Inferior technologies that just work better than the new stuff

[BiscuitTrouser]

See i get so confused by new phones and software because the average manafacturer seems to be under the assumption people are getting more stupid and less able to do basic things themselves, theres wizards and failsafes and such to "improve" things while cutting of the ability for anyone with any sort of know how to do things themselves.

Heres a few examples ive been hit with:

Iphone, and the inability to just drag music across manually like a peasant, the whole "sync" thing makes it 1000x harder for me. I just want things to be ugly and simple. I can work with ugly.

Windows 8 and safemode. I cant fucking believe the audacity behind this one. "windows 8, the fastest booting operating system!". So fast booting that hitting control f8 fast enough to enter safe mode before boot is IMPOSSIBLE. THATS NOT A FEATURE. The only way to enter safemode reliably is to boot windows successfully. Ironically you need safe mode exactly when windows DOES NOT BOOT SUCCESSFULLY YOU STUPID FUCKS. They BROKE it and called it a feature?! The fucking balls on these people. It still makes me angry talking to the fucking representative trying to BOAST about the issue i was having "Its so fast sir!", "THAT MEANS NOTHING, It added 1 second of saved time every boot for 4 hours of struggle trying to get safemode to work! ITS NOT A FEATURE!"

Companies just dont seem to trust people to do anything manually anymore without fucking it up, and so decide to remove the ability to do anything unless you go through loads of bullshit "helpers" and the like that just waste my time and sanity. I find it harder to work one of those than to just do stuff myself.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

I might be getting dangerously close to angry old man territory here, but I feel the very concept of a "repair" is disappearing alltogether and it irks me. Stop me if any of this sounds familiar.

"It'd be cheaper to just get a new one."
"This is an older model, we only have spare parts for the new model."
"We can't repair this here, we'll have to send it over to the technical facility in Germany. (Or wherever) Should be back in about 5 weeks."

Not that there aren't at least some advantages to the planned obsolesence strategy, but there's definitely situations where the only solution is to repair the old one. So to then run into more hurdles than when you're trying to buy a live brontosaurus is frustrating.

Eugh also this, my phone broke because the charger port became bent, even though the phone was 100% functional. So my working phone slowly died with me unable to recharge. Replacing that one part meant cracking open the "one piece sealed sleak plastic casing" which ended up adding to the expense.

Have you seen this shit though?

https://phonebloks.com/en

Im getting it asap and leaving the obsolete bullshit behind.

 

[major_chaos]

Old flip phones. Seriously I'm going to rage if mine breaks and I'm forced to "upgrade", because I can't stand smartphones. Fuck touchscreens, fuck contracts, fuck 4g, doubleplus fuck 3g, fuck apps and features I'm never going to use, fuck redfacetwittumblegram, I just want the damn thing to make phonecalls and the occasional text, is that too much to ask?

 

[shootthebandit]

Old flip phones. Seriously I'm going to rage if mine breaks and I'm forced to "upgrade", because I can't stand smartphones. Fuck touchscreens, fuck contracts, fuck 4g, doubleplus fuck 3g, fuck apps and features I'm never going to use, fuck redfacetwittumblegram, I just want the damn thing to make phonecalls and the occasional text, is that too much to ask?

3g and I suppose even more so 4g is brilliant. I used to think the same as you until I discovered I have access to the entire porn internet in my pocket. I dont have apps other than facebook, netflix, a couple of adult entertainment apps and a couple of games. I mainly use facebook for IM and free phonecalls over wifi which incredibly handy because im working abroad.

Smartphones are useful but I think they get used for a lot of nonsense

I've driven a bunch of both automatics and manuals, and honestly, I prefer automatics. But then, I'm a lazy bastard who doesn't give a shit about cars and views them purely as tools to get him where he wants to be. If you enjoy driving, I can totally see preferring a manual, but if you view it more as a necessary chore the way I do, an automatic is the way to go.

yes they have their benefits but the UK is pretty deeply rooted in manuals. To buy an equivalent auto its more expensive, less fuel efficient (depending on how you drive) and cheaper to repair

I can see the benefits to an auto its just not my cup of tea.

 

[Cowabungaa]

This is an electric stapler:

It's confusing to use, breaks easily, holds fewer staples, jams a lot, requires electricity and also happens to look ugly as fuck.

I'd argue electric pencil sharpeners fall in the same category as electric staplers.

