iPhone de-distraction and retro tech

[Happy_John]

Which I can also do with my 3GS.

But here's another scenario where this might not work with say a 17 Pro Max:

Task: Play music while out

1. Open Music (or whichever app you use to play back downloaded content)
2. Put in AirPods (because Apple for some asinine reason deleted the headphone jack)
3. Realize you forgot to charge the case last night, and the case is dead and the AirPods are at 10% left and 30% right

4. After ten minutes, only your right ear is enjoying it.

Not much of an advantage as having wired EarPods and my 3GS is it?

Also, let us not forget that buying MP3s in 2026 is becoming harder and harder to do--Even Amazon stopped allowing me to purchase albums as MP3 formats, the option got greyed out for most albums lately. So you're stuck with a constantly draining subscription model. Lose that and your music is GONE, downloaded or not.

Meh, I think you’re desperately trying to think up reasons to further your argument that tape is better than using a modern device as a portable music player.

Which is fine for debate for debst’s sake, but in reality, I don’t think there’s any advantage.

What if your Walkman chews up your tape? What if your batteries run out or worse, leak? What if you tape is too close to a strong magnet?

We can come up with lots of “what ifs?”, but really, use the technology that to hand, and there’s no reason to get another device to do a job that a current device you already have can do.

And have you seen the prices for new portable tape players these days?

There’s a strong smell of “hipster” here…

 

[nickdalzell1]

I've never had my portable cassette players eat a tape (I lost many an 8-track to it though!). I've had the same AAs in it since a year ago and they're still keepin' on keepin' on. I've never had a tape lost to a magnet (or a floppy disk for that matter!). Honestly if your player is eating tapes than it's got a bad belt (which is something you replace every 20-30 years anyway, not every other month!). Eating tapes happens when the capstan and pinch roller are turning but the spindles ain't.

Also don't have to worry about draining my account for a subscription which is more normal now than owning your music, and no internet needed. Batteries in a player will outlive a day's use of AirPods.

I honestly don't like modern cassette players. Too cheaply built. I got mine for $1 secondhand. It's from 1990 and has an AM/FM radio also. I also got period-accurate home systems and would never consider whatever goes by the names Victrola or Crosley to even remotely compare.

I'm not trying to find ways to debate for debate's sake. I'm honestly trying to see an advantage in convenience and function that subscription-based streaming is (which everyone claims is the future!) over physical or offline media, and I just ain't seeing it.

 

[Happy_John]

I'm using my Macs and my iPhones as devices to stream my music. I refused then, I refuse now, and I will refuse again in the future to buy an Apple Watch to get abilities that my phones/Macs/iPads/other devices can already do.

Fortunately, I chose a profession that uses computers to do work. So, I'm never far from a computer (or my phone) that can stream my music.

Good for you. You do you. But I really like my Apple Watch. It makes me happy.

 

[eyoungren]

There’s a strong smell of “hipster” here…

As I've mentioned in other posts in this thread, I grew up rural. One friend lived all his life in that area. Growing up there everything was cool and fun (when doing stuff together). We had the same interests.

He went into the medical profession (his father was already a doctor with a practice in that rural area) and joined his father. He chose to stay there, get married and have his family there too.

I got out.

Years down the line as I am using tech, I discover that apparently there was a point where he refused to advance. He had reached his level of tech use and chose to stay in that year that he become frozen in. I used to always joke that he should have been born earlier, but at that point I realized he'd just decided to shut down.

That's okay, that's a personal choice. There were other issues between him and me, but I moved on. I've only encountered one other person who refused to use new technology and unfortunately I had to work with her for 14.5 years.

It's both a fascinating and frustrating thing to observe. They'll just shut out anything they don't want to know and stubbornly refuse to engage. There's still quite a level of old tech and old ways in America though, so wherever those two are they'll be fine.

 

[eyoungren]

I've never had my portable cassette players eat a tape (I lost many an 8-track to it though!). I've had the same AAs in it since a year ago and they're still keepin' on keepin' on. I've never had a tape lost to a magnet (or a floppy disk for that matter!). Honestly if your player is eating tapes than it's got a bad belt (which is something you replace every 20-30 years anyway, not every other month!). Eating tapes happens when the capstan and pinch roller are turning but the spindles ain't.

Also don't have to worry about draining my account for a subscription which is more normal now than owning your music, and no internet needed. Batteries in a player will outlive a day's use of AirPods.

