Author Topic: Is technology moving backwards?  (Read 4957 times)

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Offline Narei Mooncatt

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Re: Is technology moving backwards?
« Reply #25 on: May 06, 2011, 09:42:27 pm »
Pretty much everything you people have been talking about has been so far above my head, I can't even see it. :P

Seriously though, the purpose of this thread was more directed to what the average end user encounters. If you want to debate specific software/programming issues, perhaps it would be better suited in its own thread. Much of the issue of moving backwards is how new technology is being implemented. I'm sure technology itself is advancing and creating a lot of hardships for people to wrap their heads around it. That's what programmers do though. They work to tackle these issues. The end user just wants a product that works well when it's released, not a forced beta (as seems to becoming the norm now) with lots of bugs and no stable alternative.
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Offline Alsek

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Re: Is technology moving backwards?
« Reply #26 on: May 07, 2011, 04:52:28 am »
Forced betas?  Yeah but that wouldn't indicate technology moving in the wrong direction...  that would just mean sloppy business practices.

But to a certain extent it can't be avoided.  The amount of applications out there are steadily growing and it's become impossible to test every application in every environment.



On the other paw you have to remember that sometimes end users wind up moving into technologies that weren't really meant for them for personal or business reasons which winds up creating a drive to make those technologies more user friendly...  The web is a great example,  being that it wasn't really geared towards average people with it's start.

Flash forward to 2010 and Apple is releasing the iPad,  which made the web accessible even to people who would be otherwise terrified of it,  and the idea of managing a personal computer of any kind.  Suddenly you have a group of people roaming the internet that aren't even capable of using Microsoft windows or even a mac...  What's worse is there's a market to support them and to make things more friendly for them.

There's even a drive to start securing them and allowing them to be used in the corporate environment.


Sometimes i feel like things should stay complicated to some extent on purpose.  >..>

Offline Foxpup

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Re: Is technology moving backwards?
« Reply #27 on: May 08, 2011, 06:55:54 pm »
Sometimes i feel like things should stay complicated to some extent on purpose.  >..>

I agree completely.

Offline Yip

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Re: Is technology moving backwards?
« Reply #28 on: May 08, 2011, 07:40:01 pm »
Sometimes i feel like things should stay complicated to some extent on purpose.  >..>

Yes. Instead of dumbing down the system, they should focus on smartening up the users.

Offline Narei Mooncatt

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Re: Is technology moving backwards?
« Reply #29 on: May 08, 2011, 08:41:21 pm »
Oh, here's another great one I've been dealing with off and on. Power supplies that can not keep up with the power demands of their respective devices. I can have my phone plugged in with a fully charged battery and it will stay that way no matter what I do. Once I use it some while unplugged, especially when I get below 80% battery, plugging it back in will sometimes just maintain the current level at best, and often times the charge will keep going down (albeit at a lower rate). It's been so bad that leaving the phone screen off and not touching it would still show a power draw. I could tolerate some lower end devices that don't charge the battery when actually running on AC power. It's not even being able to do that that ticks me off. I don't care if I'm playing a game on a wifi network with a GPS fix running and making a call through my bluetooth, all at the same time. Being able to run a phone at max power while plugged in without drawing down the battery should be standard #1. I don't know if this happens with other phones, but mine is an LG Optimus Android. Otherwise it's a great little phone and this doesn't become an issue too often. Just enough to be irritating.

And in case anyone is wondering, both my mate's phone and mine suffer from this since brand new, so the chances of being a bad battery are nill. By that same token, I know I can't power on the phone on AC alone. It requires the battery to be inserted. Which makes me wonder what will happen if/when that battery does go bad and wont hold a charge at all.
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Offline Foxpup

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Re: Is technology moving backwards?
« Reply #30 on: May 08, 2011, 10:39:14 pm »
Oh, here's another great one I've been dealing with off and on. Power supplies that can not keep up with the power demands of their respective devices. I can have my phone plugged in with a fully charged battery and it will stay that way no matter what I do. Once I use it some while unplugged, especially when I get below 80% battery, plugging it back in will sometimes just maintain the current level at best, and often times the charge will keep going down (albeit at a lower rate). It's been so bad that leaving the phone screen off and not touching it would still show a power draw. I could tolerate some lower end devices that don't charge the battery when actually running on AC power. It's not even being able to do that that ticks me off. I don't care if I'm playing a game on a wifi network with a GPS fix running and making a call through my bluetooth, all at the same time. Being able to run a phone at max power while plugged in without drawing down the battery should be standard #1. I don't know if this happens with other phones, but mine is an LG Optimus Android. Otherwise it's a great little phone and this doesn't become an issue too often. Just enough to be irritating.

