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

[seri0us]

KDE just released a framework for integrating them into the desktop environment.

Eventually KDE will go from simply a turd to a polished turd.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

Dongles, come back, I apologize for being mean!

Glad GIMP does everything I need in image editing.

 

[Internet_Loner]

Glad GIMP does everything I need in image editing.

The auto selection tool leaves a lot to be desired, plus many actions are no longer automatic.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

I miss thermostats being analog. Simple and straightforward.

The thermostat where I live has this exceptional "energy saving" feature that keeps resetting to bullshit temperatures (like 70F for heat or 85F for AC) at certain times during the day. So on a hot day, the place gets uncomfortably warm, and sure enough, the thermostat has reset to a dumb "energy saving" setting.

Not everything has to be computerized...

 

[Totally Awesome]

God dammit Adobe, why do I suddenly need to use two-factor authentication and get a code sent to my phone to START Photoshop on my computer? Dongles, come back, I apologize for being mean!

Why would anybody hack another person's Adobe account? Just pirate like a normal person!

 

[Billy Beer]

This thread is sad because it makes me realise the best years are behind us, tech wise.

What i loathe:

Internet forums been about enragement, not engagement

The internet being full of tossers (Only recently found Kiwi, you guys are a breathe of fresh air)

Gaming no longer been about games. Not streaming, not wiminz and equality, no mention of real life shit, just fictional fucking characters in games.

Non-smart everything. I want my phone to be a phone and my Tv to be a Tv. If i want extra shit ill use my Pc, or nowadays my console, tablet, fridge and toaster.


What I miss:

The internet pre Iphone and Facebook.

Games made for and by nerds. Back when they were a fun challenge, not a mental slog of fetch quests and wallet-rape.

Not tech related, but humour and humility are in real shot supply in my country. So few people laugh, even fewer admit they were wrong. Fuck the modern world.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

Fuck the modern world.

A species full of jerks and blind followers makes a crappy world where tech gets ever crappier.

I also see "real life" getting eroded and "cancelled" by excess tech and that "New Normal" too.

 

[Billy Beer]

And here's the other thing. You know how following the BLM protests last summer there were all of a sudden bowdlerisations of media and music and films disappearing from services in general for being problematic? Well. If you have physical copies, or downloaded non-DRM'd digital copies, the powers that be can't memory hole them when they become politically incorrect. So you can still have Fairytale of New York with the verse about "you cheap lousy faggot," you can still have Money for Nothing with the verse about the "faggot with the earring and the makeup," you can still have the episode of Only Fools & Horses where "the Paki shop won't let me have nothing on tick." Because these were all products of their time and should be allowed to show it because you cannot just memory hole things when it becomes inconvenient to remember that they existed.

I bet you can't on streaming.

I hate to break it to you but there was an article on the BBC a while back which discussed digitally inserting adverts in to old classic films like A wonderful Life. It starts with inserting ads, and ends with removing 'problematic' content.

I just remembered of two other car technologies that are becoming more and more common-place, that I loathe. Electric parking brakes, and various gimmick gearshifters. (i.e. gearshift knobs, push-button gearshifters)

Regarding electric parking brakes, those were implemented to free-up more space on the center console, and for aesthetics. However, what happens if you can't release the electric parking brake because either the battery is dead (to have your car towed), or it just won't release for some other reason (i.e. to drive your car in the first place)?

A handbrake, cable and drums/disc+pads is cheap, safe, effective and you have that mechanical feedback knowing that your car is secure. But nahh, let's replace it for expensive shit that can fail for no reason (what's that, your battery died in the night and your car has rolled in to an orphange? Ohh well).

_________________________________________

More dislikes:

We were told in 2000 that piracy would kill the game/movie industry. End game made a billion dollars and fortnite rakes in cash for fun. But yet, you need 10 subscriptions to be able to watch the 20 different films/tv shows you want? Nahh mate. I'll pirate thanks. At least that way you can't censor the fuck out of what i find funny

Comedy not being comedy. Comedy being so safe and bland that it's pathetic. Go back 20 years to shows like Wings, and the jokes are made about women, fat men, italians, and all of the shit that wouldn't fly today, yet it's innocent, silly and FUNNY.