I honestly don't like modern cassette players. Too cheaply built. I got mine for $1 secondhand. It's from 1990 and has an AM/FM radio also. I also got period-accurate home systems and would never consider whatever goes by the names Victrola or Crosley to even remotely compare.

I'm not trying to find ways to debate for debate's sake. I'm honestly trying to see an advantage in convenience and function that subscription-based streaming is (which everyone claims is the future!) over physical or offline media, and I just ain't seeing it.

In my garage I have a Sanyo personal cassette player purchased in 1983 at a duty free shop in Heathrow airport. We were on the way back home and my dad said my sister and I could both get one. I was 12.

It still functions exactly the same as in 1983. Still skips when doing any activity, still breaks down. It's eaten multiple tapes over the years.

My walk this morning, I streamed an internet radio station from my iPhone to my Bluetooth enabled bone-conduction headset. No skips. No eaten tapes. No drained subscription because both the app and the radio station are all free.

I'm not saying that how I do this now is better than how you do things. Not saying that. But how I do things now IS better than how I (me personally) used to do things.

1980s era Walkman's with stabilization were expensive and there was no way my dad was ever going to buy us that.

 

[boswald]

Meh, I think you’re desperately trying to think up reasons to further your argument that tape is better than using a modern device as a portable music player.

Which is fine for debate for debst’s sake, but in reality, I don’t think there’s any advantage.

What if your Walkman chews up your tape? What if your batteries run out or worse, leak? What if you tape is too close to a strong magnet?

We can come up with lots of “what ifs?”, but really, use the technology that to hand, and there’s no reason to get another device to do a job that a current device you already have can do.

And have you seen the prices for new portable tape players these days?

There’s a strong smell of “hipster” here…

It's just the cycle of the younger generations wanting to experience what their parents lived with. It happens with every generation; it's nothing new. Nothing wrong with that, per se, and even I would like to walk down Memory Lane every now and then. But to actually dump current technology for a brief glimpse into the past is not practical. It just creates artificial roadblocks that modern things overcame a long time ago.

 

[Ctrlos]

This. I fully agree.

As for retro-tech, it's fine as a collectable, and I'm more than guilty of tech nostalgia, but I don;'t think "retro tech" really does offer advantages to current tech.

I love fiddling with old gadgets, and I keep thinking I should buy an old classic iPod and upgrade it. It's would eb a nice project. But I'd never actually use it as an iPod. Because I have an Apple Watch. And, to be blunt, and Apple Watch is the new iPod, if you want an portable device to listen to music / podcast without the distractions of a phone.

Compared to an Apple Watch, a classic iPod would be far more work, and it would end up being more expensive to buy and upgrade today.

See when I think ‘retro tech’ I think maybe Windows Phone or Palm Pre. I loved those things and they were still useful. My favourite thing to do in Photos is to see what device I took all my images on at a particular point in my life (shame you can’t make a list of them all somewhere….)

 

[Ctrlos]

I agree so much. Don't get me wrong, I love collecting retro tech. For example, I collect old tape based video formats and their equipment. I do it because I think it's cool, interesting. Not because I think it's better and want to use them day to day. There's a reason why society has generally moved away from tape based formats. Sure, they have their advantages but also have some pretty severe disadvantages. Recorders break down, bad belts, capacitors, ripped or worn video heads. Makes my technical brain hurt. There's nothing that beats the convivence of pulling out your cellphone to record a quick video.

Oh and don't get me started on the people who had made it into an investment/job. That killed the retro game market.

I think old tech is cool to play around with. As a hobby. For real life, I'll stick to my 16e and modern [enough] Macs.
Newer doesn't always mean better, the opposite is also true...

See Id buy a Gameboy Advance SP for the feel of it but I’d have to have a flash cart because game prices are silly and the batteries in half of them are dead. I like the mixture of older feel and newer ideas.

 

[Wanted797]

I effectively halved/removed my use of instagram by deleting the app and bookmarking the website.

I then removed the bookmark. Instagram tries very hard to get you on the app so the web experience is horrible. But that just helped to push me away. I now often forget to check it until each afternoon.

