Good Tech Bad Tech

loki · 06-01-2009, 16:48

This is by any shadow of a doubt an age of technological enlightenment where everything is getting smaller, faster, cooler, cheaper etc etc ad nauseum. When I were a lad (Yes I do know that sounds bloody old

) FM radio was very much in it's infancy, Television had 4 channels. 3 of which broadcast till 12.00 at night and BBC2 only came on in the afternoon

. So yes every single day,month and year we are moving forward and out lives are becoming easier.

The cost of entry to a lot of past times has come down considerably, Photography, Music, General Entertainment, Computing, gaming etc etc etc.

But it's not all plain sailing. In as much we are at technological warp factor 9 there are still some un-necessary frustrations that just make you want to go Grrrrrrr

For example, DRM and connected to that iTunes. DRM in any format is just a proper pain in the arse. Inadvertendley it penalises the one who genuinely purchase music or software. Then you have iTunes. In principal it's great, you have iTunes, you buy your music in the store and you load it onto your ipod. Well what if you don't have or don't want to use an iPod or iTunes or vice versa. Even if you do have both, you can no longer drag and drop music into "your music" it now has to be a add folder from a menu system.

So what's your good tech and bad tech. What's the one thing you love or the gadget you couldn't live without. What frustrates the hell out of you despite it supposed to making your life easier

Davey_Pitch · 06-01-2009, 16:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by loki

What's the one thing you love or the gadget you couldn't live without.

My Xbox 360. Console gaming has grown in leaps and bounds in recent years and the 360 represents in my eyes the pinnacle of gaming.

Quote:

What frustrates the hell out of you despite it supposed to making your life easier

My boss, for someone who is supposed to be technical she's got about as much technical knowledge as a door mouse.

NokkonWud · 06-01-2009, 16:57

Well iTunes is the obvious one, I'm hoping Amazon can go and kick its ass with its cheaper songs and none DRM music.

Other tech I hate are general use garden strimmers, which are not only loud and awkward to clean, they are also so cumbersome that given any large patch to do, the weight is so unevenly distributed that your arms are literally shaking after a few minutes of use, they are a pain in the ass. Then of course there is the power lead on them that throws itself infront of the rotors every 5 seconds.

Talking of powerleads, why do some plugs have leads that come out the top of them, or a transformer extending out of it of such a size that you can't put another plug in next to it.

Thirdly, USB. Why create such an easy to use format that is the same shape on both sides but that only fits in one way, inevitably you attempt to insert it the wrong way every single time.

Fourthly, D-Sub. Worst connection ever. Just be done with it and allow for HDMI, much easier than screwing in ends every time because the connection is so short it simply falls out when you catch it moving your mouse.

Fifthly, awful remote controls on TV's. You spend a fortune buying your new TV that has all these funky and brilliant features, it looks the mutts but they give you a £1 piece of crap to control it with. I have a Toshiba 32WLT66 HDTV and the remote control with it is the worst I've ever had the displeasure to use. I know Abooie had the same TV so he'll know what I'm talking about.

Sixthly, Bluetooth headsets. They make them more convenient to use mobile phones when driving, but now I have to put up with these tits that get their phone out their pockets, accept a call, put it back in their pocket and use the bluetooth headset whilst standing still in the street. USE YOUR PHONE FFS!

There are loads

.

Darrin · 07-01-2009, 16:17

Mine is actually motors related. Multi port electronic fuel injection. Yes, it is far and above more efficient and powerful than just about any carb, but also 10 times more technical (read hard to work on) and there's ten times more finicky little bits to break (and normally cost an arm and a leg).

NokkonWud · 07-01-2009, 17:08

Ooh, plastic, vacuum packed packaging on Xbox360 peripherals. Worst thing ever.

Psymonkee · 07-01-2009, 19:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by NokkonWud

Ooh, plastic, vacuum packed packaging on Xbox360 peripherals. Worst thing ever.

