Things don't work properly anymore - discuss
Discussion
Thirty years ago, everything around the house worked. At least until it was worn out.
Tonight, before I could relax with a beer, I had to spend time updating the firmware of the mesh network because no one's computer was working. Earlier today, I had to mess around to get this website working because it suddenly didn't like the VPN I have been using for years.
Next week, I've got an IT support bod coming to sort out our IT in the office because Microsoft's insistence that we use Onedrive has messed everything up. Microsoft cannot find the files that it insisted it could look after better than we could locally. Multiple conflicts between Mac and MS are beyond my skills.
Our "smart" TV is as thick as two short planks and doesn't work properly quite often.
I've teenage children who have had IT training at school and just accept that their Microsoft computers are flaky. Go back forty years and we would simply not have accepted devices that didn't work correctly.
Modern technology is brilliant. But it doesn't work reliably and it requires everyone to be quite IT savvy. I am currently fine, but I know a lot of people who are not. I hope I can keep up with everything until I don't need to anymore.
Modern tech is not adequately reliable or user friendly.
Discuss.
Tonight, before I could relax with a beer, I had to spend time updating the firmware of the mesh network because no one's computer was working. Earlier today, I had to mess around to get this website working because it suddenly didn't like the VPN I have been using for years.
Next week, I've got an IT support bod coming to sort out our IT in the office because Microsoft's insistence that we use Onedrive has messed everything up. Microsoft cannot find the files that it insisted it could look after better than we could locally. Multiple conflicts between Mac and MS are beyond my skills.
Our "smart" TV is as thick as two short planks and doesn't work properly quite often.
I've teenage children who have had IT training at school and just accept that their Microsoft computers are flaky. Go back forty years and we would simply not have accepted devices that didn't work correctly.
Modern technology is brilliant. But it doesn't work reliably and it requires everyone to be quite IT savvy. I am currently fine, but I know a lot of people who are not. I hope I can keep up with everything until I don't need to anymore.
Modern tech is not adequately reliable or user friendly.
Discuss.
Furbo said:
Monkeylegend said:
I have a 15 year old laptop running Windows 8 and it still works properly, as does the TV,
I do have a couple of leaking taps though which I am about to replace.
I've got a PC running Windows 7 that works properly. I've got two running W10 that don't.I do have a couple of leaking taps though which I am about to replace.
The trouble is it's made in Japan so works reliably as do their cars generally.
I also have her hand me down old Motorola mobile phone which also seems to always work properly, unlike our 2 year old BT Digital Voice phone which packed up a few weeks ago and had to be replaced.
My Camray oil boiler is also over 30 years old and refuses to stop working and the guy who services it tells me to hang on to it as the current latest technology boilers are crap.
50 years ago even a new car would regularly throw a huff when the weather was damp and wouldn't start due to points, distributor caps, and moisture on high tension leads, cold weather starts with the choke was a delicate process that only men could do [ women, bless 'em, would flood it by overuse of the juice pedal ]. It's a wonder anyone got to work in the 1970s.
In the last 20 years, in various makes of cars, in all weathers, not one has ever failed to start after one crank, not one, so I'll take 21st century technology anyday of the week.
In the last 20 years, in various makes of cars, in all weathers, not one has ever failed to start after one crank, not one, so I'll take 21st century technology anyday of the week.
Warhavernet said:
50 years ago even a new car would regularly throw a huff when the weather was damp and wouldn't start due to points, distributor caps, and moisture on high tension leads, cold weather starts with the choke was a delicate process that only men could do [ women, bless 'em, would flood it by overuse of the juice pedal ]. It's a wonder anyone got to work in the 1970s.
In the last 20 years, in various makes of cars, in all weathers, not one has ever failed to start after one crank, not one, so I'll take 21st century technology anyday of the week.
Hmmm. New cars generally started fine fifty years ago. Older ones not so much.In the last 20 years, in various makes of cars, in all weathers, not one has ever failed to start after one crank, not one, so I'll take 21st century technology anyday of the week.
I agree, 15 years ago you could buy a printer, connect it up and away you went, now you try and print and it cannot find it on the network, or your using the wrong paper feed or you have have printed out 5 pages and now need new cartridges
Then the internet and it’s flipping cookies or where the top banner takes up a third of the page and it’s like looking through a letterbox to view
Then the internet and it’s flipping cookies or where the top banner takes up a third of the page and it’s like looking through a letterbox to view
With regard to computers.
Is it the case that, thirty years ago, manufacturers were most interested in gaining market share, now they are more interested in monetising a mature market. So stuff working properly is not as important as it was thirty years ago, and being able to charge monthly for cloud storage is their key driver?
I think this sometimes, and get frustrated with it. But in calmer moments I think it's a phase technologies go through. Go back to the post war era aand TVs were crackly temperamental things which needed to be retuned. Cars were cumbersome things which refused to start, cut out, needed carburettors fiddling with and so forth.
In the 70s, 80s 90s things were relatively settled and developments incremental so it became easy to build things reliable.
If you think of the enormous leap in technology over the last 2 decades to make nearly everything in the world available on a mobile phone in your pocket, it is little wonder some of it is a bit Morris Minor.
In the 70s, 80s 90s things were relatively settled and developments incremental so it became easy to build things reliable.
If you think of the enormous leap in technology over the last 2 decades to make nearly everything in the world available on a mobile phone in your pocket, it is little wonder some of it is a bit Morris Minor.
JuanCarlosFandango said:
If you think of the enormous leap in technology over the last 2 decades to make nearly everything in the world available on a mobile phone in your pocket, it is little wonder some of it is a bit Morris Minor.
Is it doing anything, really, that early versions of Windows did reliably?I don't think it's the size of the hardware that is the issue. I think it is the manufacturer of the software losing the way and prioritising residual revenue over market penetration.
This is probably not going to help anyone on this thread but I moved to Linux (Mint) about 15years ago, and haven't looked back.
Everything works.
All the time.
And doesn't stop.
It runs on very old hardware, it does everything I need it to (which is admittedly a low bar), I built a Mint PC for my wife 5 years ago and she's used it with very few problems (OK, MS Teams took a bit of jiggling before it chooched but it's been fine for the last 4 1/2 years).
I know people perceive it as a jump to go from MS -> *nix but it's a tiny jump, and a huge step forwards.
Everything works.
All the time.
And doesn't stop.
It runs on very old hardware, it does everything I need it to (which is admittedly a low bar), I built a Mint PC for my wife 5 years ago and she's used it with very few problems (OK, MS Teams took a bit of jiggling before it chooched but it's been fine for the last 4 1/2 years).
I know people perceive it as a jump to go from MS -> *nix but it's a tiny jump, and a huge step forwards.
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