Technological/practical "backward steps" we all just accept now

You know it. And, cheers.

i went to the AT&T store when I got my current phone 4 years ago ... I had to get the sim card and they had to activate it ... I know plenty of people that buy new iPhones and have the price of the phone added to the monthly phone bill.

apple’s literally starting a phone leasing side to their business iirc

Last fall when we had our kitchen wall re-tiled I had the guy cover up the existing landline jack because I haven't had a regular phone for almost 15 years. I think there might be one somewhere else in the house, but in five years I've never bothered to look for that or for a cable hookup.

There's a landline cord running behind my bookcase, it looks super old.. it ends at a wall-mount plate in a sort of of closet by the bathroom (dressing room, maybe?) which is a weird fucking place to chat on the phone in a studio apartment

semi recent builds like mine might find those phone jacks are done with ethernet wire. easy to convert for networking!

kind of a big, dumb one, but, television. television was a step backward

Karl, did you prefer listening to The Shadow and Amos & Andy while sitting on the parlor floor munching a box of Cracker Jacks?

can't speak for Karl, but growing up we had this one little box set of 4-5 cassettes of old radio programs, and the two episodes each of The Shadow and Lights Out remain more evocative and moody in my memory than any TV episode i can remember seeing as a kid. even the Lassie episode where they got stuck under power lines.

I listen to the old CBS Radio Mystery Theater episodes sometimes, with the ominous opening music... the show was kind of a throwback when it came out (1970s) but sometimes just having the spooky audio can be really cool

https://www.cbsrmt.com/

I honestly miss living off-grid and running our lights and a tape deck at night, just going through mountains of cassette tapes in the middle of the woods, 15 miles away from anything resembling civilization.

When I was young we listened to a lot of public radio, like Prairie Home Companion, My Word, My Music, Car Talk. We had some old-school radio stuff on vinyl and cassettes, like the Shadow and War of the Worlds.

As an adult, I associate old-school radio dramas (Gunsmoke, Johnny Dollar, etc.) with Sunday evenings because our local public radio station did (and still fucking DOES) play them in a program called "The Big Broadcast." I am convinced that no one under the age of 85 even wants to hear this shit, but there it is, occupying the radio for hours.

I can only ever greet that program with a vaguely sweet melancholy. When I was dating my now-wife, we typically spent weekends together, then returned to our separate apartments on Sunday night. So The Big Broadcast always meant that the weekend was over and we had to return to drab routines.

Radio 4 (via BBC Sounds) has kept the radio drama format alive, and it's not all Archers... there was a scifi/horror series called Murmurs that's really inventive & weird

If I have some repetitive, mind-numbing task at work I'll sometimes listen to stuff from their Horror/Supernatural collection.. it's a mix of old legacy reruns and new programs:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/category/drama-horrorandsupernatural

Audiobooks and podcasts (that I choose and control) are a different creature. I can only listen to them while driving.

My wife hates silence and will put on a podcast while trying to fall asleep. Not for me, but I respect a general de gustibus about this.

glad you enjoyed Murmurs, Andy. i was on the team that commissioned it. you might like The Sink too, also on that page you listed.

there’s an entirely new generation of “audio fiction” makers and listeners as well, that has nothing to do with the BBC or really any previous audio drama traditions. mainly horror, fantasy, SF. it’s interesting how the BBC is basically pretending it doesn’t exist, even though these shows are plainly wildly popular particularly among young audiences the BBC struggles to connect with. i’m thinking about The Magnus Archives, Victoriocity, Night Vale, and then you’ve got all the RPG actual play podcasts like Critical Hit, Adventure Zone… and five million more. i’m not a massive fan of RPG podcasts but a lot of people love them. i think my favourite concept - if not execution - is Film Reroll, where the players are characters from a famous film (i.e. Wizard Of Oz, Star Wars) and the initial plot setup is the same.. but the GM allows them to of course make different decisions than the characters made in the film..

