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

good points

it does irritate me that in offices, manufacturers managed to create led replacements for tube cfls that,
while not really doing the fluorescent flicker anymore, are identical in every other way. maybe we could have taken a moment to decide whether offices need to look like that

someone at work posted: jump leads in boot. boot needs power to open.

that took me a second, but: oh no

it does irritate me that in offices, manufacturers managed to create led replacements for tube cfls that,
while not really doing the fluorescent flicker anymore, are identical in every other way. maybe we could have taken a moment to decide whether offices need to look like that

Ugh. I have actually seen art galleries use these by choice (as opposed to "the building came with these, and we can't afford to fix the lighting") and it makes the space look like a CVS.

It’s my unprofessional opinion that it’s not blue light that’s harmful, it’s the association with office spaces that melts your eyeballs

most of the led bulbs I've bought over the past 6 years have been shit, they last no longer than other bulbs. I have no idea if they are legitimately saving energy; I assume they are.

I don’t think I’ve ever had a LED bulb go bad.

The expensive ones I’ve got never seem to die, but when I’ve got the really cheap ones (£1) they seem to die or start turning into a strobe after a few months.

I have no idea if they are legitimately saving energy; I assume they are.

touch one for a clue

(that's rly the reason that in a world of toys and "backward steps" these retain the clarkeian magic for me: light without heat!)

yeah it’s insane

Werent tungsten bulbs phased out like 10+ years ago, I'm confused. Were they not, in the US?

Not until August of this year in the US

Huh, Youve not been able to buy them here in years and years. But like everyone said above there's been loads of inbetween, like those ugly twirly flurou bulbs that would take forever to turn on, and be dim and a horrid blue cast. And never fit into the lightshade because they were so big and weirdly sized.

the latest Google Chrome mobile, when you want to go to your bookmarks, now has an extra click where you have to choose between Reading List and Bookmarks.I know it's just 1 click but I'm going to install Firefox because of this.

(and no, you can't disable it this time)

the desktop version has had this for a while ... I just accept it now lol

Maybe not exactly the right thread but a v bad feature of modern tech is that thing where Bluetooth earphones are like 10 minutes away from dying & decide they need to let you know about this by interrupting your listening every 10 seconds with a very loud & annoying sound until the battery finally goes. Given that I’m usually out & about when I’ve got them in & can’t do anything about it anyway I’d much rather they just cut out with no warning & I don’t get those last 10 minutes of the thing I’m listening to ruined

Lol I got rid of my last pair as it would say "Please charging" over and over in the waning minutes.

I hate the ones that have on-ear detection that cannot be shut off, like my old JBLs. Having a great song going and hearing a beep then the music stop when the headphones are on my ear and have been the whole time is aggravating.

I got a new set cos I got tired of it.

I’ve never had a pair that didn’t do this, it seems common to all. Previous ones have cut in with a loud beep, my current (skullcandy) ones have a horrible voice that says LOW BATTERY — curiously the LOW BATTERY woman has an American accent whereas the woman who says “power on… connected” when I turn them on has a British accent

No matter what the sound is it will come in at max volume even if what you’re playing is a lower volume so it’s extra obnoxious

They're trying to kill their owners

Maybe not exactly the right thread

oh, this is precisely the thread for that ... I do not have these horrible things. I do not want them. There are those widgets that can connect via cable from the sadly headphone jack free devices we are cursed with now, and I will advocate for said things ftw

I can't wait for neural implants.

watching Captain Scarlet dvds and they've upgraded the sound to 5.1 but it means the classic seven bongs they use when changing scene are just wrong - the even numbered ones are quieter and/or positioned somewhere else

(luckily the original mono is still available as an option, but isn't the default)

There are those widgets that can connect via cable from the sadly headphone jack free devices we are cursed with now

this is a revelation to me in my current reluctantly-bluetooth-headphone-curious phase, ty

although, all the results i'm finding are widgets to do the opposite task: connecting your bluetooth headphones to something that only has an AUX jack

I think sara meant USB-C/Lightning to 3.5mm. They're handy.

A step back for sure, even if a pretty cheap one can sound better than most any phone that ever had a built in jack. Not as if that's relevant for most users/uses.

I so rarely see anyone with wired headphones on transit anymore. It’s like seeing someone with a discman.

I use buds that are wired to each other. My wife and daughter like airpods but I they're constantly getting lost or separated and you have to know where the case is all the time.

I know if I tried those I would constantly be looking for one of the four components - and if any one component is missing, the entire assemblage is useless.

I think sara meant USB-C/Lightning to 3.5mm. They're handy.

― maf you one two (maffew12), Sunday, May 14, 2023 5:07 AM (fifty-two minutes ago)

yes, exactly!

I’ve been using wired Etymotic er4sr’s for years. No interest in bluetooth although i’m sure it’s convenient at times.

I know if I tried those I would constantly be looking for one of the four components - and if any one component is missing, the entire assemblage is useless.

― coolgnoscenti (Ye Mad Puffin), Sunday, May 14, 2023 5:29 AM (thirty-two minutes ago)

this is my co-worker ... i swear, this guy has spent more on airpods in the past year (either losing a piece or something breaking) than I have spent on cell phones in my life ...

Approximately 73% of my life has been spent trying to get pieces of audio equipment to talk to each other. Let's review, shall we?

My stepsister had an 8-track player that required series of elaborate Radio Shack adapters to successfully play Olivia Newton-John in a car.

My first computer was a TRS-80 using magnetic tape as a storage medium.

Once on a long cross-country drive my uncle became obsessed with CBer lingo, like "got your ears on?" It took hours to badly get an antenna magnetically mounted to his station wagon and the project was abandoned.

