Off-Topic: Can we ban links which redirect to advertising domains?
When I click this link, due to uMatrix I see that it redirects to https://guce.advertising.com/collectIdentifiers?sessionId=3_...
Which doesn't sound like something I would want to visit.
uMatrix also blocked the link for me. I'm at the point now where I stop bypassing it for links like this, and just don't read the article. The information in the comments is almost always more interesting/useful anyway.
All properties owned by Verizon Media (formerly Oath) redirect through the domain "advertising.com" (which is one of the domains they own) for their GDPR consent popup (shared consent cookie set on one central origin across all properties owned by that company).
This is a really bizarre decision tbh as "advertising.com" is not a well-known brand and not something their users would implicitly recognise or trust.
For other users saying it doesn't happen to them, I'm fairly sure the redirect is region-targeted to Europe.
I'm in Europe but I don't get this redirect when using a VPN.
When i see guce, I simply dont visit the site. Voting with my wallet, if the site is so sleezy that it takes tactics like this on its users, it is not worth beeing its user.
I’m assuming the HN rules ban linking to spam and malware, so why is this malware (or more specifically spyware) allowed when it literally redirects you through a malicious link forcing you to provide consent (which is in violation of the GDPR) and probably collect a bunch of data considering the URL is named “collectIdentifiers”?
For anyone replying with "you can just bypass it or block it", that isn't my point. We know how to do that but the majority out there will just accept the privacy invasion because they have no choice. My argument is that we should be blocking nasty behaviour to force sites to change if they want to keep HN's readership.
The primary difference between this spyware site and others that HN users don't object to is that it doesn't take your consent to be tracked as implicit.
As in: others are doing the same, just in a more subtle, UX-friendly way that doesn't bother people as blatantly.
Three console generations later, Nintendo keeps re-releasing them.
I'm not sure why they don't lean in harder and embrace the design as the standard Nintendo controller. It is the most ergonomic and intuitive game controller I've ever used. The asymmetric layout and shape of the A, B, X, and Y buttons make it impossible to forget which is which. All the controller needs for a 2020 refresh is a ZL button, a true analog for the C-Stick, and a slightly larger D-Pad.
The electronics underneath are rock solid--a favorite for modders. Nothing has really changed except the cord length and the omission of metal braces in the triggers.
They need to make an exact replica on all their controllers that are wireless. The ones available now are slightly smaller and not even made by Nintendo. The quality just isn't there.
Your post made it click for me that Nintendo's platforms make it where there's legitimate reasons to use different controllers regularly. I use the Pro controller, a Gamecube controller, and the joycons/wiimote all for different game types, and sometimes switch between two in the same game.
If you were to ask me whether I thought this was a good design concept, having never played any games on a Gamecube>>>Switch I'd say no, that seems wasteful and a cash grab on peripherals.
But I love it. Give me more ergonomic plastic things with buttons and games that use them.
The Pro Controller is a fine controller and sees a decent amount of competitive use in the Smash scene.
The octagon gate on the GC controller is advantagous for Smash and other games that benefit from precise directional inputs... It's to the point where there are Pro Controller mods to add an octagon gate. The Pro Controller analog seems to wear out faster than that of the GC controller and it's a tricky replacement to perform (on an already expensive controller).
No other controller has come close to the GC triggers. Big swoopy buttons that cradle your finger and have both an analog measurement and a click at the end.
Much as I love the Gamecube controller, it's kinda crap for any fighting game that's not Smash Bros. The 6-button Street Fighter II layout from which all fighting games are descended simply does not lend itself well to the giant, single button in the middle of the controller.
Yup. It is the best controller for Smash (which is why Nintendo keeps re-issuing it).
Ultimate and Melee scenes are still alive and well. And even the 64 scene will cannibalize the analog sticks from GC controllers to replace the N64 controller sticks.
This site slams me in the face with a popup that tries to get me to "Agree" to all kinds of trackers. I tried to "Learn More", but there is no way to disagree, so, I guess no article for me. Goodbye.