Seconded!

When I got my DS3 from Asia the box was like a breath of fresh air

As for the thread I'll have to think about it

Mark · 07-01-2009, 20:13

Thirded!

In fact, all clamshell-style blister packs are the spawn of satan. It's all very well stopping tampering, but you have to either try and yank them open and risk the contents flying everywhere, or cut them open and risk injury on the resulting sharp edges.

Garp · 07-01-2009, 21:16

For the record, iTunes is now DRM free (announced at yesterdays MacWorld) Not sure quite how the prices will stack up.

What can't I live without.. hmm.. nothing specific technology wise. The internet is a big boon, highly useful for my job and such.

What frustrates me?

I'd say primarily Microsoft. I admire what they've achieved from a business perspective, but I dislike the techniques they've used to achieve it.
I dislike how they try to stifle competitiveness and innovation in the market, consistently either attacking, or buying and burying any project they possibly can do. It's bad for them as well as for us.
The lack of serious competition means they can (and do) release products that are bloated (Compare Vista to XP, Windows 7 looks to be an amazingly significant improvement spurred on because people finally didn't upgrade and fought to keep XP), and they're often obtuse to most users.

You only need to look at the comparative ease of OS X to Windows to see a prime example. (for the record, I'm not a fan of Apple's monopolistic approach either, it's something they can get away with because they're such a small market %age, it stifles hardware innovation, Apple takes advantage of the PC and general electronic market freedom)

In my view software should be an intuitive tool to enable the user to achieve anything they can imagine; not something they have to fight with. I guess as much as this is an anti-microsoft mini-rant, in part I'm also disliking software in general. Too many geeks designing the interface and programming what they think is 'cool' and not enough people with any grasp of how people actually work.

Haly · 07-01-2009, 21:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by NokkonWud

Ooh, plastic, vacuum packed packaging on Xbox360 peripherals. Worst thing ever.

Ohhh yes. I cut my hand nearly every time when I have to remove something from that kind of packaging.

Garp · 07-01-2009, 21:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haly

Ohhh yes. I cut my hand nearly every time when I have to remove something from that kind of packaging.

You'll be glad to hear, then, that more and more companies are standing up and saying "no more" to clam shell packaging, including recently Sony:

http://gizmodo.com/5088538/sony-micr...s-are-numbered

06-01-2009, 16:48	#1
loki Vodka Martini Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Manchester UK Posts: 871	Good Tech Bad Tech This is by any shadow of a doubt an age of technological enlightenment where everything is getting smaller, faster, cooler, cheaper etc etc ad nauseum. When I were a lad (Yes I do know that sounds bloody old ) FM radio was very much in it's infancy, Television had 4 channels. 3 of which broadcast till 12.00 at night and BBC2 only came on in the afternoon . So yes every single day,month and year we are moving forward and out lives are becoming easier. The cost of entry to a lot of past times has come down considerably, Photography, Music, General Entertainment, Computing, gaming etc etc etc. But it's not all plain sailing. In as much we are at technological warp factor 9 there are still some un-necessary frustrations that just make you want to go Grrrrrrr For example, DRM and connected to that iTunes. DRM in any format is just a proper pain in the arse. Inadvertendley it penalises the one who genuinely purchase music or software. Then you have iTunes. In principal it's great, you have iTunes, you buy your music in the store and you load it onto your ipod. Well what if you don't have or don't want to use an iPod or iTunes or vice versa. Even if you do have both, you can no longer drag and drop music into "your music" it now has to be a add folder from a menu system. So what's your good tech and bad tech. What's the one thing you love or the gadget you couldn't live without. What frustrates the hell out of you despite it supposed to making your life easier __________________ PC & Console LAN 9th-11th July