 

[nickdalzell1]

It's just the cycle of the younger generations wanting to experience what their parents lived with. It happens with every generation; it's nothing new. Nothing wrong with that, per se, and even I would like to walk down Memory Lane every now and then. But to actually dump current technology for a brief glimpse into the past is not practical. It just creates artificial roadblocks that modern things overcame a long time ago.

Maybe it's just me but the only roadblocks I experience involve the latest tech. Can't login to some sites because it takes 3 different hoops and 2FA to get in, while in 1999, you only needed the password.

In the past, calling your local phone company for issues with your line (or any company in general, say your utility co, any local store, etc) would get you instantly to a human. Heck, even phoning your local Kmart would get you a manager or other employee.

Today, it goes to some weird automated system, some of the worst being voice controlled vs. touch tone driven, and if you manage to win that game, you end up with some overseas person who not only barely speaks English coherently, but often is stuck to a script so if you have an issue they don't have in their script they just give up or end up in a feedback loop of 'have you tried turning it off and on again?' Asking for a higher-up isn't possible and often gets them angry. How is this an improvement from before again?

Don't get me started on any modern car vs my old LTD. Not happening. Ain't no way I'm owning any modern vehicle. I've been a passenger in some and I can't fathom how anyone lives with the amount of screens, touch-interfaces, beeps, boops, and nags they sound off with. Good lord...Just turn a key and put into Drive and I'm off! Then there is the one example of a form of skeuomorphism that I think is utterly ridiculous. They took out the mechanical gauges and replaced them with another LCD display that displays the SAME FREAKING GAUGES only they're skeuomorphic fakes. This is the one case of skeuomorphism where it solves no problem and looks about as neat as you'd expect. Doing the same thing but with a screen.

Then there's the item known as the 'infotainment system'. Basically what the 1988 Buick Reatta failed at: A touchscreen that replaces your radio, climate controls and buries most things that once worked fine with buttons and muscle memory behind menus and touch UI. As if things aren't distracting enough they force this on everyone, and there's not a car or truck made today without one, so that's another example of the illusion of choice. At least when Buick tried it, the customer revolt made them reverse course and the Reatta and Riviera lost the touch screen a couple of years later. Nobody wanted it. Today? they just force you to accept it and nobody has a say. At least before, like with New Coke, the company had to listen or risk bankruptcy. Today, it seems they find ways to force unwanted tech and change on folks and ensure that everyone does it so you can't find somewhere else to go.

Modern operating systems. Can't disable updates, and if you can (well, you can on macOS) it will constantly nag you. Can't disable any notification about 'startup items' so if you have apps that update in the background you get a list of those you have to dismiss each reboot. Totally idiot proofed so you can't login as admin without restrictions. Can't install 'unapproved' apps. Can't downgrade. Again, this was not an issue in the past. I could downgrade my Pentium systems all the way to DOS if I so wanted. But on a modern Mac? Can't even put Mountain Lion on.

Society is trending to a scary place. Ever experienced an AI-powered drive through yet? Don't worry, it's coming. It's as bad as it is on various YouTube and TikTok shorts. Many 20 oz coolers are replacing the glass doors with LCD screens. Ads are beginning to play in gas station bathrooms through mirrors, or on gas pumps. You see ads if you plug your EV into a fast charger. Totally something out of a Black Mirror episode. What is this a solution for again?

 

[Unregistered 4U]

This isn't going to work for me. I'm a Gen-X latchkey kid that grew up rural and got online in 1985. I'm going to stay online. And long ago I learned to ignore distractions.

Tech has been a big part of my life since 1980 when I was 10. Not stopping now.

This makes me think of folks that were likelySURE that switching to automobiles from horse and carriage would mean that folks wouldn’t be able to get the same feeling from traveling with horses than with cars and may find it hard to deal with that situation.

When, for those traveling by car, they didn’t consider the time spent to stop and feed and let the horse drink, communing with the horse, as something they’d “miss”.

 

[ipedro]

Have you all seen the Light Phone? It's obviously not an apple product, but seems similar to what some of you are talking about here.

https://www.thelightphone.com/lightiii

It’s still a phone in a slate format for no reason. If you want a distraction free device that you physically cannot use for more than seconds at a time, get a cellular Apple Watch and leave your iPhone at home.

Phone calls
Messages
Maps
Music
Podcasts
Calendar
Reminders
Weather

If you really want to stay connected to the world, I use Apple News that I occasionally glance at. But you get a physical reminder to put it down after a few seconds because lifting your wrist up tires you quickly.

