I had to use an iPhone for work the other day. The up arrow to send a text message was present but not responding.
Oh, the autocorrect has highlighted a word it thinks I misspelled, and I’m guessing we can’t send because a word is highlighted?! OK, tap elsewhere on the message to cancel highlight; it still won’t send, WTF? Tap AGAIN elsewhere on the message, and now it can send.
Lots of reaching up to the top of the screen for no reason, too. Why are there controls up there when my thumbs are already at the bottom for the keyboard? I have to reconfigure my grip on the expensive device I don’t want to drop, just for basic user interactions.
iPhone always leaves me wondering who approved the software working like this, have they ever used a computer before; and how is Android going to degrade in an attempt to copy this behavior?
Modern mainstream computing, surely! I moved my household to Linux years ago so I may be a bit out-of-the-loop. Everybody can still do what they are trying to do, and more. It’s brought back some of the feelings of wonder and fun about computers that I missed from the 80s.
I am overwhelmed by everything now. It’s so complex and convoluted, and even people trying to help leave things out that they assume you know.
To me computing is now plugging small black rectangles that look all exactly alike into another larger black rectangle that all look the same to get indistinguishable results for things I don’t even need or want.
And when I don’t want it it gets shoved down my throat anyway.
To me computing is now plugging small black rectangles that look all exactly alike into another larger black rectangle that all look the same to get indistinguishable results for things I don’t even need or want.
I don’t know if I’m mad that this description is really wrong, or more mad that it is really on point.
Modern computing to me is slicing up a big computer to have it pretend to be lots of smaller computers.
I’m just old. I remember going from cassette to 5.25" to 3.5" to hard drives, while watching graphics go from 8 color blocks on a blurry TV to full motion video in HD, while programs went from text editors to desktop publishing.
I feel like I could identify the changes, how they work, what they did for me.
Recently I had to install a SSD at work. I was confronted with M2, SATA, PCIe. What does any of this mean? I was handed two black rectangles and I was supposed to know that a tiny notch on the connector was the difference?
What difference does any of this make? Computers are just magic boxes now that spew out video and audio on command, and I can not tell the difference from one to the other. I don’t play video games. I don’t care about hoarding petabytes of pirated content, or generating fart videos with AI (although if someone else does it I laugh my ass off), arguing over pointless differences in hardware (that I feel these nerds don’t really understand anyway), spending more money on equipment to correct the problems that the first computer caused, endlessly updating things I never use, being forced to subscribe, share personal data, get notifications on my phone, I just do not fucking care about any of this endless treadmill of landfill we are supposed to have in our lives.
It’s all meaningless. It’s lost its hold on me, there’s nothing new or interesting there. I fondly remember typing away on a VIC-20 and being fascinated by the cursor on the TV changing color, and trying to program a game, learning BASIC commands from the little spiral-bound book that came with it.
Barfing up a prompt so an AI can hork up some fluid-filled abscess of code it weaved together from all the world’s code according to trillions of parameters is just futile, tiresome, overwhelming, unrewarding, and ultimately a joyless roller-coaster ride into an open grave.
I remember trying to get some online account activated that was in the apple ecosystem so I try to do it from my PC and it doesn’t work. Call up customer service and they say use your iphone to do it. I’m like, dafuq does it matter what device I use, it’s the internet it should work with any device. So i try again with Chrome (which is my default because the safari search or whatever apple uses sucks balls). Still doesn’t work. Turns out I not only have to do it on an iphone, but I have to do it using safari browser on an iphone. Apple built their entire company on trapping the tech illiterate and keeping them that way. None of the UI makes sense and a lot of the users act like these byzantine features are completely intuitive and superior to all others. No they aren’t, you just don’t speak any other languages but Apple.
I only buy cheap Androids with Snapdragon and degoogle. Yeah, Android is also starting to suck but at least you are currently allowed to take out the trash.
I learned today that connecting a child’s Google account to a device completely neuters the ability to install or manage apps from anywhere other than Google Play. As in: I, the parent, can’t even temporarily allow F-Droid to be able to install an app. Fuck Google, too.
Is this where we share all of our Apple woes?
I had to use an iPhone for work the other day. The up arrow to send a text message was present but not responding.
