Modern technology which is shït.

km991148

Stark wrote: »

Aside from the people who like to drive around with the fuel warning light on all the time but I don't get those people. Guess it comes from growing up in an area where being close to a petrol station that you could count on being open 24/7 wasn't a given.

Maybe for some, but a lot of people it just fuel poverty - people barely affording to run the car in the first place. But we are getting off topic a bit.

To answer to opening post - a lot of 'new tech' is badly implemented crap. Someone mentioned replacing buttons for touch controls. Even a lot of cars made in the the last 5 years have crap interfaces because of this (getting a bit better now)

Sir Guy who smiles

Deleted User wrote: »

Capcha. "The number of squares with sets of traffic lights that you see"/"the squares with mountains that you see". "The number of squares with cats in the picture"

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

A truly unnecessary stress.

The high horse brigade wrote: »

I am not a robot

You’re in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden you look down, and you see a tortoise, it’s crawling toward you. You reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can’t, not without your help. But you’re not helping. Why is that?

Sir Guy who smiles

The One Doctor wrote: »

Do rural people not have access to petrol or something?

Run a lorry or a tractor on petrol for 12 months. Let us know how you got on.

dotsman

dotsman wrote: »

You do realise petrol stations require power to operate? Without electricity, the pumps don't pump.

It’s fairly easy to power a filling station with a generator which can pump fuel in to 10’s or 100’s of cars during a power cut. The one generator might charge one electric car over many many hours.

Ardent wrote: »

That's fine if you don't care about music and happy to listen to compressed sh1tty audio.

My current Bose ANC Bluetooth headphones are by far and away the best headphones I’ve ever put on my ears, far far better than any wired set I’ve owned or used.

The audio quality is superb. It’s absolute nonsense saying “the audio is sh1tty” as not only do I notice no difference but my Bluetooth headphones are the best quality I’ve had. All my music in the car is Bluetooth and agin excellent quality, absolutely no difference to when I connect the phone via usb.

The very odd time recently I’ve had to use wired headphones (via the lightening connector) it reminds me of the pain in the arse they are compared to wireless I’d never spend money on wired headphone again.

As for battery etc mine last about 25 hrs and charge up in no time so it’s simply not an issue.

CrankyHaus

km991148 wrote: »

Maybe for some, but a lot of people it just fuel poverty - people barely affording to run the car in the first place. But we are getting off topic a bit.

To answer to opening post - a lot of 'new tech' is badly implemented crap. Someone mentioned replacing buttons for touch controls. Even a lot of cars made in the the last 5 years have crap interfaces because of this (getting a bit better now)

Yeah, while they're great in some applications, touch controls have disadvantages that make them a lot worse for many others.


In fact the US Navy is ripping touchscreen controls out of its vessels after the NTSB investigation found them to be the cause of a collision between a destroyer and an oil tanker in 2017 that killed 10 sailors.


http://https://www.techspot.com/news/81393-us-navy-replacing-touchscreen-controls-mechanical-versions-destroyers.html

dotsman

Zelda Flabby Manicure wrote: »

It’s fairly easy to power a filling station with a generator which can pump fuel in to 10’s or 100’s of cars during a power cut.

but they don't.

P.S. the generator would need to power not just the pumps, but also the lights/tills/security cameras/fridges/freezers/ovens etc

quokula

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

17 totally preventable deaths :mad:


https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-49319450

The only way that would be equivalent is if car manufacturers started replacing steering wheels and pedals with touch screens, and as a driver you weren't taught how to use them.

Touch screen centre consoles are great for typing in sat nav destinations quickly or checking information and are much more efficient than hitting twenty buttons in a special order to get to menu 5-B so you can check how many miles since your last service.

There's no reason to be interacting with them while moving.

Wibbs

Zelda Flabby Manicure wrote: »

My current Bose ANC Bluetooth headphones are by far and away the best headphones I’ve ever put on my ears, far far better than any wired set I’ve owned or used.

The audio quality is superb. It’s absolute nonsense saying “the audio is sh1tty” as not only do I notice no difference but my Bluetooth headphones are the best quality I’ve had.

You may not notice, but the plain fact is that bluetooth uses compression to transmit the signal as bluetooth was not designed for such bandwidth originally. This reduces the audio quality when listening to same source compared to hardwired headphones. If wireless headphones are "far far better than any wired set [you’ve] owned or used" then you must have been used to low quality headphones in the past, or your ears quite simply can't tell the difference, or your audio is already compressed so you don't notice, or- as seems to be the impression I'm getting from you - if it's new t'is better automatically and your perception follows.