Tracer - that's awesome you were involved in getting that series out, I thought it was really unique and innovative

And I have to confess - one reason I responded to it is that I appreciate anthology episodes more than a series with a long, connected story arc.. I usually get bored or confused if it goes on too long, especially with audio dramas and the like

I listen to the old CBS Radio Mystery Theater episodes sometimes, with the ominous opening music... the show was kind of a throwback when it came out (1970s) but sometimes just having the spooky audio can be really cool

One of the highlights of my time working in radio (mid-90s) was producing radio promo spots for this x-files adjacent tv show produced by Dan Aykroyd's brother, and Dan did the voice overs, and I got to choose (and occasionally make) the musical/sound backing track to these. It's been almost 25 years since I quit working in radio, but the way of listening that I had to learn as a producer / editor really makes it hard for me to just passively experience? It's like my brain goes into analytical / detail-oriented mode.

as long as we’re talking about this stuff Realm has some pretty incredible series. they continued the story of Orphan Black for instance (with Tatiana Maslaney!). a lot of it occupies a kind of funny halfway house between books on tape and audio drama - light sound effects and music but narrated by a main voice.

https://www.realm.fm

It's been almost 25 years since I quit working in radio, but the way of listening that I had to learn as a producer / editor really makes it hard for me to just passively experience? It's like my brain goes into analytical / detail-oriented mode.

I can't listen to podcasts for much of the same reason.

nothing wrong with high standards! good producers would count themselves lucky to have such attentive listeners.

It's weird because I've worked for print publications for the past 15 years, and I can read ILX just fine!

^^ lol!!!

🤔

Buying second-hand tickets on the internet. For a while, you'd do it and someone mailed you their ticket, then the standard became someone sent you/transferred you a PDF of their ticket. Super convenient, easy.

Then QR codes show up. At first, that's also fairly easy. You would transfer the electronic ticket to someone else's email, or send them a screenshot of the QR code.

Well obviously the latter became problematic as someone would sell the same QR code 100 times. So they created dynamic QR codes that change every 30 seconds. Screenshots banned.

But lots of places went QR-code tickets only not long after that. So if you're selling second-hand, you can't upload a PDF to StubHub or SeatGeek in advance, can't upload a screenshot. You physically have to transfer the ticket via email once someone buys it.

Which means you have to be attentive to your email all days you have the ticket up for sale, and be at the ready to transfer if you get notification your ticket sold.

Which means sometimes you buy tickets and the seller is asleep at the wheel, so you have to report non-receipt and get a replacement.

OR you get sellers who don't follow the rules. Today for instance, I found a fantastic deal on Jesus Christ Superstar tickets.

I am delivered a PDF file, which turns out to be a PDF with a screenshot of the tickets. Which won't work because it's a dynamic QR code that changes every 30 seconds.

So I had to report that to SeatGeek, they had to call the venue to confirm, and now have refunded me.

Normally I buy direct but second-hand sales often are cheaper and are where you can get last minute bargains. Not anymore!

tbh this is making me glad i haven't gone to a Real Event since the 90s

^^^

Took Beeps to see Hamilton recently. Almost had one of those surreal fisheye moments where the crowd at the admissions window points and laughs Ha! Ha! Ha! at me because their fancy readers couldn't "see" my Samsung Galaxy J3 screen to read the QR code.

yeah at a certain point the spectacle and harshness of the experience involved in going to a 'big thing' overtook whatever pleasure seeing band x would bring me. much more likely to enjoy myself seeing someone at a venue where the experience is relatively gentle, positive, not hyper industrialized, doesn't even matter how "good" or they are as long as there's something creative going on.

Years ago, I may have razzed you for that statement, but it is the truth now. It's a large enough distraction at times where saying fuckit and moving down a notch is more than beneficial to one's mental health than it is to see, I dunno, Jack White with your phone scanned and then placed in a plastic bag.

I know as soon as I say this, people will be jumping in here going "They're such a time-saver!" but those Disney bracelets have more than convinced me that I never want to go within 500 miles of Orlando ever again.