The only thing I really miss is always having a camera on me so I’m considering an Inst360 Go that I can clip to my lapel to record things on my walks. If Apple’s glasses come out this year, I’ll get it if they don’t have a screen.

 

[eyoungren]

Maybe it's just me but the only roadblocks I experience involve the latest tech. Can't login to some sites because it takes 3 different hoops and 2FA to get in, while in 1999, you only needed the password.

In the past, calling your local phone company for issues with your line (or any company in general, say your utility co, any local store, etc) would get you instantly to a human. Heck, even phoning your local Kmart would get you a manager or other employee.

Today, it goes to some weird automated system, some of the worst being voice controlled vs. touch tone driven, and if you manage to win that game, you end up with some overseas person who not only barely speaks English coherently, but often is stuck to a script so if you have an issue they don't have in their script they just give up or end up in a feedback loop of 'have you tried turning it off and on again?' Asking for a higher-up isn't possible and often gets them angry. How is this an improvement from before again?

In the long run we can't entirely blame companies. Americans want cheap service and products. Stockholders want dividends. But Americans are not willing to work at the same wage as overseas call centers can provide. Now AI means companies don't have to pay anyone at all. Customers get screwed on service. Bu that's okay (in the reckoning of the company) because…where can they go?

Don't get me started on any modern car vs my old LTD. Not happening. Ain't no way I'm owning any modern vehicle. I've been a passenger in some and I can't fathom how anyone lives with the amount of screens, touch-interfaces, beeps, boops, and nags they sound off with. Good lord...Just turn a key and put into Drive and I'm off! Then there is the one example of a form of skeuomorphism that I think is utterly ridiculous. They took out the mechanical gauges and replaced them with another LCD display that displays the SAME FREAKING GAUGES only they're skeuomorphic fakes. This is the one case of skeuomorphism where it solves no problem and looks about as neat as you'd expect. Doing the same thing but with a screen.

Then there's the item known as the 'infotainment system'. Basically what the 1988 Buick Reatta failed at: A touchscreen that replaces your radio, climate controls and buries most things that once worked fine with buttons and muscle memory behind menus and touch UI. As if things aren't distracting enough they force this on everyone, and there's not a car or truck made today without one, so that's another example of the illusion of choice. At least when Buick tried it, the customer revolt made them reverse course and the Reatta and Riviera lost the touch screen a couple of years later. Nobody wanted it. Today? they just force you to accept it and nobody has a say. At least before, like with New Coke, the company had to listen or risk bankruptcy. Today, it seems they find ways to force unwanted tech and change on folks and ensure that everyone does it so you can't find somewhere else to go.

How modern is modern?

My 1997 Honda Accord, my 2009 Ford Flex and my 2013 Nissan Sentra all have analogue gauges. While the Flex has a 2009 era Microsoft SYNC system, you don't have to use it at all. I have knobs and buttons that control the radio. My other two cars don't have any entertainment systems, except for the in dash radio and CD players. My Flex has a 6-disc CD changer but I have yet to use it.

There's only been one screen in my cars and I had to add it manually with a suction cup iPad holder or cupholder and my 1st gen iPad Mini (using Google Maps). 90% of the time my iPad is sitting on my desk inside the house and I drive around with an empty holder.

Start any of my cars, put them in drive and go.

Maybe your complaint is more about high-end, less than 3 year old cars?

Modern operating systems. Can't disable updates, and if you can (well, you can on macOS) it will constantly nag you. Can't disable any notification about 'startup items' so if you have apps that update in the background you get a list of those you have to dismiss each reboot. Totally idiot proofed so you can't login as admin without restrictions. Can't install 'unapproved' apps. Can't downgrade. Again, this was not an issue in the past. I could downgrade my Pentium systems all the way to DOS if I so wanted. But on a modern Mac? Can't even put Mountain Lion on.

I am typing this message, like all my previous messages, on a 2009 Mac Pro running Sonoma. I can do pretty much what you say can't be done. I've just used Google a lot to figure things out.

Society is trending to a scary place. Ever experienced an AI-powered drive through yet? Don't worry, it's coming. It's as bad as it is on various YouTube and TikTok shorts. Many 20 oz coolers are replacing the glass doors with LCD screens. Ads are beginning to play in gas station bathrooms through mirrors, or on gas pumps. You see ads if you plug your EV into a fast charger. Totally something out of a Black Mirror episode. What is this a solution for again?