Depends on the source too of course. If it's already compressed mainstream music being played from a file using compression then you're less likely to notice. The age of one's ears and overall auditory acuity other factors. EG if you listen to a track played from CD over wired headphones and then listen to the same track played from an MP3 file over wireless and can't tell the difference then grand it won't matter to you.

tjhook

Zelda Flabby Manicure wrote: »

As for battery etc mine last about 25 hrs and charge up in no time so it’s simply not an issue.

I would generally agree that 25 hours is plenty. However, this will reduce as the battery gets older. You can probably replace the battery in those Bose headphones.

The thing is though that full over-the-head headphones are not ideal for most people when travelling with a phone. For most people, earbuds are far more suitable for that purpose. If you look on a typical bus or train, you will see people with big headphones on. But I think you'll see far more with buds. And these buds are far more limited in terms of time between charges, and the life of the battery. And it's difficult/impossible to replace the batteries in bluetooth earbuds.

I won't disagree that the Bose headphones fit your lifestle, but it would be a mistake to think that it's the same for everybody. I would argue that a minority of people would consider them an ideal pairing with a phone.

Euro notes: Become quickly so TATTERED that they won't be accepted at Automated checkouts in Supermarkets and Petrol Stations. 5 and 10 euro notes are prone to become like this. More 10 euro notes of late

Sac O Spuds

The Shannon weather radar. Breaks down on an annual basis and takes ages to fix. 2 weeks now and counting.

whisky_galore

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Euro notes: Become quickly so TATTERED that they won't be accepted at Automated checkouts in Supermarkets and Petrol Stations. 5 and 10 euro notes are prone to become like this. More 10 euro notes of late

Awful things, like play money in appearance and quality.

El_Duderino 09

Deleted User wrote: »

Euro notes: Become quickly so TATTERED that they won't be accepted at Automated checkouts in Supermarkets and Petrol Stations. 5 and 10 euro notes are prone to become like this. More 10 euro notes of late

While notes aren't new technology, the plastic notes are pretty good for staying intact. But contactless card readers are the business. So much handier than dealing in notes and coins.

turbbo

Smart speakers
- terrible sound
- eavesdropping
- pointless on their own - have to buy a bunch of other expensive "connected" tech.
- why?

astrofool

Wibbs wrote: »

You may not notice, but the plain fact is that bluetooth uses compression to transmit the signal as bluetooth was not designed for such bandwidth originally...

In the locations where wireless is beneficial (i.e. travelling, moving around etc.) then the sound quality loss over BT will probably be a lot less than the environmental loss anyway. In the fixed locations, than a good set of speakers, or wired headset to a proper device is the way to go, who would be connecting a cable to a mobile that's already streaming or using MP3 to get good sound fidelity? Of course, for better quality than minijack, you can get a good set of USB-C headphones, but you're already in a weird niche market once there.

turbbo

mrcheez wrote: »

... or control your lights
... or control your TV
... or control your central heating
... or read out latest weather forecast
... or read out news headlines
... or add reminders

****ing best invention in past 10 years imo

Control your tv - tvs already have a remote control - hell if you can't find it - most modern ones can be controlled via a ios/android device.

Why is controlling heating such an obsession - surely we should be finding ways to cut back on using heating rather than obsessing over controlling it? A cheap f**king thermostat controls heating - set it and leave it the f^ck alone.

How hard is it to actually read the weather forecast from your phone same for news and setting reminders?

Reality is the phone does all the jobs of smart speakers only better.

tjhook

Deleted User wrote: »

Euro notes: Become quickly so TATTERED that they won't be accepted at Automated checkouts in Supermarkets and Petrol Stations. 5 and 10 euro notes are prone to become like this. More 10 euro notes of late

To shift the blame a little, I curse those bloody machines that won't accept a note just because it doesn't have that fresh new-note smell or if its corner is a little folded.

murpho999

turbbo wrote: »

Smart speakers
- terrible sound
- eavesdropping
- pointless on their own - have to buy a bunch of other expensive "connected" tech.
- why?

Any proof of the eavesdropping?

I think that's all just scaremongering.

turbbo

murpho999 wrote: »

Any proof of the eavesdropping?

