Rant Thread - What really grinds your gears?

Deleted User · Dec 17, 2015

Badly design products.

I wonder how some products get out of the door. Nobody seems to think how they will perform over the long term. Maybe it's a sign of the times, that consumer products are expected not to last and will be replaced after a few months.

Here is a picture of my Garmin 610 GPS watch. At launch, this was Garmin's top of the line running watch, and is a very good device. Now why the hell do Garmin design a watch strap, which literally hangs on to the watch body by a fraction of a mm on both sides. You know if I was on the design team I would have said that with some use, the strap would eventually just pull off the watch body. Guess what happened to mine?
In this picture you can just about make out the microscopic pins that the strap hangs on.
In a conventional watch strap, there is a pin which goes right *through* the watch strap, securing it firmly to the watch body.
And because it's a bespoke design for this watch, I can only replace it with the official Garmin one.

Unforgiven · Dec 17, 2015

LV426 said:
Badly design products.

I wonder how some products get out of the door. Nobody seems to think how they will perform over the long term. Maybe it's a sign of the times, that consumer products are expected not to last and will be replaced after a few months.

Here is a picture of my Garmin 610 GPS watch. At launch, this was Garmin's top of the line running watch, and is a very good device. Now why the hell do Garmin design a watch strap, which literally hangs on to the watch body by a fraction of a mm on both sides. You know if I was on the design team I would have said that with some use, the strap would eventually just pull off the watch body. Guess what happened to mine?
In this picture you can just about make out the microscopic pins that the strap hangs on.
In a conventional watch strap, there is a pin which goes right *through* the watch strap, securing it firmly to the watch body.
And because it's a bespoke design for this watch, I can only replace it with the official Garmin one.

View attachment 98193

Grrr....

olbriar · Dec 17, 2015

I'm afraid your Garmin problem is nothing new. Required reading for 1970 Economics 101: The Waste Makers by Vance Packard. In searching for that link I find the book was published in 1960

It was a noted problem then and decades later it remains. :mad:

PattiCakeUS · Dec 17, 2015

olbriar said:
I'm afraid your Garmin problem is nothing new.

It's almost as if they want things to break, so you have to spend more of your hard-earned dollars to replace them... oh wait... [emoji14]

olbriar · Dec 17, 2015

The tricky part of today's engineering is to manufacture as cheaply as possible and have the product last just days beyond it's warranty. And... they are pretty darn good at it.

zuben el genub · Dec 17, 2015

mikedt said:
Not being able to read Russian.

You can thank Sts. Cyril and Methodius. They had the epic task of working with the Slav to get a readable alphabet.
They used some Latin, some Greek and made up the rest for sounds that had no approximation in Latin or Greek.

Serbs and Croats speak basically the same language, but one uses Cyrillic and the other Latin

PattiCakeUS · Dec 17, 2015

I think I've posted this before, but I really REALLY hate disappearing traffic lanes. Every morning I see multiple idiot drivers flying up the furthest right lane to pass people. One of these days we're actually going to get winter & slippery conditions, & that's going to cause traffic accidents.

kct1975 · Dec 17, 2015

PattiCakeUS said:
I think I've posted this before, but I really REALLY hate disappearing traffic lanes. Every morning I see multiple idiot drivers flying up the furthest right lane to pass people. One of these days we're actually going to get winter & slippery conditions, & that's going to cause traffic accidents.

Amen!

There is on in particular near where I live, where that happens all of the time. Being in the left lane, I have almost gotten hit several times (without any rain or snow)

zuben el genub · Dec 18, 2015

People with 4WD that think it will save them on any snow and ice. You always have to be on extra alert on hills with these crazies when the first snow hits.

The Vulcan pi**ed me off after one snow. He pushed the snow off the driveway rather than use the snowblower and left patches of snow where he though it would melt. I do have a 4WD and couldn't get up the driveway which isn't that much of an angle.
I thought I was in 4 wheel, but he had unlocked the hubs and hadn't told me.

HighSierra · Dec 18, 2015

Probably mentioned before. All the crap on your phone that you don't need, don't want and can't get rid of without rooting.

bjacks12 · Dec 18, 2015

zuben el genub said:
People with 4WD that think it will save them on any snow and ice. You always have to be on extra alert on hills with these crazies when the first snow hits.