OK. First. 99% of the time I go inside to order. My experience with just humans behind the speaker have been that they routinely manage to screw my order up. I also hate being in a long line of cars. Going inside is faster.

In a lot of places they now have kiosks to order. I go directly to those. Why? Because it's black and white what my order is. There is no mishearing, no fumbling of buttons, no screwing up my order. If my order is screwed up it's because I hit a wrong button myself. This is particularly beneficial at KFC, because historically KFC has screwed me consistently.

Maybe AI will do a better job than the humans behind the counter/speaker.

20oz coolers. Not seeing those at Walmart - where I'd be most likely to use them. Just got a SB Frap in a bottle this morning from one of those at Walmart. Glass door. If you're talking CVS/Walgreens, I have seen that. I don't get my drinks there. Ripoff pricing.

Already seen ads on gas pumps. I ignore them because I'm focusing on the price gauge when filling up. I've paid $20 for gas since the late 1980s when I started driving. That is ALL I will ever give a gas station pump - $20. But you have to watch because the price gauge goes fast. I tend to stop around $19.90 so the gas station doesn't get a penny over $20.

Gas station bathrooms? Seriously? I go at home. And in a pinch, at work. All the places I am are no more than 20 mins from home. I can wait and not have to deal with gas station bathrooms.

I do not own an EV.

Never seen a Black Mirror episode.

PS. Back to restaurants. I once ordered a large coffee at McDonalds around 1995. I got a medium. When I complained, the employee told me that what I had was a large. You see, according to him, McD had medium, large and extra large as coffee sizes. Never mind the board RIGHT BEHIND HIM said 'small, medium and large!'. And I've had much, much, much worse human screw ups of my orders over the years. No AI involved! So, yeah. My trust in HUMANS taking my order is pretty much non-existant.

I think you have more faith in your fellow man than I do.

 

[mk313]

I grew up very rural and on a farm, next to about 150 acres of forest. Moved away for college and then for several years afterwards (different cities, in different states). Moved back to a rural area about seven years ago, at 39, and won't go back to a city or suburb. I like not seeing my neighbors homes from mine, being able to have some animals, chickens and goats in our case, have a huge vegetable garden, and tinker with classic tractors.

Anyway, back to the topic. I find myself pulling away from tech, too. I don't take my phone with me when running or doing local errands, and really only have a handful of apps on my phone...no social media, at all, no games, no video streaming (including YT), and the only browser I have is Firefox Focus. Safari is disabled. My setup works, and I might only use my phone an hour a day. You don't HAVE to be plugged in all the time. Leave the phone in another other room when going to bed, for example.

I've been downsizing my tech collection, too. Giving away things, or selling it. I sometimes don't use my phone, or my computer on the weekends, so basically internet free.



I use Blank as well, and this has been Home Screen for well over a year:

View attachment 2622552

This looks interesting, but I can't seem to find it on the App Store. Can someone post the exact name? I see Blank, but it's some sort of news aggregator & Blank Spaces seems to be some sort of fitness chain scheduling software. I see something called Minimalist Launcher that looks close, but just not sure.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

This looks interesting, but I can't seem to find it on the App Store. Can someone post the exact name? I see Blank, but it's some sort of news aggregator & Blank Spaces seems to be some sort of fitness chain scheduling software. I see something called Minimalist Launcher that looks close, but just not sure.

Blank Spaces Launcher App - App Store

Download Blank Spaces Launcher by Ecstasis LLC on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more apps like Blank Spaces Launcher.

apps.apple.com

Or

Dumb Phone (dp) App - App Store

Download Dumb Phone (dp) by Michael Tigas on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more apps like Dumb Phone (dp).

apps.apple.com

They are both good, and offer similar options.

 

[mk313]

Thank you

 

[boswald]

Maybe it's just me but the only roadblocks I experience involve the latest tech. Can't login to some sites because it takes 3 different hoops and 2FA to get in, while in 1999, you only needed the password.

In the past, calling your local phone company for issues with your line (or any company in general, say your utility co, any local store, etc) would get you instantly to a human. Heck, even phoning your local Kmart would get you a manager or other employee.