All of Verizon's former yahoo/aol properties (techcrunch, engadget, tumblr) have become utterly unusable with no optout (or so deeply buried I haven't found it), I don't even bother following these links anymore.
Using Ublock origin with additional filters enabled, didn't get any popups or redirects (all built in, all under privacy, easylist from adds, all from malware domains, all from annoyances, Dan Pollock’s hosts file and Peter Lowe’s Ad and tracking server list from multipurpose, Adblock Warning Removal List from custom)
additionally I have these custom rules to block YouTube suggestions so I can better focus, has the added advantage that the UI looks better, autoplay can be controlled from the player and playlist can be accessed in full screen mode (which is the only time I really need access to them).
##ytd-compact-video-renderer.ytd-watch-next-secondary-results-renderer.style-scope
##.ytd-watch-next-secondary-results-renderer.style-scope > paper-button.yt-next-continuation.style-scope
www.youtube.com##ytd-compact-playlist-renderer.ytd-watch-next-secondary-results-renderer.style-scope
! Block the upnext video and the autoplay button
www.youtube.com###secondary
Feels like cross-site intrusive tracking... probably is.
I could whitelist in nextdns.io but it's such a dark pattern that I use the block page as a nice warning that I really don't want to go to any of these sites.
It seems to be IP based, with my VPN set to a US server no redirects, but on European servers I always get redirects (also with no VPN, and I'm French)
My Bose QC15s have lasted so long. AA batteries are easily replaced and cheap aftermarket parts on ebay keep is going. It is now my backup as having Bluetooth and better noise cancelling is worth upgrading for but they still work incredibly well on flights.
Sadly lithium batteries kill gadgets these days. I have an old gen kindle and I can't find a replacement battery for it. Seems such a waste for a device that is otherwise in excellent shape.
I always double check battery replacements before buying items for this reason. It is hard to predict what sizes will stick around, but I am also not against busting a device open and fitting a near-enough sized cell with the right output.
The ones for vaporizers (and flashlights) may be overkill. They tend to cost extra because they're "high drain" batteries meant to be safely discharged at a rate higher than most electronics. Depending on the use, you can get much less expensive 18650s than the ones used for vapes.
Often you can get them with leads/connector pre-soldered (which is good for hobby electronics since you don't really want to be soldering straight to a lithium battery and not all electronics already have a cradle)
I have a cheap-ish bike light with 18650 battery. After it stopped working, I tried to replace it, but I couldn't solder it so well like the factory one. The mtb rides shake a lot, so my solder joints break.
In motorsport wiring they use crimped connections instead, due to it's mechanical strength compared to solder. It withstands the vibrations and movement better. You can get really small crimps so you should be able to find some that fit. If it's soldered to the PCB I haven't got much advice sorry. One option might be to mechanically support the wires near the solder, maybe hot glue the battery or wires in place so they can't pull on the solder.
Solder will wick up the wire and create a 'hard spot' where it breaks upon the wire flexing. Try using a blob of hot melt/sugru(sp?) around the wire in this area, to create strain relief.
Another tip is to use plumbers flux and an old soldering bit to 'tin' the battery first, the solder will fairly leap onto it with such flux. :) Don't forget to clean the flux residue off as it's quite corrosive.
They do. I vaped for a while, and my wife bought a battery powered fan for when she went into labour and it came with some cheap 18650. Luckily I had a few high quality Samsung ones lying around from my vaping days that came in handy!
I lucked out with my Sony MDR-1RBT. I bought these things 7-8 or so years ago, the built in battery lasts a month with ~2 hours per week day use during my commute, and all I've had to do was that I recently replaced the ear cushions.
They were £400 when I got them from HMV at the time, that was tough money to spend as a student, but to this date are probably the best investment in technology I've made. I've used them for my commute almost daily for almost the entirety of those 7-8 years. I honestly don't believe I have any other gadget that's lasted that long with that much use.
That said, I got out my original Moto 360 watch yesterday to see if it could be of use for my running during lockdown.
