paid. You get fired. So you have to use the most basic bitch generic Microsoft products to avoid this.

 

[talk talk talk]

I miss Crunchbang Linux.

 

[Kosher Dill]

I miss Jesux.

 

[Shovel Mech Pilot]

Anyone remember that weird Netbook fad in the late 00s/early 10s?

You gave me flashbacks to my Asus Eee PC that I had in 2009 or so. I actually kind of liked it for the time!