Today, it goes to some weird automated system, some of the worst being voice controlled vs. touch tone driven, and if you manage to win that game, you end up with some overseas person who not only barely speaks English coherently, but often is stuck to a script so if you have an issue they don't have in their script they just give up or end up in a feedback loop of 'have you tried turning it off and on again?' Asking for a higher-up isn't possible and often gets them angry. How is this an improvement from before again?

Don't get me started on any modern car vs my old LTD. Not happening. Ain't no way I'm owning any modern vehicle. I've been a passenger in some and I can't fathom how anyone lives with the amount of screens, touch-interfaces, beeps, boops, and nags they sound off with. Good lord...Just turn a key and put into Drive and I'm off! Then there is the one example of a form of skeuomorphism that I think is utterly ridiculous. They took out the mechanical gauges and replaced them with another LCD display that displays the SAME FREAKING GAUGES only they're skeuomorphic fakes. This is the one case of skeuomorphism where it solves no problem and looks about as neat as you'd expect. Doing the same thing but with a screen.

Then there's the item known as the 'infotainment system'. Basically what the 1988 Buick Reatta failed at: A touchscreen that replaces your radio, climate controls and buries most things that once worked fine with buttons and muscle memory behind menus and touch UI. As if things aren't distracting enough they force this on everyone, and there's not a car or truck made today without one, so that's another example of the illusion of choice. At least when Buick tried it, the customer revolt made them reverse course and the Reatta and Riviera lost the touch screen a couple of years later. Nobody wanted it. Today? they just force you to accept it and nobody has a say. At least before, like with New Coke, the company had to listen or risk bankruptcy. Today, it seems they find ways to force unwanted tech and change on folks and ensure that everyone does it so you can't find somewhere else to go.

Modern operating systems. Can't disable updates, and if you can (well, you can on macOS) it will constantly nag you. Can't disable any notification about 'startup items' so if you have apps that update in the background you get a list of those you have to dismiss each reboot. Totally idiot proofed so you can't login as admin without restrictions. Can't install 'unapproved' apps. Can't downgrade. Again, this was not an issue in the past. I could downgrade my Pentium systems all the way to DOS if I so wanted. But on a modern Mac? Can't even put Mountain Lion on.

Society is trending to a scary place. Ever experienced an AI-powered drive through yet? Don't worry, it's coming. It's as bad as it is on various YouTube and TikTok shorts. Many 20 oz coolers are replacing the glass doors with LCD screens. Ads are beginning to play in gas station bathrooms through mirrors, or on gas pumps. You see ads if you plug your EV into a fast charger. Totally something out of a Black Mirror episode. What is this a solution for again?

You make some excellent points so I'll have to rethink my position a little bit.

 

[mk313]

Maybe it's just me but the only roadblocks I experience involve the latest tech. Can't login to some sites because it takes 3 different hoops and 2FA to get in, while in 1999, you only needed the password.

In the past, calling your local phone company for issues with your line (or any company in general, say your utility co, any local store, etc) would get you instantly to a human. Heck, even phoning your local Kmart would get you a manager or other employee.

Today, it goes to some weird automated system, some of the worst being voice controlled vs. touch tone driven, and if you manage to win that game, you end up with some overseas person who not only barely speaks English coherently, but often is stuck to a script so if you have an issue they don't have in their script they just give up or end up in a feedback loop of 'have you tried turning it off and on again?' Asking for a higher-up isn't possible and often gets them angry. How is this an improvement from before again?

Don't get me started on any modern car vs my old LTD. Not happening. Ain't no way I'm owning any modern vehicle. I've been a passenger in some and I can't fathom how anyone lives with the amount of screens, touch-interfaces, beeps, boops, and nags they sound off with. Good lord...Just turn a key and put into Drive and I'm off! Then there is the one example of a form of skeuomorphism that I think is utterly ridiculous. They took out the mechanical gauges and replaced them with another LCD display that displays the SAME FREAKING GAUGES only they're skeuomorphic fakes. This is the one case of skeuomorphism where it solves no problem and looks about as neat as you'd expect. Doing the same thing but with a screen.