I've driven a bunch of both automatics and manuals, and honestly, I prefer automatics. But then, I'm a lazy bastard who doesn't give a shit about cars and views them purely as tools to get him where he wants to be. If you enjoy driving, I can totally see preferring a manual, but if you view it more as a necessary chore the way I do, an automatic is the way to go.

Seeing as you live in Switzerland I can totally get that. For hilly nations with lots of sloped roads, I can imagine an automatic being a lot more comfortable. For other places that are more flat but have lots of bendy roads roads (plenty of places in the UK, countries like Belgium and the Netherlands, etc) a manual is usually more fuel-efficient and the like. Though that's slowly changing with automatics becoming more advanced.

 

[FPLOON]

Non-smart phones with tangible [number] buttons...
Boomboxes/CD Cassette combos...
The classic Ipod [Nano]...
CDs with a lyrics/album info booklet in the CD case...
Tangible books...

Either I still get to use the items I still own from years past and/or I get to actually feel what it is I'm doing most of the time, that seems to be the main reason for listing most of those things...

 

[Flutterguy]

I know what you mean about your color saturation. A 20 year old Sanyo makes every shot into a work of art. Sometimes we just turn it on with no volume and listen to records on the weekends. A sunset at the top of the screen bleeds red across the whole image, it's beautiful.

OT: Literally ever film or TV show that got a reboot several years down the road. I no like.

 

[Souplex]

Newer iterations of Windows. 7 and 8 are just terrible.
I miss XP.

 

[yamy]

Well for some reason my classic iPod (which I think I've had for 6 years now) is still working perfectly. While my friends bought the same one a couple years ago and is already falling apart on them.

Also, we have a fridge that's been running for almost 30 years now.

Do you have the old iPod? The older iPods actually have better sound quality than the new ones according to this article [http://macintoshhowto.com/ipod/which-ipod-has-the-best-audio-quality.html] because they used sound chips from Wolfson before the 6th Gen iPod Classic, which is a very well regarded manufacturer amongst audiophiles. Since the 6th gen iPod Classic and all the new ones they've switched to a different manufacturer that doesn't sound as good.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

See i get so confused by new phones and software because the average manafacturer seems to be under the assumption people are getting more stupid and less able to do basic things themselves, theres wizards and failsafes and such to "improve" things while cutting of the ability for anyone with any sort of know how to do things themselves.

Heres a few examples ive been hit with:

Iphone, and the inability to just drag music across manually like a peasant, the whole "sync" thing makes it 1000x harder for me. I just want things to be ugly and simple. I can work with ugly.

Windows 8 and safemode. I cant fucking believe the audacity behind this one. "windows 8, the fastest booting operating system!". So fast booting that hitting control f8 fast enough to enter safe mode before boot is IMPOSSIBLE. THATS NOT A FEATURE. The only way to enter safemode reliably is to boot windows successfully. Ironically you need safe mode exactly when windows DOES NOT BOOT SUCCESSFULLY YOU STUPID FUCKS. They BROKE it and called it a feature?! The fucking balls on these people. It still makes me angry talking to the fucking representative trying to BOAST about the issue i was having "Its so fast sir!", "THAT MEANS NOTHING, It added 1 second of saved time every boot for 4 hours of struggle trying to get safemode to work! ITS NOT A FEATURE!"

Companies just dont seem to trust people to do anything manually anymore without fucking it up, and so decide to remove the ability to do anything unless you go through loads of bullshit "helpers" and the like that just waste my time and sanity. I find it harder to work one of those than to just do stuff myself.

My uncle has a Windows 8 laptop and I am his tech support (for my sins)
I lost an entire evening trying to boot the laptop in safe mode once. The decisions behind how that OS runs can only have been the result of several deranged minds and a bath of cocaine.

 

[Nazulu]

Well for some reason my classic iPod (which I think I've had for 6 years now) is still working perfectly. While my friends bought the same one a couple years ago and is already falling apart on them.

Also, we have a fridge that's been running for almost 30 years now.

Do you have the old iPod? The older iPods actually have better sound quality than the new ones according to this article [http://macintoshhowto.com/ipod/which-ipod-has-the-best-audio-quality.html] because they used sound chips from Wolfson before the 6th Gen iPod Classic, which is a very well regarded manufacturer amongst audiophiles. Since the 6th gen iPod Classic and all the new ones they've switched to a different manufacturer that doesn't sound as good.

Quite possibly, but I'm no expert on sound quality. All I know is I bought this when it first came out and it has lasted a lot longer than I thought it would.

Disappointing to hear the new ones are lower in quality, it always seems like things change for the worst.

 

[vun]

If they work better they wouldn't be inferior, would they?