That thing was useless the day it launched, and even less useful now. Probably one of the worst gadgets I've bought.
I still use an IBM Model M keyboard every day, made in 1993. I'm currently looking for a new keyboard that takes less desk space and doesn't require a PS/2 adapter, but the Model M still works fine and is a pleasure to type on.
Keyboard rant: I'm appalled that it's so hard to find a good mechanical keyboard that is not meant for gamers with those RGB lights. Part of the problem is Europe, some options either don't get here or are usually out of stock. But even looking at the total market there are just not that many mechanical keyboards with quality switches, a simple backlight light and a USB hub with a couple ports in the keyboard.
If you're a fan of the Model M then you must know about Unicomp[1]
ergodox that usually put out a split ergonomic keyboard have recently released a cut down keyboard called the Planck that might interest you[2]. But to go from a gigantic beast of a keyboard to such a wee thing might be daunting.
The /r/mechanicalkeyboards dwellers might be able to help you out as well[3] as well as the mechanicalkeyboards website[4]
FWIW I happily used a Filco Majestouch for years before switching to an 'ergonomic' keyboard (ergodox). The Microsoft Ergo Sculpt is really good for me as well, I still use it on my secondary desktop.
I actually asked in /r/MechanicalKeyboards, but they didn't help much, just pointed me to Unicomp but that's not what I'm looking for as it's basically the same size as the Model M. It looks like Unicomp will be releasing a "Spacesaver" Tenkeyless model in the upcoming weeks [1], that might be an option.
The Filco Majestouch 2 Ninja TKL [2] is one of my top candidates right now, or a Ducky One 2 TKL [3] variation. I actually tried to get both in the past weeks: the Filco couldn't get shipped because of COVID-19; and the Ducky One 2 ran out of stock (the European market problem I was mentioning before). Very frustrating.
About ergonomic keyboards I don't want to go through the pain of relearning how to type. I have been typing on the Model M for 25 years now and my muscle memory is deeply engrained, I want a layout that is as similar as possible (so 80% Tenkeyless).
The Planck seems unnecessarily small to me. I'm not moving my keyboard so the absolute smallest size is not a requirement, I just want to get rid of the numpad to have the mouse closer.
Instead of Ducky One 2, I would look into either Varmilo or Leopold. Similar design, better quality and in the case of Leopold its very understated, no RGB and game-ry branding.
I have heard good things about both Leopold and Varmilo, but they are even harder to come by than the options I mentioned. I have to compromise for a keyboard I can buy in the EU (but with an US layout).
At least motherboards typically have a BIOS option to turn that off. For other components you better be using Windows if you don't want your computer to barf colors all day.
Buckling springs are my favorite but I also prefer tenkeyless. I'm currently using a Realforce 87. Topre switches aren't as stiff as buckling springs but have a more similar feel than other switches.
As for keyboards with lights, you can turn the lights off.
The outgoing HHKB Pro2 might interest you if it's within your budget. It's hard to find now as it's been replaced by the HHKB Pro Classic with no USB hub.
I know HHKB are good quality, but I'm looking for a Tenkeyless (i.e. without numpad) keyboard, my muscle memory is too ingrained by now I fear.
Also pretty ridiculous that the two USB ports are mini USB.
I don't really have a budget if I could find the right keyboard, but after searching extensively there is none that checks all the boxes. Either I need to give up the USB ports, go with full size or go with lower quality (Das Keyboard).
You are right, the image on the website is just very small. The input USB port is the one that is mini-USB, probably for durability reasons (microUSB breaks easily).
These things are running on technology from the late 90's virtually unchanged. Even the most advanced ones are low end silicon with terrible thermal designs and horrible user interfaces (scrolling through pages of residents on a bad monochrome display one line at a time). Nothing competes with them. They have no high-failure parts and can last for decades. (And some have.)
Funny you mention thermal design. I thought it was BS at first, but last summer, our intercom system went down, which also included door control, so you had to go down several floors to let someone in who had no way (without out-of-band communication) to tell you they were there (postman anyone?).