Then there's the item known as the 'infotainment system'. Basically what the 1988 Buick Reatta failed at: A touchscreen that replaces your radio, climate controls and buries most things that once worked fine with buttons and muscle memory behind menus and touch UI. As if things aren't distracting enough they force this on everyone, and there's not a car or truck made today without one, so that's another example of the illusion of choice. At least when Buick tried it, the customer revolt made them reverse course and the Reatta and Riviera lost the touch screen a couple of years later. Nobody wanted it. Today? they just force you to accept it and nobody has a say. At least before, like with New Coke, the company had to listen or risk bankruptcy. Today, it seems they find ways to force unwanted tech and change on folks and ensure that everyone does it so you can't find somewhere else to go.

Modern operating systems. Can't disable updates, and if you can (well, you can on macOS) it will constantly nag you. Can't disable any notification about 'startup items' so if you have apps that update in the background you get a list of those you have to dismiss each reboot. Totally idiot proofed so you can't login as admin without restrictions. Can't install 'unapproved' apps. Can't downgrade. Again, this was not an issue in the past. I could downgrade my Pentium systems all the way to DOS if I so wanted. But on a modern Mac? Can't even put Mountain Lion on.

Society is trending to a scary place. Ever experienced an AI-powered drive through yet? Don't worry, it's coming. It's as bad as it is on various YouTube and TikTok shorts. Many 20 oz coolers are replacing the glass doors with LCD screens. Ads are beginning to play in gas station bathrooms through mirrors, or on gas pumps. You see ads if you plug your EV into a fast charger. Totally something out of a Black Mirror episode. What is this a solution for again?

I feel like I'm somewhere in the middle on this.

I'm not super jazzed about how everything is trending now, but I also have no desire to go back to where we were in the 70's (or whatever).

Looking through your examples.
1. Sure logins were easier back in 1999, but it turns out it wasn't only easy for you to log into your account, it was also easy for someone else to steal your account from you. Hence the need for 2FA, etc. I'd much rather have the more secure, more time consuming login process.
2. Agree about the automated system, but you are also able to do a lot more online than you used to be able to do. I can't even think of the last time I had to call into a utility or other place for help, so that one's a wash in my book. It takes longer when you do have to contact the company, but overall contacts are way down.
3. Modern Cars. I feel like this is another one where modern cars are so much more reliable than older cars (at least that's been my experience). There is the downside that most people can't fix them themselves, but my last two cars have barely ever needed maintenance, and I tend to drive them a long time. My previous cars needed much more maintenance over the years.
4. The infotainment system. I guess this one kind of depends on the model. My mom has a Mazda that seems super complex to figure out, but my wife had several Fords for work & they were pretty simple to use.
5. I'm kind of with you here. You can downgrade a Mac to a prior version of the OS, but only to the one that it originally shipped with. Obviously not the same for iPhone, iPad, etc.

I'm not really sure what you're talking about with the AI stuff, so I'll not comment on that.

 

[SpotOnT]

I have a hard time relating to this. I have never had an account on any of the major social media websites, nor do any of my peers, and we all have smartphones.

I would think that learning methods of self control would be better than lugging around a walkman, a flip phone, an instant camera, paper maps, a phone book, etc. I everywhere you go?

But maybe there is a huge group of people that would rather go “retro” instead, and I just never encounter them? I don’t know.

 

[Howard2k]

I would think that learning methods of self control would be better than lugging around a walkman, a flip phone, an instant camera, paper maps, a phone book, etc.

Spot on!

 

[LionTeeth]

Problem is that the world and society have pretty much made them required tech. I am lucky enough to live in a backwoods rural area where you don't need a smartphone much less a modern one but I'm hearing tales that there are folks who are required to have one to hold a job, or even pay their bills. Some live in countries that don't take cash and require payment apps. That is just cringy to me. But it's easy to say 'well don't get addicted' to an addict or someone who uses their phone for 99% of their daily lives. It's become the new heroin, sadly, and nothing is being done about it. The idea of buying a phone just to call and text is as much a fantasy to many people as the idea of the world being flat. Some just cannot imagine a world without apps and QR codes.

It's scary to me that there will be a day where nobody can conceive of life before phones, the internet, or even computers. It's bad enough folks exist who don't know who Lassie or Buck Rogers are or think the freaking Atari Video Computer System is a myth, and it's only gonna get worse with each generation. They must have banned teaching history in schools or something, kinda like how they did to Cursive.

Why do those things have to be remembered? Because they existed?
There will always be people who are well read. It won't be forgotten.

