Asklemmy

43945 readers

643 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

Open-ended question
Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

Lemmyverse: community search
sub.rehab: maps old subreddits to fediverse options, marks official as such
!lemmy411@lemmy.ca: a community for finding communities

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS

260

What's Some Tech That Was Better Than It Is Now? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 4 months ago by wuphysics87@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

324 comments fedilink hide all child comments

When you connect a new device to a 'smart' tv, you must pay homage to the manufacturer with a ritualistic dance. Plugging and unplugging the device. Turning them on and off in the correct sequence like entering a konami code.

Every time you want to switch devices, the tv must scan for them. And god forbid you lose power, or unplug something. You are granted the delight experience of doing it all over again.

I have fond memories of the days of just plugging something in, and pressing the input button. Instant gratification. It was a simpler time.

What is some other tech that used to be better?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] Zahille7@lemmy.world 9 points 4 months ago (4 children)

Retrofuturism, fuck yeah. I have a major soft spot for stuff like that because of movies like Aliens and Star Wars.

[–] SuiXi3D@fedia.io 7 points 4 months ago

Not even that, I just want a fucking keyboard on my phone again, and for actual buttons in my car so I can feel when I change the song on the radio or whatever.

[–] sunbeam60@lemmy.one 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

It’s not just a “soft spot” thing though - the tactile confirmation of a button press is life and death if you’re driving a car.

[–] coffinwood@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Does your car have the rocket launcher button directly next to the volume knob or what do you mean with life and death?

[–] sunbeam60@lemmy.one 5 points 4 months ago

I mean looking down at a touch screen that offers no tactile feedback is dangerous. And feeling a button click that your muscle memory can intuitively find is not.

[–] MindTraveller@lemmy.ca 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

In Star Trek Voyager, pilot Tom Paris creates a custom shuttlecraft called the Delta Flyer. Tom's a history geek who spends his holodeck time repairing antique muscle cars from the 20th century. So naturally, he designs the Delta Flyer with lots of analogue switches and dials instead of the usual Starfleet Okudagram touch screens. He thinks they're much better.

[–] coffinwood@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 4 months ago

He only wanted to make sure that no one else could fly his shuttle.

[–] vext01@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 4 months ago

Dystopian retro futures were so much better back then.