What modern invention/innovation do you wish had never been developed?

LizzieMaine · Jul 21, 2015

I've never bought a new computer in my life, and I've kept the old ones going by replacing hard drives and logic boards as needed. My laptop is held shut by duct tape, but I only really use it as a glorified typewriter, so I'm not too concerned about that.

There are certain tools that I use in radio-related work -- SoundEdit Pro 16, for one -- that will only run on Mac "Classic", which is no longer supported. So I keep the old machines going. There are other sound tools that do run on modern machines, but they're designed for working in stereo and editing is much more complicated. I work only with mono source materials, so have no need for any of that, and why should I be forced to use something I have no use for?

When a website gets to the point where it won't run on my machines, I just don't use that site anymore. I can only access YooToob on the Windows machine at work, but that's hardly a handicap. I can't stand to watch video on a computer screen to begin with.

Fading Fast · Jul 21, 2015

I'm not convinced that you aren't from a parallel universe of super self-sufficient human beings who - through some ripple in the time continuum - didn't cross over into our inferior world. While you are doing fine here, I weep for the Lizzie of this world trying to survive in your original super-human universe. She's probably dead by now as she couldn't break down and rebuild better some piece of advanced technology that your original world has created.

Zombie_61 · Jul 21, 2015

Fading Fast said:
While the formula is reversed, they now create ex-post-facto obsolescence (versus planned) as they basically write more and more advanced versions of software that (I'll bet) intentionally can't be supported by older platforms...My experience is - like it or not - the cycle is about five years and, then, you almost have to buy again...

My wife and I recently bought a new laptop for her, and the salesman told us exactly that--all of the computer products produced by the various electronics companies these days have a built-in three- to five-year life expectancy because they want everyone to "upgrade" their electronics regularly (and, of course, take our money in the process). "Ex-post-facto obsolescence" may be the proper phrase for software, but for hardware "Planned obsolescence" still applies.

TimeWarpWife · Jul 22, 2015

Zombie_61 said:
My wife and I recently bought a new laptop for her, and the salesman told us exactly that--all of the computer products produced by the various electronics companies these days have a built-in three- to five-year life expectancy because they want everyone to "upgrade" their electronics regularly (and, of course, take our money in the process). "Ex-post-facto obsolescence" may be the proper phrase for software, but for hardware "Planned obsolescence" still applies.

It's the same with appliances. Our LG washer lasted 5 years and 5 months, but hey, that was 5 months longer than it was built to last. I was told by a LG rep that the washers last about 5 years and the dryers about 7. If that's the case, then I have a little over a year left on the dryer.

My grandmother had her Kenmore washer and dryer she got in the mid-60s and used several times a week until she moved out of her house and in with my aunt in 1985. Contrary to what the greedy people running these companies think, not all of us can afford to keep buying all this stuff every few years - I can't! Sadly, this stuff is cheaply made, but sold at a premium price. We had problems with our brand new washer leaking the second day we had it. LG had to send out 2 repairmen before it was fixed. The first guy told me that the manufacturers of washers now make them with parts that can't be replaced or are so expensive to replace that it's easier to buy a new one. Scumbags - the lot of them!

dh66 · Jul 22, 2015

LizzieMaine said:
** Those weird yellow one-eyed mutant Sponge Bob looking things that all of a sudden are everywhere. And I have no idea why.

Those are minions. If your home isn't inundated with them, count your blessings. They're on the TV as I type this...........for about the thirtieth time since Saturday.
At least, unlike spongebob, they don't actually speak. I suppose in some twisted way they are a throwback to the days of silent slapstick comedy.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

LizzieMaine · Jul 22, 2015

TimeWarpWife said:
It's the same with appliances. Our LG washer lasted 5 years and 5 months, but hey, that was 5 months longer than it was built to last. I was told by a LG rep that the washers last about 5 years and the dryers about 7. If that's the case, then I have a little over a year left on the dryer.