It took them months to fix it (this is a new build block in London) and when they finally did, it was a simple reboot.
The engineer told me it had overheated in the summer sun. I mean, really? I found this hard to believe this piece of equipment designed to be outdoors, overheated in British sun.
I was furious, I could have rebooted the damn thing myself and saved us months of pain if I'd had access.
These things are the worst. There was a YC startup that was building hardware to hack into these and make them smart but it seems like they have pivoted to pure software: https://www.doorport.com/
I couldn't read the article because of ad blocker issues, but Logitech Squeezebox is going strong in this household. You can pick up the physical devices reasonably cheaply on ebay as people replace them with functionally worse and privacy invasive modern alternatives.
Yes! I was amazed when I took it out of a packing box a couple of years ago and it still works just fine. I think Spotify doesn't work any more, but we use it as a old fashioned internet radio in the kitchen. The sound quality is surprisingly good.
Our Squeezebox is still going as well, but with most using iOS devices at home, we’re not able to control it anymore because the app was discontinued. Does anyone know of a solution for iPhones?
Possibly the best solution would be an installation of the Logitech Media Server (LMS) on a raspberry pi (e.g. piCorePlayer [0]) or an already available home server. LMS can then handle all squeezeboxes (or squeezelite installations on other hardware) on the same network and allows control via a web interface.
I still wear my Pebble Time Round every day. The form factor is unequaled. Less than 8mm thick is just not where other companies are going with their watches, and I'm sad about that.
I was wearing mine until it fell apart and nothing on the market seems to be a decent replacement... everything else is really clunky and weird looking.
Ditto but for the Pebble 2. I bought a few backups that I can continue using for a few years until something similar is released (week long battery life, easy to read always-on display, hacker friendly, etc).
I have my eye on the PineTime, but it has quite a while to go before it's usable.
I really regret not picking up a Little Printer when I had the chance. I've considered building a networked thermal printer, but its not quite the same.
My dream is to have a 2" impact printer (e.g. receipt printer) for to-do, grocery, etc, lists.
I really don't want to have a life of joy and pure bliss that relies on a thermal printer. I love the concept so much.
With the others, I've still got three Pebbles and I love them all equally. The two OG Pebbles needed a piece of paper between the vibrating part and the screen, but the 2HR has been perfect.
These concepts are all so great. Chumby is another I've always admired.
I had a Little Printer, and I believe the article is slightly over-romanticizing the device. It was slow, not only the printing itself but there would also be a considerable delay before it would start printing as everything had to go through the cloud.
The printing paper had very uncommon dimensions and was hard to find. You could buy them from Berg, but they charged a lot for the rolls. There would also be a lot of paper waste due to the "face" that needed to be printed after every job. Cute, but no practical use.
In the end, however, it did what it advertised, and it did so with remarkably few of the hiccups that were (and are still) common for the IoT devices of the time; it was a good "version 1" for an IoT device. It's unfortunate that they never got to make a second version.
After the project was shuttered I bought an Epson TM-T20II. It prints from the LAN, it prints extremely quick, and the standard paper dimensions that it uses are easy to find on Amazon. It doesn't print a cute face after every job, though, but you can buy a buzzer add-on to make it beep after every job if you want.
well, this is very reassuring! Weird that the face would print every time -- what a waste.
I had thermal printer for a while for another purpose and loved it. It was so handy to have --- but ultimately, thermal paper isn't great for the ol' environment.
Do you still use the thermal printer for lists and stuff?
Epson receipt printers have had network modules / adapters for 10+ years. Both wired and wireless.
IIRC you have to sign an NDA to get access to the documentation for the Epson ESC codes to do things like bold, inverted text, bigger fonts, print images, cut the paper, etc.
I used netcat to write bytes to a network printer 10+ years ago. It was pretty cool. You can also write to the serial port for serial printers, with the same bytes. It's very simple.