This is why I love mostly going to metal shows where the doorman is the box office and security and your ticket is basically a wristband

otm. also hand stamps ftw.

Even those are expensive now though.

I saw Slayer for $15 in 1999 ffs

Xpost

map otm

Love the classic handstamp

I went and saw the Who at MSG a few weeks ago with an old friend, and managed to get insane seats (3rd row center). But a day or so before the show, I wondered if both tickets being on my phone would be an issue. I started reading stories about people being denied admittance because the ticket wasn’t on their phone. So I thought, ok, I’ll send the ticket to my friend’s phone, but for some reason the transfer option was greyed out. I eventually figured it out — I couldn’t transfer using the app, but could via the website — but it was such a ridiculously stupid thing to have to worry about.

Big sharpie Xs that you can't get off your hands for three days, that's the only way to roll.

Why is it that prescription pickup is more electronic than ever, yet the practice of getting them is so much worse?

I'm not even talking the days where your only option was to walk in with a paper prescription and wait a half hour.

But now places like WalGreens offer ExpressPay and Delivery, but they don't always work.

A few months ago, I waited a half hour while they tried to find my anxiety meds, even though it was confirmed ready for pickup. So I wanted to avoid that this time, so I paid 5.99 for same day delivery.

Day came and went, no Rx. Two days later, still in "Ready to Ship" status. So I can them, on hold endlessly. I'm working, and didn't have the time to wait, and had to hang up. Got creative and FAXED them a message asking them what was up.

They call me back and tell me sorry, their Medline delivery service is having problems (then why are you still allowing people to use it)? They tell me the Rx will be there til the 15th, but I can come in and they'll refund the 5.99.

I come in today, and once again, they have no idea where my meds are. After ten minutes, they give up and tell me they need to redo it and ask if I can wait fifteen minutes.

It takes 25 became it's ready but they let other customers get helped first, and then I get up there and they're asking me to pay, again. I showed them the pending bank charge showing I already paid it, and shrugged and said it *should* expire, but to call them if it goes through.

Spent an hour at the store. Sure glad for convenience!

I’ve nearly given up on Walgreens, and not for technological reasons. I don’t even have prescriptions, I just buy decongestants that require me to show an id at the pharmacy. They don’t have a pharmacist staffing the store at the two closest locations several days per week. My parents maybe rightfully were blaming a doctor for not getting a prescription sent, but I said that they could try a different store because the clearance rate is just crap with that chain.

I’ll give them half credit for fixing their point of sale credit card system which was abysmal, but they don’t have a pen to sign anymore and the cashiers just joke about scrawling with your finger. I would guess Duane Reade stores, being the same company now, are the same? Just thinking about the SF videos of people shoplifting and thinking, yeah, go for it because I don’t picture the employees caring and I doubt their systems know anyway

Yeah, coulda stopped you right at "places like WalGreens".

Wal Greens? Who hurt your autocorrect

I was pleased there wasn't an apostrophe!

This is, tbf, more a problem with several huge corporations controlling a huge section of the econo that’s necessary for survival.

100%

Yes.

Especially when deals are cut with health insurance companies to provide the best prices for consumers at these national chains.

like I was ok with paying 'again' last night knowing the original charge will drop off, but just imagining a lot of friends I know who literally wouldn't be able to afford to do that, wondering how they would have gotten their medication.

and every so often, I see a story like that from them on social media.

same company as Boot's in the UK, yes?

A few months ago, I waited a half hour while they tried to find my anxiety meds, even though it was confirmed ready for pickup.

haha yeah, that probably really helped your anxiety lol!

This is making my highly bureaucratic vertically integrated health provider look better tbh ... there was a period right before and right after covid where they reduced the pharmacy hours and didn't update the website to reflect that. ... So I would show up, about 30 minutes before it says online they were closing, and they would already be closed.

Walgreens, making me need my anxiety meds more and more since 2009! lol

Publix apparently also takes my insurance so I'm going to try their pharmacy out for next go.

more like pubix

That's what it's referred to colloquially