06-01-2009, 16:57	#3
NokkonWud BD Recruitment Officer Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Smogville Posts: 3,880	Well iTunes is the obvious one, I'm hoping Amazon can go and kick its ass with its cheaper songs and none DRM music. Other tech I hate are general use garden strimmers, which are not only loud and awkward to clean, they are also so cumbersome that given any large patch to do, the weight is so unevenly distributed that your arms are literally shaking after a few minutes of use, they are a pain in the ass. Then of course there is the power lead on them that throws itself infront of the rotors every 5 seconds. Talking of powerleads, why do some plugs have leads that come out the top of them, or a transformer extending out of it of such a size that you can't put another plug in next to it. Thirdly, USB. Why create such an easy to use format that is the same shape on both sides but that only fits in one way, inevitably you attempt to insert it the wrong way every single time. Fourthly, D-Sub. Worst connection ever. Just be done with it and allow for HDMI, much easier than screwing in ends every time because the connection is so short it simply falls out when you catch it moving your mouse. Fifthly, awful remote controls on TV's. You spend a fortune buying your new TV that has all these funky and brilliant features, it looks the mutts but they give you a £1 piece of crap to control it with. I have a Toshiba 32WLT66 HDTV and the remote control with it is the worst I've ever had the displeasure to use. I know Abooie had the same TV so he'll know what I'm talking about. Sixthly, Bluetooth headsets. They make them more convenient to use mobile phones when driving, but now I have to put up with these tits that get their phone out their pockets, accept a call, put it back in their pocket and use the bluetooth headset whilst standing still in the street. USE YOUR PHONE FFS! There are loads . __________________

07-01-2009, 16:17	#4
Darrin Dirteh Kitteh Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hiding out in Mormon Country Posts: 1,629	Mine is actually motors related. Multi port electronic fuel injection. Yes, it is far and above more efficient and powerful than just about any carb, but also 10 times more technical (read hard to work on) and there's ten times more finicky little bits to break (and normally cost an arm and a leg). __________________ A bullet may have your name on it, but shrapnel is addressed "to whom it may concern".

07-01-2009, 17:08	#5
NokkonWud BD Recruitment Officer Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Smogville Posts: 3,880	Ooh, plastic, vacuum packed packaging on Xbox360 peripherals. Worst thing ever. __________________

07-01-2009, 21:16	#8
Garp Preparing more tumbleweed Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Hawaii Posts: 6,038	For the record, iTunes is now DRM free (announced at yesterdays MacWorld) Not sure quite how the prices will stack up. What can't I live without.. hmm.. nothing specific technology wise. The internet is a big boon, highly useful for my job and such. What frustrates me? I'd say primarily Microsoft. I admire what they've achieved from a business perspective, but I dislike the techniques they've used to achieve it. I dislike how they try to stifle competitiveness and innovation in the market, consistently either attacking, or buying and burying any project they possibly can do. It's bad for them as well as for us. The lack of serious competition means they can (and do) release products that are bloated (Compare Vista to XP, Windows 7 looks to be an amazingly significant improvement spurred on because people finally didn't upgrade and fought to keep XP), and they're often obtuse to most users. You only need to look at the comparative ease of OS X to Windows to see a prime example. (for the record, I'm not a fan of Apple's monopolistic approach either, it's something they can get away with because they're such a small market %age, it stifles hardware innovation, Apple takes advantage of the PC and general electronic market freedom) In my view software should be an intuitive tool to enable the user to achieve anything they can imagine; not something they have to fight with. I guess as much as this is an anti-microsoft mini-rant, in part I'm also disliking software in general. Too many geeks designing the interface and programming what they think is 'cool' and not enough people with any grasp of how people actually work. __________________ Mal: Define "interesting"? Wash: "Oh, God, oh, God, we're all gonna die"?

07-01-2009, 20:13	#7
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	Thirded! In fact, all clamshell-style blister packs are the spawn of satan. It's all very well stopping tampering, but you have to either try and yank them open and risk the contents flying everywhere, or cut them open and risk injury on the resulting sharp edges.

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