If you search around on Amazon, there are several other small printers that use Bluetooth to print onto thermal receipt paper. "thermal printer" as a search brings up these mixed with the photo dedicated color ones.
Sansa Fuze mp3 players are still kicking around, with open source replacement firmware like Rockbox still under active development.
I'm kicking myself that I gave mine to a friend around 2012 when I got my first smartphone.I feel like the used price on them has actually gone up in recent years, as nearly all smartphones have since removed their headphone jacks, and battery life on smartphones can't hold a candle to dedicated mp3 players.
I got a Fuze in 2008 because they supported a WiFi connection to LAUNCHcast radio (acquired by Yahoo! at the time). (LAUNCH as probably the first streaming service with a recommendation engine.) I had spent years curating my personal LAUNCHcast station, so it was amazing to have access to it via Wifi. Then Yahoo! shut down LAUNCH because of fears of high royalty rates. The streaming services actually won the lawsuit and kept the low rates, but it was too late as Yahoo! had already pulled the plug on LAUNCH.
Sansa Fuze + Rockbox are great and even better together! I even used to watch movies on mine on flights (before phones had giant screens and laptops had decent battery life) I still use mine for music since it's a convenient size and I don't have to worry about draining the battery on my phone. And unlike people trying to bring in mobile phones, I was also allowed to use it when I was selected for jury duty (while waiting for selection, of course!)
I got a Sansa Clip (something or other) around 2012. I barely tolerated it for a few years until I discovered Rockbox. Now, it's a joy to use! I would gladly use it every day if given the chance.
I hear new batteries get manufactured from time to time, and my parents have a Clip that they don't use if mine breaks.
For me it’s film cameras. Because they were not a rapidly obsoleting product, they were built for decades upon decades of use. The mechanical perfection is just a joy to use in every knob and click. My two favorites are a Canon F-1 with 85mm f1.2 Lens, and a 1953 Rolleiflex with a 75mm Schneider f3.5 lens. Neither one needs a battery. A modern camera is built with the expectation that its sensor will be obsolete in 5-10 years so nobody will pay for the build quality for a 50 year service life.
As I tell people when they ask about them, I’m not a photography enthusiast, I’m a camera enthusiast, taking pictures is just what I do to find an excuse to use these exquisite pieces of machinery.
There is just something about a decades-old mechanical device that still works. I'm not sure any company made a smoother film-winding mechanism than Nikon, especially on the Nikkormat series.
And on the other side, you have the clunky soviet cameras, which one wonders how they worked in the first place, yet they still do.
I never heard about Chumby before but oh my it's one of the most ugly and hideous product designs I have ever seen, I don't know why but looking at it makes me uneasy... something about the way that leather is cut, combined with the colors and overall shape, even the name is strange
For me its my Sony MiniDisc Player(s) and the MiniDisc format in general. Such a great medium, durable, great haptics. Works perfectly all these years later and still looks and feels like something from the future.
Still angry at Sony though for basically killing it from the beginning with all their DRM.
Do you need more empty MiniDiscs? I just found a new, in-wrapper one the other day at the bottom of a box of electronics as I was searching for N64 games :)
Web MiniDisc has added new life to the format. It lets you manage the contents of a MiniDisc ..from a web browser, thanks to WASM. Add MP3s, FLACs etc.
I know it's not that old but after ~7 years on paper books I recently went back to my Kindle Paperwhite 1st generation which I bought in 2012 ... I was pretty shocked that it just booted up and I was able to start buying and reading books again. I had a software update or two but I didn't even have to sign in to my Amazon account again.
I have an HP TouchPad, the tablet that ran WebOS. Almost ten years later there are still people that are making Android versions for it. The battery sucks by now and the CPU is not very powerful so it’s not snappy but it’s still usable for light apps.
My HP Touchpad did not survive my last move, unfortunately. Can't tell if it had something pressed on it or if it was stored at an improper temperature, but the battery swelled to the point of pressing on the display (!), so the thing no longer turns on.