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

I've got a cassette player in my car that can easily house a cassette adapter so that I can listen to all my music on my iPod.

I could easily get something that could connect wirelessly via bluetooth, but I feel that it's simple to just connect via the headphone jack than needlessly trying to connect via bluetooth, turning on the system, checking that the station works, etc.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Planned Obsolescence is starting to piss me off more than usual. Besides auto mechanics and company maintenance departments, repairmen have to be a dying breed. If it wasn't for the internet, I would have given up fixing dozens of appliances, since calling around for parts would have lead mostly to dead ends or been a pain.(I'd bet major corporation hate DIY repair forums.) I'm currently fixing my dad's Toshiba 62HM196 DLP[footnote]After searching for info and reading tons of forums on TVs, I'm beginning to believe TV manufacturers used DLP tech as a stop gap solution when LCD and Plasma sets were much more expensive. They knew LCD prices would dive and don't make self contained DLP TVs anymore(all according to plan). They didn't care that the things would have to cannibalize each other for parts since that means more people will buy new sets.[/footnote] TV, and finding parts for it was a miracle as everything is now refurbished and virtually sold out anyways. What's even worse is I spent about $30 on TV coolant(Yeah, some old TVs used coolant!) to fix our 8 year old 4:3 projection TV that this one replaced. (My mom just had to buy a new TV without asking me to research new TV tech before I could fix the green convergence on the old set.)

The costs of replacement parts is astronomical unless you find an aftermarket replacement (and good luck with the quality on those). Whether or not you you DIY or hire a repairman, your running the risk of dumping money into an out of warranty item only to have some other expensive component die on you before getting your money's worth out of the repair work. I'd rather spend extra on commercial/military grade equipment, but electronics with those specs either don't exist, don't have consumer features, or require a country's sizable defense budget to buy. It also doesn't help that they change models so often that finding parts even for one particular brand of one particular kind of appliance means weeding through hundreds of model #s and hoping your number is one they didn't list for some reason.*sinister disembodied laughing and cash register sounds are heard*

I also hate auto transmissions. They're good for starting on hills and stop and go traffic, that's it. They can't tell that a hill is coming up and some other car is going up it slow, so they will up shift just to downshift is 2-15 seconds anyway. Even the newer computer controlled[footnote]By the way, have you tried fixing a computerized trannie? I have. It's not fun when you don't have the $5000 dealership diagnostic PC. Thanks to make specific DTCs, the basic ODBII scanner will either tell you vague info or nothing at all. I only hope when I have a problem of my own someday, a program like Torque will be able to scan the latest codes.[/footnote] ones that adjust the shifting based on you habits and recent conditions like winding roads, can't foresee things like new hills or the traffic light that just want red. My trans is always switching gears just to go back because of things like that. Can't wait to try and find a decently priced stick shift car in the US when it's time to get a new one. At least when I have 700ccs between my legs, I have control over the gears.

I really hate touch screens, too. The tech itself isn't bad, but its ubiquity is getting ridiculous. They are good for simplistic UIs like POSes or Kiosks. But they put them in laptops, video games, and phones. The sensitivity of capacitive screens causes random, unwanted crap to happen because of finger twitches, skin oil/sweat left on the screen and poor programming, and the accuracy of buttons, mice and analog sticks beats them into a fine paste any day of the week. The look of one after your just smudged the thing for a few minutes is ugly, too. I wish there was a good smart phone with buttons.

 

[Vigormortis]

If they work better they wouldn't be inferior, would they?

Precisely. I'm not sure why, just because it's older, people are calling the version of a thing that works "inferior" to the one that doesn't.

By definition it's not inferior.

:/

[sub]Consequently....your avatar is perfect for your post.[/sub]

 

[Reiper]

Old flip phones. Seriously I'm going to rage if mine breaks and I'm forced to "upgrade", because I can't stand smartphones. Fuck touchscreens, fuck contracts, fuck 4g, doubleplus fuck 3g, fuck apps and features I'm never going to use, fuck redfacetwittumblegram, I just want the damn thing to make phonecalls and the occasional text, is that too much to ask?

Seriously this,

I recently "upgraded" to a samsung galaxy S4 and I really dislike it. Bunch of bloatware apps I dont want, making calls is irksome as hell. With my old motorola RAZR, I could make 1 handed calls with ease, even while driving. My new phone is like a big brick in my hand, clunky and slow. Also, screw touchscreens, they are the worst thing ever invented. Unresponsive, unsatisfying to press and worst of all, much slower for typing. On a blackberry keyboard I could type incredibly quickly. With the new touch screen I feel like some kind of invalid.