I strung up my current clothesline rope in 1999, and it's still going strong. Houseworkers of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your installment payments.

HudsonHawk · Jul 22, 2015

Zombie_61 said:
My wife and I recently bought a new laptop for her, and the salesman told us exactly that--all of the computer products produced by the various electronics companies these days have a built-in three- to five-year life expectancy because they want everyone to "upgrade" their electronics regularly (and, of course, take our money in the process). "Ex-post-facto obsolescence" may be the proper phrase for software, but for hardware "Planned obsolescence" still applies.

People can complain about advancements in computer technology all they want, but I for one am glad we're not still using punch cards.

Stearmen · Jul 22, 2015

dh66 said:
Those are minions. If your home isn't inundated with them, count your blessings. They're on the TV as I type this...........for about the thirtieth time since Saturday.
At least, unlike spongebob, they don't actually speak. I suppose in some twisted way they are a throwback to the days of silent slapstick comedy.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Even I know they speak! Actually, they were the only funny part in Despicable Me, I haven't seen the sequel, or is it sequels? [video=youtube;9FO6eAfZXI4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FO6eAfZXI4[/video]

Gregg Axley · Jul 22, 2015

HudsonHawk said:
People can complain about advancements in computer technology all they want, but I for one am glad we're not still using punch cards.

Or a dial up bulletin board.
Posts and responses on here would take DAYS. :typing:

Zombie_61 · Jul 22, 2015

HudsonHawk said:
People can complain about advancements in computer technology all they want, but I for one am glad we're not still using punch cards.

The only complaint I have about computer technology is the aforementioned planned obsolescence. Otherwise, as long as they do what they're supposed to I'm satisfied.

HudsonHawk · Jul 22, 2015

Zombie_61 said:
The only complaint I have about computer technology is the aforementioned planned obsolescence. Otherwise, as long as they do what they're supposed to I'm satisfied.

I don't agree that the obsolescence is planned, at least not in the classic sense. Computers have become obsolete over the last 40 years because technology has advanced rapidly, not because they build failure points into the machines. A computer today has far more power and capability than one from 1980. Software and functionality are far more advanced. An Apple II, with its 4 KB of RAM running at 1 MHz (not to mention $5,000 equivalent price tag) simply does not have the capability of a new MacBook Air.

LizzieMaine · Jul 22, 2015

I think it depends on the computer. Many Apple laptops are inadequately cooled as a consequence of their hipper-than-thou thin design, and have flimsy hinges that are pretty much guaranteed to break if you use one for more than five years or so. I've long since had the original hinges on my Powerbook G4 -- which appeared to be made out of the cheapest kind of cast pot metal -- replaced with sturdier aftermarket hinges, and have had no further problems with them. I've cooked four logic boards, though, because there's no adequate way to disperse the heat short of removing the keyboard wafer thing and letting the top of the inside breathe for a while. Makes it kind of inconvenient to type when you're doing this, but I've managed to do it.

HudsonHawk · Jul 22, 2015

Computers are certainly not built to the highest construction standards, granted, but there's a bit of a chicken/egg thing going on. Manufacturers do not build computers to last 50 years because they know they will be functionally obsolete in 5. This is one reason they do not cost 3 months salary. But it's not the construction that causes computers to become obsolete in a few years, its the rapidly changing technology and computing power requirements for the increasing sophistication of computer programs. A water heater (my friend the plumber is on a mission to rid the universe of the scourge he calls the term "hot water heater") may last 30 years because it has one required feature that never changes. The demands of computer usage are not that simple.

V.C. Brunswick · Jul 22, 2015

HudsonHawk said:
I don't agree that the obsolescence is planned, at least not in the classic sense. Computers have become obsolete over the last 40 years because technology has advanced rapidly, not because they build failure points into the machines. A computer today has far more power and capability than one from 1980. Software and functionality are far more advanced. An Apple II, with its 4 KB of RAM running at 1 MHz (not to mention $5,000 equivalent price tag) simply does not have the capability of a new MacBook Air.