If it still worked, I'm probably still be using it as a comic book reader.
Ditto. I’ve an HP touchpad that i got in that famous firesale. It works like a charm even today and i like it as a minimal reading device. The UI was so ahead of its time
Still got my HP TouchPad, still works, mail app is quite superior. Screen is starting to go and casing is getting a little cracked in places but I just love the UI
It's a very nice Youtube viewer, with Android and NewPipe. I had hopes in the beginning we would see a free webOS for it, but sadly got disappointed there.
Yeah, I don't understand how there is still no simple smartwatch company without any fitness bs, with thin light >1 week always on screen. Years after Pebble did it. Does everyone but us really want and oled screen and heart rate monitor?
I'd don't understand where Casio is with cheap BT smartwatches that can just show texts/notifications.
Worked on the ecommerce and marketing teams at Pebble. I can tell you we tried to tell people about our strengths: 1 week+ battery life. Always on screen. Readable in sunlight. Water resistant up to X meters. But what gets people to buy isn't what gets people to stay.
I can tell you that by far, most people wanted the fitness angle with smartwatches. And all those features that you love about Pebble, while great, wasn't all that convincing for people after we ran out of die-hard fans like yourself.
I turned down a job at Pebble after a call with VP of Eng. and when we were discussing the product, I mentioned that health & fitness seemed like the next big hurdle for them. He seemed to agree, but was almost uncomfortable admitting it. As if, "yeah, we know...".
Anyways I turned them down and before May 2015 I started telling anyone who would listen that they were an amazing company full of smart people solving incredible problems that are completely unimportant to the world and FitBit would buy them sooner or later.
I imagined a more successful exit than they got, and I miss my Pebble dearly to this day. FitBit's products are garbage.
Here's the thing. I have a Garmin that also gets more than a week of battery life, with an always on display. It also does the fitness stuff very well. There wasn't an advantage to the Pebble angle.
But I don't/want need the bulk and the price of the fitness stuff. The last, cancelled generation of pebble had a black and white screen, many apps and was something like 125 euros for the watch.
I really loved the way I could control my Pebble (time steel), with just 4 buttons, so smooth.
But, ok, out of all brands, Garmin seems nicest to me and they have a payment solution as well.
The thing is that the heart rate monitor gives you an excuse to buy. As a notification device it can seem like a pointless luxury item. If it has a heart rate monitor you can tell yourself/parent/spouse that “this thing could save my life!”
Checkout the Amazfit Bip. Strange name, but it's inexpensive, has an always on display (think original game boy advance), and the battery lasts ~40 days on a single charge.
I second the Amazfit Bip. My battery lasts anywhere between 35-42 days on a single charge as well. (I take screenshots of the number of days every time it gets to 5%.)
Seconded. I don't know what I'm going to do when my Pebble Time gives up the ghost. I'll probably buy a dumb, mechanical watch for a change. There's still nothing on the market remotely comparable with Pebble.
Not quite the same, but I got a Withings Steel HR when my pebble died, and I love it! I charge it once a month, and it handles the most important notifications quite well. Far less hackable though.
I dislike gadgets as in "tech objects which primary function is to be perceived as cool and to make the owner feel good as owning it".
I think tools can survive more than gadgets. I have an old HP LaserJet 4l which I think was manufactured in '90s and which still works like a charm. I also have a Nikon D300 DSLR which still works. My car is 16 years old.
The gadgets listed in the article were meant to have a short shelf life. Though a few still survive, it was never intended.
On the other hand, my more generic gadgets simply never die. My projector, my Bluetooth speaker, my headphones... they all do exactly what I bought them for. There might come a time when that's not enough, but that will be decided on my own terms. It won't be because of a dead server or a useless battery life.
As you say, tools last a lot longer, because they were designed to fulfill a simple role without any bells and whistles.
This is why I don't like the trend of pairing long-lasting tools to short-lived tech. A car or a watch will last a really long time. USB-C and Android 9.0 won't.