Having the internet can be nice, but honestly, with the amount I use it, I just want my RAZR or even my old blackberry back

 

[Julius Terrell]

If they work better they wouldn't be inferior, would they?

Precisely. I'm not sure why, just because it's older, people are calling the version of a thing that works "inferior" to the one that doesn't.

By definition it's not inferior.

:/

[sub]Consequently....your avatar is perfect for your post.[/sub]

The best post I've read today. Just give me back my Sony WEGA CRT. I miss that TV so much. I'm still convinced that CRTs are still better then new TVs. I just hate that they weigh as much as an elephant.

As long as you've got a crane or forklift, size doesn't matter right?

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

this isn't wuite the same thing...but reading off a scren is seriously inferior to print, not to mention you would NOT want to read on your ipad before going to sleep

all that said I'm probably cheating here because I have e-reader and e-ink is almost indestinguishable from print...but the same principle applies

I'll second this. I do have an e-ink reader and must admit that I do like using it. It's an entire library in a very portable form factor which makes it great for taking on holiday (I used to pack 5-10 books to take away with me!). I also really like the dictionary lookup feature and being able to bookmark anywhere, multiple times.

Saying that, they don't quite match books for reading pleasure. It's impossible to quantify precisely but there's the tactile feel of paper, the layout and structure, being able to flick back and forth at will (without navigating menus), the subconscious but still satisfying turning of a page. Progress through a story can be seen physically, not just gauged by a progress bar or counter and a book never runs out of battery.

Old flip phones.

Yes, these too! I admit I do like the functionality of my smartphone, being able to browse the Escapist the web and Emails is brilliant. But making and ending calls is a touch of a finger is nowhere near so satisfying as closing a flip-phone after a call. The sheer finality of physically ending a call cannot be matched.

It was actually one of my secret pleasures when I visit the US. My US phone for years was a flip phone and only had my *local* contacts (and family) so when I did visit my phone for the duration was purely social and without the day to day things associated with my usual phone. Answering and ending calls by physically opening and closing it was lovely.

I do miss physical, tactile buttons. If I could have a slidey keyboard on a top end smartphone I'd buy it without a doubt.

 

[GundamSentinel]

I enjoy using good old fashioned wood pencils. I have several drawing sets (Derwent and the like) but I also have a ton of regular pencils that I love using. One came in handy not that long ago because a remote control died on me. I couldn't find replacements and the universal remotes I have didn't work. So I found a video on YouTube made by this crazy Russian who showed how to fix a remote using nothing but some glue, a knife, and a pencil.

Old school, wins every time.

Reminds me of a story of NASA spending many thousands of dollars on developing a ballpoint pen that could be used in space, while the Russians just used pencils.

OT: After a few years I stopped using my smartphone and got back to my old phone with actual buttons. It's weird how much more relaxed it can make your daily life. Also: paper books over e-books, every time.

If they work better they wouldn't be inferior, would they?

Good point.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

I prefer digital music to analogue. I won't dispute the lossy compression or the quality and sound of vinyl or CD, but the trade off between quality and convenience is too great. It's why Napster was so huge, iTunes is so successful and they changed the music charts to include digital sales, not to mention the rise of subscription streaming services.

For photography, I did love film very much. All of my photographs used to be developed and they're still nice to flick through from time to time (though mostly because they pre-date the digital revolution so are from the past). One of my favourite things would be to spend about £10-15 for a roll of Ilford B&W film which included processing and printing by post.

I would buy it, and make a point of going somewhere special and taking great shots over the course of a morning and afternoon. Then you send it off prepaid and get your prints back, occasionally with stickers to advise on framing, exposure, shake, etc (I *obviously* didn't have that issue!). They were beautiful pictures that digital can't reproduce.

But digital has so many benefits it's no wonder Kodak lost so much money and so many people embraced it (even for the first few years when the image quality was unarguably significantly lower). No more costs or waiting for processing and printing. You could delete bad pictures and pick and choose which ones to print. You wouldn't lose them if the film was accidentally exposed and didn't have to use up the whole roll of film before processing it. The memory card is a one off cost, not an ongoing one. In the digital age, a digital photo can be Emailed, edited and uploaded instantly. And after we passed the 4-6 Megapixel mark, it couldn't be argued that the quality wasn't there since it was (at least for small prints).

It also killed Polaroid as the camera of choice for those photos you might otherwise prefer not to take to get developed