 

[Puff]

I've just found out something very unsettling. Was wondering why I almost never see used electronics in UK charity/thrift shops. Apparently they have to comply with some EU electrical safety laws and for most of them its too expensive to test donations and they just toss them out/"recycle" with third party companies. I dread to think how many vintage electronics have been destroyed here over the years because of this.

You could say its for the greater good, safety blah blah but more likely than not its one of those cases where one idiot burned his house down by overloading a socket or something so an anti idiot law is put in place which has unforeseen but disastrous consequences. Like that King of the Hill episode about low flow toilets.

That reminds me. Showerheads that actually work. Low flow is required in the US now. Back when I had long hair that was a pain in the ass.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

digitally inserting adverts in to old classic films

Reminds me of Futurama where ads are inserted into dreams via gamma radiation.

It starts with inserting ads, and ends with removing 'problematic' content.

The corrupt elite who run the show really do want absolute power over the "little people", to a "thoughtcrime" level of mind control.

Comedy not being comedy.

Social "justice" is like a puritanical cult, and the main rule of it seems to be "no fun allowed".

Low flow is required in the US now.

Everything has to be so safe and inoffensive now. It's like we live in a daycare/hospital.

 

[whatever I feel like]

Remember the annoying RGB lighting trend with computers? Not even cars are safe from this menace of a trend now, as the reveal of the Mercedes-Benz EQS EV, and the Ford Mustang Mach-E show:

View attachment 2091780

View attachment 2091795

It's as if auto makers are trying to attract gamers, out of all people, to buy their cars these days.

And the Hyperscreen for the EQS screams of massive overkill with them. Also, having a vertical infotainment screen, like the one in the Mach-E, looks out of place in cars, in my opinion.

I remember when the Germans didn't even want you to have a cup holder, and now this shit?

 

[AnOminous]

So you can still have Fairytale of New York with the verse about "you cheap lousy faggot," you can still have Money for Nothing with the verse about the "faggot with the earring and the makeup," you can still have the episode of Only Fools & Horses where "the Paki shop won't let me have nothing on tick."

"You cheap lousy faggot" was easily the best line in that song.

 

[Totally Awesome]

Remember the annoying RGB lighting trend with computers? Not even cars are safe from this menace of a trend now, as the reveal of the Mercedes-Benz EQS EV, and the Ford Mustang Mach-E show:

View attachment 2091780

View attachment 2091795

It's as if auto makers are trying to attract gamers, out of all people, to buy their cars these days.

And the Hyperscreen for the EQS screams of massive overkill with them. Also, having a vertical infotainment screen, like the one in the Mach-E, looks out of place in cars, in my opinion.

I like the older cars because everything is tactile. You can better identify and use the different sized dials and buttons through touch, and they all work on the first try. You can't feel anything on the new touch screens, and you have to tap the buttons repeatedly to make them work.

 

[Toolbox]

I like the older cars because everything is tactile. You can better identify and use the different sized dials and buttons through touch, and they all work on the first try. You can't feel anything on the new touch screens, and you have to tap the buttons repeatedly to make them work.

Safety! Making things in a moving weapon unable to be used once and it's known it's worked. Design a crappy screen you touch that doesn't even vibrate in the least to confirm interaction. I am so glad that Teslas have made this "cool" and now cars are just going to come with giant tablets instead of wheels, buttons, and levers. This and cars needing software updates before being able to even be started or able to be shut down from the internet by corporate are the future we should want!

 

[Stasi]

I think the tape talk up thread triggered my nostalgia and I picked up a walkman at a flea market today. Turns on with batteries in but no tape spin, cracked it open and the belt has turned to goo so ordered a new one off ebay. Spent £10 all in and if I get a working walkman out of it I'll be pretty happy. Worst case I'll sell it on ebay for parts, model seems somewhat sought after and working ones go for ~£50.

I am kind of surprised how easy it was to find a PDF of the maintenance manual and spare parts. Assume Guardians of the Galaxy triggered a big boom in walkman collecting a few years back.

An update on my cassette player - replacement belt arrived, after replacing it the thing works perfectly. Didn't need to calibrate it or clean the head. The repair was incredibly easy, the original manual is incredibly detailed and the actual board inside it has a diagram on it showing how the components and belt should fit. The hardest part was actually finding a cassette to test it, after days of searching every charity shop where I live I finally found a tape of Christmas songs of all things.

