That's actually not that new. I remember geocities pages from skiddies who would block right-click and display some stupid message about "not stealing their code".
I don't recall what site it was, but I once browsed one years ago that had JavaScript code that would pop up a message when it detected a right click and then display the same message box on an infinite loop. As others have said, it's way too easy to circumvent those scripts so they accomplish nothing in the end if someone is determined enough to peek at the underlying code and resources.
I like the idea of older OSes being simple and under control. A good example is DOS. Just a few files like COMMAND.COM, AUTOEXEC.BAT, etc. But now, OSes are horrendously complex, and most of the stuff goes on "under the hood". So many things "needed" just to run programs and manage files nowadays.
I attended an ACM presentation in college featuring someone who worked at Sun. The person gave a presentation on Unix/Sun-OS. I still remember him saying something to the effect that the OS was based on a collection of utilities that did one thing only and did it well. Windows with each new version tends to add more bloat than utility. Maybe complex OSes have their use and purpose but the average normie has no need to run bloatware if all they use computing devices for are simple mundane tasks.
But in Current Year, microwaves have all these settings for different crap, and you may not be able to cook for just 10 seconds to warm something up if the 1 is an "express button" that instantly starts cooking for 1 minute. Not everything has to be computerized...
I don't even know if my microwave accepts a time that's not a multiple of 30 seconds. If it does, it has to be entered in a rather counterintuitive way which defeats the idea of devices being easy to use.
It's one of the most blatant forms of feature creep.
Feature creep seems as inevitable as death based on my experiences in the IT world. At one place I worked at, a supervisor suggested as busywork that I should consider adding features to our flagship software that few of our end users if any would use because they would be unnecessary, confusing, or potentially illegal based on the privacy laws at the time.
Personally, I hate ISPs that literally fucking lock down your router settings.
My ISP is so gung-ho on getting users to switch the latest (and more expensive) internet service that it seems like my current plan is on auto-pilot. When I accidentally chose the option to do a factory reset on the router instead of an ordinary reboot, I lost certain features that were included in a later update. In the past, the ISP would detect the outdated version quickly and push the latest update through but they've stopped doing that and they even removed access to the link for manually updating.
CB has also mostly gone downhill. I kind of enjoy the lunatics, though. It's a very unique brand of lunatic. The other day I heard a sikh and a hillbilly argue over who could merge.
When I last used my CB radio a few years ago, even channel 19 (used by truckers) seemed barren. I'll confirm that every area seems to have one or two lunatics on at any given time. If there was an appropriate thread, I could probably share numerous stories about the CB weirdos I've encountered over the years.
Every fucking mobile app has an update a day and the only thing I notice those updates change is everything works worse while looking the same and using up more resources.
When I switched mobile providers and got a new phone last year, the one thing I immediately noticed was how certain apps seem to have updates available every few days. Just this morning, I saw what needed an update and asked myself, "Didn't I just update this the other day?!"
Maybe there's some truth the claim it's to add bloated crapware and spyware, but I also suspect that the current state of coding and coders plays a role. These companies that hire coders solely for diversity probably end up with people who write code so awful it
needs updates and patches every few days to fix something that isn't working or opened up a security hole, etc.
it seems like more and more companies and businesses are not only using them more, but assuming that everyone has the means to use them.
Earlier in the pandemic, a lot of places -- especially schools -- were using QR codes for people to scan so that they could fill out a COVID survey prior to being allowed entry. One of the biggest problems was people, especially seniors, who didn't have the smartphones necessary for those apps. Some places claimed those people could be accommodated in an alternative way which raised the question, "Why not keep things simple for everyone then?"
It reminds me of a bigger trend I've noticed: news stations that direct people to a website for more information and assuming everyone has the means to do so. I found it ironic when a news station encouraged people affected by a power outage to go to their web site for more details.
I have an old ass Samsung that doesn't even have QR reading capacity on it, unless I download some shady as fuck free reader.
My previous phone's built-in QR reader insisted it be tied into a Google account in order for it to be used. No thanks. Worse was that every QR reader I could find on the app store for that particular phone was as
@nigger of the north said: shady AF in terms of what spyware it had, might have, or who had developed it.
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If telephone service counts as tech, I miss the ability to easily have one number automatically forward to another for a temporary period of time before being disconnected. I know my parents set up something like this in the past when a grandparent passed away so that calls for the latter would automatically ring at the former's number.
My attempt to do something similar for my office number after I moved out of there last month proved unsuccessful because the phone company no longer offers the service. Instead, I had to port the old number to a cell phone and then set up any forwarding I wanted through that phone. It seems like a needless intermediate step and nothing more than a way for the phone company to profit off the situation given what they charge for the most basic setup for this service/ability.
Hand in hand with that, the phone for this service insists that the mobile data connection be active whenever the phone is turned on or certain core features won't be available. If I have it connected to my wifi, I shouldn't have to stay connected to the mobile network at the same time.
(Edited for spelling and clarity)