Reading this article got me wistful for my Peek https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peek_(mobile_Internet_device). You can do so much with email (todo lists, news, etc) and the device just felt good. It had a physical keyboard (!) and a real scroll wheel on the side.
Peek was also created by a small company but doesn't have the community support that the Chumby or Pebble has now. Maybe that's a product of being connected only to a cellular network?
That said, wristwatches are generally very very long lived. I own a Citizen marinaut which is powered through a solar cell in the face of the watch. I've been wearing it pretty much every day for 15 years now and I never had to charge or service it. Only the occasional shortening of the metal wristband.
I find on cheaper watches like this the band eventually breaks, and you can't really find replacement bands which are much cheaper than a whole new watch.
iPod Classics also refuse to die, I'm using a used one I got cheap on eBay. You can also mod them with open source software (escaping the clutches of iTunes), install a higher capacity battery, replace the case and install a power-sipping micro SD card - if you so wish. It helps that it's not tied to a cloud service, you can get an older version of iTunes if you really need it. More details[1]
I found a couple of old iPods in the bottom of a box in my closet a month or two ago. My kids were interested so I dug around until I found one of those 30-pin cables. Plugged it into my Mac; it worked fine. I transferred a bunch of songs they wanted and the kids have been listening to them since. For one of them, Apple even had a software update available for it.
Every single computer that was ever made is still out there, and a use could be found for them, somewhere in the world. We just don't have the resources to distribute 'old' computers for which find no use, to those who would find a use - so we throw them away, usually with the excuse 'archaic/outdated, consumes too much power, etc' - excuses that were as equally valid the day the machine came out of the box, but are only really issued when a human decision has been made.
You can still pick up a stone axe and use it to feed your family, even if its original user died tens of thousands of years ago. The same is true of every single tool ever made - its only the arbitrary decision making of humans which make an inanimate object useful or otherwise.
disclaimer: grumpy old retro computing enthusiast who really wants people to stop throwing functioning electronic gear in the landfill...
Hmmm. I have an ancient dual Intel 3GHz Xeon Nocona (~2004 I think) with 5MB of RAM :) hanging around.
It's mostly used as a stand for other things (powered off, but has good case) left on top of it.
Although it runs, each of the two CPU's uses about 100w. And the whole thing running flat out is about as slow as an older model laptop.
There's no real use for this things computing power any more, except on the very rare occasion I need to spin up some OS and don't have other available computing gear handy.
So, the whole "all tools are useful" thing is only marginally true for very old computing stuff.
There's also the issue of websites and applications (hello Electron) wasting insane amounts of resources for things that were done just fine a decade ago with 1/10 of the processing power and memory.
My 12-inch MacBook (bought in 2017, but it's a low-power dual-core CPU) struggles on a lot of websites including YouTube - not for the video decoding but for the page rendering. I remember watching YouTube just fine a decade ago on a machine much less powerful.
Interesting list...I didn't own any of those, though I would guess most of us here can name many others.
Last weekend while I was putting the finishing touches on a Bionic Puppy install on my MSI Wind (purchased through a Linux computer company years ago), I started to realize I need to get more serious about active care for my devices or get rid of them. From the Cybiko Extremes to the N810 to the Casio pocket organizers.
For now I'm going to move to a basic stance and just start text files for each set of devices. That usually gets me moving in a more organized direction. It feels good to be taking care of (some) things from my past, and I can tell my kids all kinds of stories about how I courted my wife via Cybiko text chat in University classes, etc. :-)
It's the nostalgia of ye good olde days of when those devices where perceived as good ideas or the best in town when there was a early market growing when they were around.
Their existence was tested by the competition and found to have been commercial failures but can still live on as useful toys, like the Commodore Amiga days, BeOS days and the CHIP days and so on.
They are remembered and kept alive by niche communities around 'what if' they survived with open source alternatives, aftermarket additions or more additions. Very happy to see this and good luck to them.