I think that's all just scaremongering.

The potential is there technically but you could argue it's already in phones.

murpho999

turbbo wrote: »

The potential is there technically but you could argue it's already in phones.

You could but I don't think it really happens.

People think Big Brother is watching them all the time as if our lives were that exciting.

El_Duderino 09

tjhook wrote: »

To shift the blame a little, I curse those bloody machines that won't accept a note just because it doesn't have that fresh new-note smell or if its corner is a little folded.

If they accept contact less or chip.and pin, then you're golden. Unless it's your last tenner. Then you're screwed due to lack of choice.

turbbo

murpho999 wrote: »

You could but I don't think it really happens.

People think Big Brother is watching them all the time as if our lives were that exciting.

I think its there if they need it and they are using AI for processing this data - it doesn't take a genius to join the dots - advertising influencing etc.

EmmetSpiceland

murpho999 wrote: »

You could but I don't think it really happens.

People think Big Brother is watching them all the time as if our lives were that exciting.

Yer man Snowden proved that the US government was “watching” them but I don’t think he counted on the American people not really caring that much.

It wouldn’t be surprising to find out that the government here were monitoring “individuals” but if Russia are peeping through everyone’s webcams and listening through the Alexas they must be incredibly bored.

turbbo

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

Yer man Snowden proved that the US government was “watching” them but I don’t think he counted on the American people not really caring that much.

It wouldn’t be surprising to find out that the government here were monitoring “individuals” but if Russia are peeping through everyone’s webcams and listening through the Alexas they must be incredibly bored.

Yeah but amazon will happily have an algorithm listen to what's going on in your life and offer some purchasing suggestions ;-)

murpho999

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

Yer man Snowden proved that the US government was “watching” them but I don’t think he counted on the American people not really caring that much.

It wouldn’t be surprising to find out that the government here were monitoring “individuals” but if Russia are peeping through everyone’s webcams and listening through the Alexas they must be incredibly bored.

They're not listening to 400 million people's conversations though.

It's all scaremongering by people who believe in Big Brother governments.

Capt'n Midnight

Sir Guy who smiles wrote: »

Hydrogen cells are five years away from being perfected, and have been for the last 25 years.

They were used for the the Moon landing 50 years ago.

https://history.nasa.gov/SP-350/ch-4-3.html

lf an Apollo hydrogen tank were filled with ice and placed in a room at 70° F, it would take 8.5 years for the ice to melt. lf an automobile tire leaked at the same rate as these tanks, it would take 30 million years to go flat.

70° F is 21.1°C

Sir Guy who smiles wrote: »

If we get enough renewable power-an we may never do that!-hydrogen may find it's niche not in going into car's tanks, but as a backup to wind or solar. During the day half of the solar power stations output could be diverted to splitting water into H2 and O2. Come sundown, pump those gasses into a giant fuel cell and put that power into the grid.

Now giant tanks of hydrogen will be dangerous! So, since you also need sunlight, put the whole kit and caboodle in the desert.

A fuel cell can produce about 0.8V or less under load.

You need a lot more than that to split water in the first place. If you have free power it's cheap, otherwise it's too inefficient.
http://www1.lsbu.ac.uk/water/electrolysis.html

cnocbui

Sir Guy who smiles wrote: »

Hydrogen cells are five years away from being perfected, and have been for the last 25 years.

Whoops - looks like someone forgot to tell Honda:

L1011

turbbo wrote: »

Smart speakers
- terrible sound
- eavesdropping
- pointless on their own - have to buy a bunch of other expensive "connected" tech.
- why?

The Dot/Mini sized ones are not designed to listen to anything on; most people have one these and not the big ones hence the sound quality issues.

L1011

L1011 wrote: »

The Dot/Mini sized ones are not designed to listen to anything on; most people have one these and not the big ones hence the sound quality issues.

I have 2nd gen dots, 3rd gen dots and an echo and the new model dot is a big improvement in sound quality. It still isn’t quite as good as the Echo as it’s just too small to produce bass but for kitchen/bedroom listening to radio/Spotify it’s more than adequate. For 25 pounds on offer the dot is superb value really.

Even the 2nd gen dot is just fine for listening to radio in bed etc where you aren’t looking to blast the roof off anyway..

Water John

It's not the radio you blast the roof off with, when you're in bed, that's true NOX.