To get an Atari 2600 console to work correctly required a spaghetti of cables and being on channel 2.

From there we go to dual-cassette boomboxes, helping my mother delete objectionable language from pop songs so that they could be played in the Catholic school where she worked, without messing up the beat.

From there we move on to using a Y-adapter to get two guitars to share a Roland Cube amp.

Later I had a boombox with the wrong tape speed, so that songs recorded on it could only be played back on that specific machine.

My first solo record was recorded on a 4-track cassette Portastudio and then, perversely, transferred to computer using the "mic in" jack and a 1/8" mono adapter.

Nowadays the equipment and interfaces are better - but I can still, even more perversely, be left dead in the water by not having a particular dongle or adapter or stupid watch battery or charging cable.

I was doing a recording session recently that required not one but three trips back home or to a convenience store before all the things would speak to the other things.

I have spent more hours untangling cables than I care to think about.

Still prefer all that to airpods

I have spent more hours untangling cables than I care to think about.

i probably have spent more hours untangling cables than you ... but yes. not that long ago really ... maybe 10 years ago, i still had an entirely analog "media system" ... i had a CRT TV (it was free; i didn't pay for this item) connected to a RCA-Coax converter, which connected to the output of a RCA switcher, the audio outputs of which were connected to some early 1990s home stereo receiver + speakers, and plugged into the switcher were a DVD player, a VCR, and a triple 1/8" cable that could connect to a video camera or laptop (via adapter)

lulz sarahell ok you win

i mean ... i used to get paid to untangle cables ... i had days where i spent 4+ hours untangling cables

You both win.

I could add how I used to "steal" music at work by downloading mp3's from Napster, playing them on whatever winamp was in the year 2000, with a YMP's 1/8" line going from my work computer's keyboard headphone jack to the mic jack on my Sony dual-cassette recorder sitting on the floor, where I probably unknowingly produced the final mixtapes I would ever make in my lifetime.

my work computer's keyboard headphone jack

that is dedication!

much of my system is still hardwired— stanton mixer running to two kali speakers, with ins from a cd player, vestax dj battle turntable, dual cassette deck, and one 1/8” aux connected to a little dongle so i can listen to music from my phone on occasion.

my computer in my office, tho, is bluetooth-bound to a soundbar/subwoofer combo.

i will never use bluetooth headphones.

Got a new laptop from work, connected to a dock in my office. I took it home for the first time and realized that it has 0 standard usb ports, so I couldn't connect a mouse or keyboard to it all weekend. So annoying (mostly the mouse, though being much more comfortable with a mouse over the trackpad is another sign of being old I'm sure).

I'm not switching to Bluetooth headphones. Have borrowed my kids' before now and they may have promised utility but, for myriad reasons, delivered a royal pain in my arse. Wired it is.

I hate wires. I tend to play with them and get distracted by them if their placement is situated oddly.

Though originally I moved to Bluetooth as I had a Samsung which no longer had headphone jacks. But my OnePlus does have a jack for wired earphones, surprisingly.

I was v sceptical towards wireless, but then several years ago was talked into trying Bose QuietControl 30 with this kind of halter around the back of my neck connecting the two buds physically. It was a revelation; I loved it; I've worn out (and/or mortally mistreated) several, and Bose have always been extremely good at replacing/servicing... except now they no longer have any models with physical connection/harness between the buds, only those loose ones which I am guaranteed to lose. Do Not Want. Am scouring second-hand market for cheapish QC30s and have scored two since my previous one died irreparably. Kinda yay but also feel like long-term losing battle. Any recommendations for current bluetooth in-ear non-droppable devices?

part of the issue with bluetooth headphones is they're much more complicated system-wise like anything digital and are produced on silicon valley's planned obsolescence timeframe. i don't want to learn new technology every 6 months to a year just to use headphones. definitely on team 'i will never use bluetooth headphones'. i used to hate wires too but now i'm like you can pry them from my cold dead hands lol.

idk all the bluetooth headphones I’ve had in the last couple years (yes I have a headphones hoarding problem) just work and half of them work in wired mode too

> being much more comfortable with a mouse over the trackpad is another sign of being old I'm sure

an arm injury makes a mouse difficult at the mo so I'm using trackpad for the first time. i swear there is no way to release a drag without the cursor moving half an inch.

also, and this might just be netbeans, but two finger swiping to scroll and then hitting ctrl-tab to switch panels, if you get that slightly wrong you end up zooming in / out instead and your code is suddenly 600pt or 6pt. i do this about 20 times a day.

Many xps removing the headphone jack was a shitty move but I’ve got to say, having been forced to go wireless I wouldn’t want to go back, as someone who was constantly catching the wire on something while doing whatever activity. I don’t use true wireless as they would inevitably end up with the many broken buds I see on the ground everywhere, but Bluetooth ones with a short wire that hangs around my neck are pretty much perfect EXCEPT for the mf pointless low battery alert thing

I did a search to see if there was a brand that didn’t do this & found this from the 1st world problems subreddit

https://www.reddit.com/r/firstworldproblems/comments/ae6sdu/bluetooth_earbuds_chanting_low_battery_please/

Really seems like every affordable brand (& some expensive ones) have this issue & everyone hates it

the armband phone holder has been perfected afaict. i just wrap the extra length of cord around the holder, no muss no fuss. i look like a fitness mom ca 2005 but it's reliable, it just works all the time, no need to remember 3 additional things in advance to enjoy music whenever i want to move around, and on the plus side it keeps my phone put away so i'm not tempted to look at it.

Beeping preferable to the voice version, at least.