> “The Chumby was introduced shortly after WiFi was introduced," Andrew "bunnie" Huang, Chumby's founder, told Engadget. "To rewind to those times, there were no smartphones, and if you wanted to use your computer away from your desk, it meant dragging an ethernet cord to your bedside."
The first PowerBook with WiFi was released in 1999. The Chumby in 2006.
Yeah I remember when the chumby came out I was debating getting one but couldn't think of a use case for it (besides the ever-popular-at-the-time live twitter feed or something along those lines).
I still using my Sony Smartwatch 2 (2014), not even changed the wristband. The only thing is lack of software updates and support.
Sony made very good hardware. But they are not good updating their software. Just like the Sony Xperia Play, they don't even upgrade their Android version when they could.
While I think it is dead now, the 3Com Audrey was another gadget that was hacker/user supported and lived on long after its official demise. A mini (mostly) functional web terminal was a pretty novel thing when it was released.
iPods. I have several friends who have, within the last year, sourced out classic iPods for personal use - I personally find my first-gen iPod shuffle to be one of the most useful digital devices in my collection.
Next - old game consoles. My Nintendo DS and Sega Saturn consistently get the most use out of any console I've ever had, to the point where I've stopped buying new consoles. Best part - I turn it on, pop in the game, no waiting for updates. It's amazing. Not to mention top-notch games like Animal Crossing: Wild World, Scribblenauts, New Super Mario Bros, Sonic Rush, Metroid Prime: Hunters, Mario Kart DS, Panzer Dragoon, NiGHTS Into Dreams, Street Fighter II Alpha (which I am constantly playing with friends) - the list goes on and on.
I could turn on my Dreamcast if I wanted to bask in Crazy Taxi, Skies of Arcadia, Jet Grind Radio, etc...but there's enough great games for these systems alone I haven't played that it makes it completely irrelevant to buy a new system.
Because in 20 years since I bought my Dreamcast I have still yet to siphon all the value out of it I can get.
My first job was at an electronic hardware company started by the owner in his basement in the late 70's. I wasn't there at the time, but I heard he had about 15 people working in the basement until they finally moved to a rented storefront.
He wasn't billions of $$$ successful, but he sold the company for about a million or so in 1989. Last I heard from him, he was living on a Caribbean island.
The Audio-Technica ATH A500 headphones I bought in 2008 are still going strong. The adhesive for the sodt ear muff degraded but that was easy enough to fix. I thought the novel headband design would cause issues but it has lasted just fine.
Some people in the UK kept their early Tivos going for a while after Sky shut down the service. I think they found a way to supply the programme guide.
My mom loves her TiVo but basically has to spend hours on the phone every year and especially gets a new box. Years ago she paid a pretty significant amount of money for lifetime service and they try every year to force her off it and pay for a subscription.
On my first ship in the Navy, we had a Windows 3.1 beige-box desktop PC (well, there were 3 of them, 2 for backups) that ran a tape drive emulator that connected to wiring in a bank of disconnected tape drives/computers (took a whole wall, these were the reel-to-reel kind) that ran some old targeting radar. The weapons that used that radar were gone, but they kept the radar running for auxiliary purposes. I'm surprised they wouldn't use something like that at NASA. We only left the drives installed due to weight distribution for the ship, but NASA could just replace a whole room of them with a Raspberry Pi, probably.
I think NASA (or space industries in general) has the same problems as Navy (or military industries in general), they don't want to change anything that works. Reliability is one of their paramount KPIs, and what has survived for more than a decade is considered tested for a decade and will have precedence for managers in this space.
There’s a lot of places with extremely high data storage requirements that use tapes; they’re fairly dense and fail much better than spinning hard drives (as in, you can just splice out bad tape rather than toss the whole disk).
I should have said "NASA has the specific tapes, dusty decks &C in archive which demand it keep a lot of otherwise dead technology working so it can read specific tapes"
This article is nonsense. The gadgets aren't refusing to die due to fan support - it's companies buying old nonsense tech and then trying to resell it. We'll be see these on late night infomercials soon.