Another one to add to the pile of old/new trends. This thing comes from a time when things were made in a way that allowed and encouraged consumers to service and maintain their stuff. Now we have planned obsolescence and everything is made in such a way that its almost impossible to service - from proprietary screws (fuck you Nintendo), soldered components on laptops to cars needing you to almost disassemble the whole fucking engine just to make the most basic of repairs.

 

[Thiletonomics]

Another one to add to the pile of old/new trends. This thing comes from a time when things were made in a way that allowed and encouraged consumers to service and maintain their stuff. Now we have planned obsolescence and everything is made in such a way that its almost impossible to service - from proprietary screws (fuck you Nintendo), soldered components on laptops to cars needing you to almost disassemble the whole fucking engine just to make the most basic of repairs.

That reminded me of that one certain Dell laptop, which required you to take apart most of the parts in it, just to change out the hard drive. What in the world were they thinking?

 

[Flavius Claudius Julianus]

I've just found out something very unsettling. Was wondering why I almost never see used electronics in UK charity/thrift shops. Apparently they have to comply with some EU electrical safety laws and for most of them its too expensive to test donations and they just toss them out/"recycle" with third party companies. I dread to think how many vintage electronics have been destroyed here over the years because of this.

You could say its for the greater good, safety blah blah but more likely than not its one of those cases where one idiot burned his house down by overloading a socket or something so an anti idiot law is put in place which has unforeseen but disastrous consequences. Like that King of the Hill episode about low flow toilets.

I used to work in a large charity shop here in Bongland, which doubled as a kind of youth centre in the local community. Enormous place, carried everything from antique books to large furniture and sporting goods. Considering it was mostly old women who ran it, I, being the strapping young lad I was, had to do all the heavy lifting and actual work in the back - receiving donations, sorting the bullshit out, cleaning stuff, etc.

Electronics for the most part were tossed, as you say. I used to put aside vintage handheld consoles or turntables/HiFis, only to be told by the woman working alongside me 'nobody will ever buy that, just put it in the dustbin.' If I was working alone and had full discretion, half the things I'd laid aside for future pat-testing would be tossed into the bin. This also extended to rare and antiquarian books (for the same reason as above) and otherwise unusual, yet attractive items.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, the process of pat testing involved an unemployed part-timer coming in with a circuit breaker, plugging said electronic items into it, then declaring them either fit or unfit for purpose. It was the most pointless exercise ever, and did nothing in the way of ensuring said item was safe.
It's why if you go into a charity shop these days, they're basically carbon copies of each other in terms of stock.

 

[Toolbox]

I used to work in a large charity shop here in Bongland, which doubled as a kind of youth centre in the local community. Enormous place, carried everything from antique books to large furniture and sporting goods. Considering it was mostly old women who ran it, I, being the strapping young lad I was, had to do all the heavy lifting and actual work in the back - receiving donations, sorting the bullshit out, cleaning stuff, etc.

Electronics for the most part were tossed, as you say. I used to put aside vintage handheld consoles or turntables/HiFis, only to be told by the woman working alongside me 'nobody will ever buy that, just put it in the dustbin.' If I was working alone and had full discretion, half the things I'd laid aside for future pat-testing would be tossed into the bin. This also extended to rare and antiquarian books (for the same reason as above) and otherwise unusual, yet attractive items.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, the process of pat testing involved an unemployed part-timer coming in with a circuit breaker, plugging said electronic items into it, then declaring them either fit or unfit for purpose. It was the most pointless exercise ever, and did nothing in the way of ensuring said item was safe.
It's why if you go into a charity shop these days, they're basically carbon copies of each other in terms of stock.

So many people just don't care about the past or culture, and will willingly throw it away. The world isn't the future, it's everything we've built in the past leading up to now. I can somewhat understand turntables when they weren't relevant again, but books? Why would you throw away writing? How does that just expire? This was before the woke left doing it for political reasons, too. (And quite a bit after book burnings)

 

[BooneHelm]

I miss old PC sounds. I honestly forget sometimes how much noise computers made back in the day.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

I don't know if it's an issue with just Firefox, but I miss when browsers had preferences in a window that gave the user more control, like disabling caching or JavaScript. In current Firefox, you have to go into about:config, go through that annoying warning, and then enter a computer-code-y thing to do things like disable JavaScript (javascript.enabled). Browser preferences in Current Year are like websites.