Though after a while you have to wonder just how many more gigaseconds faster can you make it run?

dh66 · Jul 22, 2015

Good luck finding a water heater that'll last you 30 years.

LizzieMaine · Jul 22, 2015

HudsonHawk said:
Computers are certainly not built to the highest construction standards, granted, but there's a bit of a chicken/egg thing going on. Manufacturers do not build computers to last 50 years because they know they will be functionally obsolete in 5. This is one reason they do not cost 3 months salary. But it's not the construction that causes computers to become obsolete in a few years, its the rapidly changing technology and computing power requirements for the increasing sophistication of computer programs. A water heater (my friend the plumber is on a mission to rid the universe of the scourge he calls the term "hot water heater") may last 30 years because it has one required feature that never changes. The demands of computer usage are not that simple.

Don't get me started about water heaters -- I've gone thru three in the past fifteen years, and my blood begins to perk at the mere mention of the word "Rheem." Bah. My grandparents had a copper boiler attached to their kerosene stove, and I deeply wish I'd had the sense to salvage that whole arrangement before we sold the house. But I was 18, so what did I know then?

Functional obsolesence is as much a function of marketing as it is practicality, I submit. I've yet to run into any essential function -- as in *essential,* not gomming around with cat videos or creating animated GIFs or playing World Of Blowing Crap Up Really Loud all night -- that I can't do with the 1990s-early 2000s vintage software that I run. I do all my professional writing in Tex-Edit Plus, a freeware Mac program from the 90s that was native to OS8, and have never had any problems with it. It doesn't have an animated help feature and it doesn't do complicated macros like you'd need in a corporate office, but it does do everything I need for the job that I'm doing, so why would I want anything beyond that? The Boys don't impress me with their slick campaigns, and I don't really care about "elegant euro-chic design."

HudsonHawk · Jul 22, 2015

V.C. Brunswick said:
Though after a while you have to wonder just how many more gigaseconds faster can you make it run?

"The advancement of the arts, from year to year, taxes our credulity and seems to presage the arrival of that period when human improvement must end." - Henry Ellsworth, Commissioner of the U.S. Patent Office, 1853.

HudsonHawk · Jul 22, 2015

dh66 said:
Good luck finding a water heater that'll last you 30 years.

I just replaced mine after 28 years of faithful service. We shall see on the new one.

Stearmen · Jul 23, 2015

Zombie_61 said:
The only complaint I have about computer technology is the aforementioned planned obsolescence. Otherwise, as long as they do what they're supposed to I'm satisfied.

I am starting to like planed obsolescence, at least as it applies to smart phones! I bought my first smart three years ago, the price was so called free, $40.00 hook up fee. That phone went haywire on me a couple of months ago, so I did what I did last time, looked for the brand new last year technology. Again, free, but a $40.00 fee. This time, I traded in my old phone for $100.00, now I am $20.00 in the black! Not bad. Yes, I had to sign a two year contract, but I was not going to leave my carrier any way. Every time I go some where, and a competing carrier ask me to switch, they tell me they can not match my rate. Unlimited calling, and texting, (I don't text) and 3GB of data, I don't even use one a month.

What modern invention/innovation do you wish had never been developed?

LizzieMaine

Fading Fast

Zombie_61

TimeWarpWife

One of the Regulars

dh66

LizzieMaine

HudsonHawk

I'll Lock Up

Stearmen

I'll Lock Up

Gregg Axley

I'll Lock Up

Zombie_61

HudsonHawk

I'll Lock Up

LizzieMaine

HudsonHawk

I'll Lock Up

V.C. Brunswick

dh66

LizzieMaine

HudsonHawk

I'll Lock Up

HudsonHawk

I'll Lock Up

Stearmen

I'll Lock Up

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What modern invention/innovation do you wish had never been developed?