And in case anyone is wondering, both my mate's phone and mine suffer from this since brand new, so the chances of being a bad battery are nill. By that same token, I know I can't power on the phone on AC alone. It requires the battery to be inserted. Which makes me wonder what will happen if/when that battery does go bad and wont hold a charge at all.

There's nothing wrong with the battery. You've just got a faulty AC adapter. Probably a blown filter capacitor. Either that or the adapter is was never designed to power a smartphone to begin with and is nowhere near powerful enough. Also, turning the screen off won't help much, since most the phone's power is drawn by the transmitter, which is constantly active for reasons which ought to be obvious.

Offline Narei Mooncatt

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Re: Is technology moving backwards?
« Reply #31 on: May 08, 2011, 11:01:45 pm »
It's an internal power supply that you just plug a USB cable into the base of the phone. I've then used it on various car and wall outlet USB converters (even both factory ones) and computers. If it were just my phone or a certain type of charger, I'd maybe accept something *could* be wrong. But not on two phones with the same issue. I also took it into the local repair shop and they pretty much said this kind of issue is  "normal" type operation and nothing is wrong. So I say again, any device like this should be able to maintain, if not charge, the battery level when plugged in. No if's, and's, or but's unless something is defective.
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Offline Foxpup

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Re: Is technology moving backwards?
« Reply #32 on: May 09, 2011, 12:00:28 am »
It's an internal power supply that you just plug a USB cable into the base of the phone. I've then used it on various car and wall outlet USB converters (even both factory ones) and computers. If it were just my phone or a certain type of charger, I'd maybe accept something *could* be wrong. But not on two phones with the same issue. I also took it into the local repair shop and they pretty much said this kind of issue is  "normal" type operation and nothing is wrong. So I say again, any device like this should be able to maintain, if not charge, the battery level when plugged in. No if's, and's, or but's unless something is defective.

"Don't blame me. I'm only an interpreter. I'm not supposed to know the difference between a data port and a power socket." :D Seriously, USB is a data port, not a power socket. I don't know why device manufacturers can't remember that. Duracell even makes batteries with USB ports for such devices. USB isn't designed to carry large amounts of power, so it's not surprising that it doesn't work very well. What is surprising is that manufacturers insist doing it... >:(

Offline Narei Mooncatt

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Re: Is technology moving backwards?
« Reply #33 on: May 09, 2011, 12:04:15 am »
Well I know why they're doing it. They're trying to standardize the plugs so you don't need a thousand different cables for everything you own. Supposed to help be more "green" and all that (never mind the fact you still get a charger with every device regardless). And it does help some from a convenience stand point by making things more plug-and-play ready, but I do agree with your point. I was surprised that they could power anything like this well with a USB, and seems it is too good to be true. :P
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Offline Foxpup

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Re: Is technology moving backwards?
« Reply #34 on: May 09, 2011, 12:14:51 am »
Well I know why they're doing it. They're trying to standardize the plugs so you don't need a thousand different cables for everything you own.

The plugs are already standardised. But the great thing about standards is there's so many to choose from...

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Re: Is technology moving backwards?
« Reply #35 on: May 09, 2011, 01:54:41 am »
Sometimes i feel like things should stay complicated to some extent on purpose.  >..>

Yes. Instead of dumbing down the system, they should focus on smartening up the users.
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Offline SHEPARD_DOG

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Re: Is technology moving backwards?
« Reply #36 on: March 21, 2012, 08:28:03 pm »
i wold rather have a reliabol computer from
the70s than a shiny computer from to day
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Re: Is technology moving backwards?
« Reply #37 on: March 21, 2012, 08:29:18 pm »
Closed due to gravedigging.