Culture and life is moving never stopping. What's weird to you is normal to someone much younger. I know all about Bing Crosby and bogart and all of those movies and James Stewart's war activity etc. I grew up playing with my uncles old toys when we'd visit my grandparents place, reading mad magazine from the 60s. I know all about it. But that's outside the norm. The world has simply moved on and those memories and references fade.

Grab someone from 1850 and this world would be so alien to him he would not want to know anything about lassie or buck rogers.

It's not a cause for concern.

 

[eyoungren]

Why do those things have to be remembered? Because they existed?
There will always be people who are well read. It won't be forgotten.

Culture and life is moving never stopping. What's weird to you is normal to someone much younger. I know all about Bing Crosby and bogart and all of those movies and James Stewart's war activity etc. I grew up playing with my uncles old toys when we'd visit my grandparents place, reading mad magazine from the 60s. I know all about it. But that's outside the norm. The world has simply moved on and those memories and references fade.

Grab someone from 1850 and this world would be so alien to him he would not want to know anything about lassie or buck rogers.

It's not a cause for concern.

I had an instructor back in the early 1990s who made a comment about classic cars. He was restoring some car from the late 1940s/early 1950s. His comment was basically that people tended to romanticize the past and this had the effect in his case of raising the price of parts. It irritated him because he was alive during that time period and he knew what was garbage back then, was still garbage now. 40 years or so (at that time) had not changed anything.

It was an object lesson for me. Not everything in the past was great, of the highest/best quality and did super wonderful stuff that makes you feel all nostalgicky inside. Just like any period of time - there was stuff that was absolute trash and considered to be so even then.

 

[KeithBN]

And also the potential for an iPhone model that at firmware level is not able to run any social media applications (or the ability to black list particular applications), where perhaps an aftermarket desire to do so is subject to some kind of administration fee for Apple to turn that back on at hardware/firmware level.

Well, we could go down such a ridiculous nanny-controlled route, I suppose.

Or, and hear me out on this, we could TAKE RESPONSIBILITY (I know, it’s an alien concept to far too many these days) - if you don’t want social media apps, use the simply hack (‘cos everything is a hack these days apparently) of not installing them.

Job done.

You are an adult - act like it, for heaven’s sake.
Take responsibility for your actions.


I had a friend recently whinging about how distracting it is with notifications pinging on their phone all the time.

“Well have you ever thought of turning them off? It’s your phone, you are in charge not it. If you find them distracting, use the settings helpfully and thoughtfully provided for that very purpose…”

They were momentarily stunned by the concept but eventually did it.
And you know what?
They’ve stopped being distracted by notifications!

Amazing what taking a bit of personal responsibility can achieve…

 

[TracerAnalog]

Easy to say if you live in a backwoods area like I do, but for some, their entire lives depend on apps for everything, including paying for stuff. Which is sad and a problem that needs solving.

Paying for stuff, banking apps, calendar, those things are not the problem. It's the constant engagement with social media. Change my mind 😅

 

[fatTribble]

I used to seek out tech. In the 70s, my first calculator and later VCR felt like I was slowly clawing my way to the future. That process continued for decades with CDs, LaserDiscs, digital cameras and the internet of course.

Now I feel like the tech has become so ubiquitous that I want to flee it. It feels odd even to type that. In my opinion, it’s oftentimes not the tech itself but the way it’s implemented or maybe the way it’s being used.

Some random examples:
New purchases that require pairing to an iPhone and an account setup in order to operate. I just want to take my temperature. I just want to see if I’ve lost any weight.

Going to dinner with a group of friends where they all discuss a funny video from social media. I really wanted to hear how they’re doing. Maybe talk about current events. Along those lines, trying to talk to someone who looks at their screen while trying to talk to you. Then unsurprisingly I have to repeat what I said.

Things that just don’t work. I’m often amazed when I turn on the radio or play a CD on my older car. I didn’t have to reboot it because it got stuck. I didn’t have to logout and login. No need to update software. Yep, they just play music.

I had a very nice loaner car thus week while mine was serviced. It had big beautiful screens. The problem was they were unnecessary. Around every display was a ton of white space. The fonts were larger than needed. There was, for me, way too much information displayed than I wanted or needed. I’m old school where I try to keep eyes on the road.

I really try to keep iPhone notifications to an absolute minimum. I don’t want to spend my day monitoring for something important. So I doubt I’d use a dedicated device just to minimize notifications.

Just my two cents. 🤷🏻‍♂️