Oh, the autocorrect has highlighted a word it thinks I misspelled, and I’m guessing we can’t send because a word is highlighted?! OK, tap elsewhere on the message to cancel highlight; it still won’t send, WTF? Tap AGAIN elsewhere on the message, and now it can send.
Lots of reaching up to the top of the screen for no reason, too. Why are there controls up there when my thumbs are already at the bottom for the keyboard? I have to reconfigure my grip on the expensive device I don’t want to drop, just for basic user interactions.
iPhone always leaves me wondering who approved the software working like this, have they ever used a computer before; and how is Android going to degrade in an attempt to copy this behavior?
You’re describing all of modern computing AFAICT.
Modern mainstream computing, surely! I moved my household to Linux years ago so I may be a bit out-of-the-loop. Everybody can still do what they are trying to do, and more. It’s brought back some of the feelings of wonder and fun about computers that I missed from the 80s.
I am overwhelmed by everything now. It’s so complex and convoluted, and even people trying to help leave things out that they assume you know.
To me computing is now plugging small black rectangles that look all exactly alike into another larger black rectangle that all look the same to get indistinguishable results for things I don’t even need or want.
And when I don’t want it it gets shoved down my throat anyway.
I don’t know if I’m mad that this description is really wrong, or more mad that it is really on point.
Modern computing to me is slicing up a big computer to have it pretend to be lots of smaller computers.
I’m just old. I remember going from cassette to 5.25" to 3.5" to hard drives, while watching graphics go from 8 color blocks on a blurry TV to full motion video in HD, while programs went from text editors to desktop publishing.
I feel like I could identify the changes, how they work, what they did for me.
Recently I had to install a SSD at work. I was confronted with M2, SATA, PCIe. What does any of this mean? I was handed two black rectangles and I was supposed to know that a tiny notch on the connector was the difference?
What difference does any of this make? Computers are just magic boxes now that spew out video and audio on command, and I can not tell the difference from one to the other. I don’t play video games. I don’t care about hoarding petabytes of pirated content, or generating fart videos with AI (although if someone else does it I laugh my ass off), arguing over pointless differences in hardware (that I feel these nerds don’t really understand anyway), spending more money on equipment to correct the problems that the first computer caused, endlessly updating things I never use, being forced to subscribe, share personal data, get notifications on my phone, I just do not fucking care about any of this endless treadmill of landfill we are supposed to have in our lives.
It’s all meaningless. It’s lost its hold on me, there’s nothing new or interesting there. I fondly remember typing away on a VIC-20 and being fascinated by the cursor on the TV changing color, and trying to program a game, learning BASIC commands from the little spiral-bound book that came with it.
Barfing up a prompt so an AI can hork up some fluid-filled abscess of code it weaved together from all the world’s code according to trillions of parameters is just futile, tiresome, overwhelming, unrewarding, and ultimately a joyless roller-coaster ride into an open grave.
But have a nice Labor Day weekend anyway.
I remember trying to get some online account activated that was in the apple ecosystem so I try to do it from my PC and it doesn’t work. Call up customer service and they say use your iphone to do it. I’m like, dafuq does it matter what device I use, it’s the internet it should work with any device. So i try again with Chrome (which is my default because the safari search or whatever apple uses sucks balls). Still doesn’t work. Turns out I not only have to do it on an iphone, but I have to do it using safari browser on an iphone. Apple built their entire company on trapping the tech illiterate and keeping them that way. None of the UI makes sense and a lot of the users act like these byzantine features are completely intuitive and superior to all others. No they aren’t, you just don’t speak any other languages but Apple.
Honestly if there are good alternatives to apple, I would switch to alternatives, I am seriously considering buying a fair phone
Seconding the motorola suggestion, but hold a little longer until the GrapheneOS compatable models drop.
I’m on a pixel 9 with Graphene OS and it’s fantastic
The first Motorola handsets to support Graphene will be very expensive, but a slightly older Pixel from eBay is a fine option
I only buy cheap Androids with Snapdragon and degoogle. Yeah, Android is also starting to suck but at least you are currently allowed to take out the trash.
I learned today that connecting a child’s Google account to a device completely neuters the ability to install or manage apps from anywhere other than Google Play. As in: I, the parent, can’t even temporarily allow F-Droid to be able to install an app. Fuck Google, too.