The Vulcan pi**ed me off after one snow. He pushed the snow off the driveway rather than use the snowblower and left patches of snow where he though it would melt. I do have a 4WD and couldn't get up the driveway which isn't that much of an angle.
I thought I was in 4 wheel, but he had unlocked the hubs and hadn't told me.

It's awful. People think 4x4 is a magic button.

I also slid out of a driveway once in my dad's truck in high school. The roads were clear and dry so once I was out of our driveway, I would unlock the hubs to reduce the wear. I only needed 4x4 to get in and out of the driveway anyway.
I came home really tired one night and figured I could get back into the driveway in 2WD. I got most of the way up and slid back out into the street. Put in 4x4 and got back up.

The problem with 4x4 is that it helps you get going. It does nothing to help you stop.

Unforgiven · Dec 18, 2015

bjacks12 said:
The problem with 4x4 is that it helps you get going. It does nothing to help you stop.

qft, you always have 4 wheels stopping you.

PattiCakeUS · Dec 18, 2015

Unforgiven said:
qft, you always have 4 wheels stopping you.

Hold up, I thought the bumper & the hood were for stopping you? They're not??? :thinking:

zuben el genub · Dec 18, 2015

PattiCakeUS said:
Hold up, I thought the bumper & the hood were for stopping you? They're not???

Put a cow catcher with rubber bumpers on the front and use it for slowpokes who have to play with their phones while using a crosswalk.

mikedt · Dec 18, 2015

Banks that insist that you use Windoze for your account "security". :thumbsupdroid:

zuben el genub · Dec 19, 2015

mikedt said:
Banks that insist that you use Windoze for your account "security".

View attachment 98296

I've hated IE since version 4 and switched to Netscape and then Opera. The bank had a fit. They are doing better now, but I use Linux Mint Pale Moon or SRW Iron browsers and one operator had NO idea what Linux was. Pale Moon spoofs itself as Mozilla and I keep getting notices that my browser is outdated. It isn't - it's the spoof. Pale Moon looks like the original Firefox with toolbars and all. That's one reason I won't use Chrome or most of it's clones. I want my toolbars.

mikedt · Dec 19, 2015

Well CMB, I'm now using Windows and a Microsoft browser. :rolleyes:

And even if I use the IE that comes with Win 10, it still doesn't work. Fortunately their Android app works though, and I can bank via that.

Dngrsone · Dec 19, 2015

mikedt said:
Well CMB, I'm now using Windows and a Microsoft browser.

View attachment 98309

And even if I use the IE that comes with Win 10, it still doesn't work. Fortunately their Android app works though, and I can bank via that.

Are you using Explorer, or the Edge browser, which doesn't work very well...

LOveWerks · Dec 22, 2015

Hello, fellow Android people - it's LW once again, to torment you about Winblows 10. Number #1: Turn off Cortana, Microsoft Edge, disable Internet Exploder, and while Google and Chrome may be secure as far as email is concerned, you won't stop a dedicated scriptor - or, a dedicated tracker. Google is the new Controller of The Web. Chrome is just as bad for being under surveillance; even with extensions and add-ons, Google is dedicated to figuring out ways around developers who want privacy.

They track the @#*! out of you, too. Google +, once a hangout for Android developers, is now Facebook II, with their cloud backing up everything that is photographic, video or music media, your contacts (which, I still use... at least, the 'contacts' part, and the calendar -which I always set to Private). @zuben el genub once explained to me about NoScript, and browser extensions like that. I use Waterfox, with Ghostery and NoScript that I have edited to let certain scripts come through, so that my Internet experience isn't screwed with too badly. Avast and Windows Defender, as a backup, run every time I fire up Winblows 10.

Along with a VPN. Hypertext transfer protcol, or even hypertext transfer protocol with secure-socket layering, will NOT stop someone from sending a pop-up up to your screen, by way of our identified IP addresses - without VPN - that has an Oracle logo upon it, and it reads that you need to upgrade your version of Java. Suddenly, you have malware and spyware in your C: drive.

Then, you have people who pray upon older Americans - sending a pop-up that has their bank's logo, looking as real - as real can be - right there, on the pop-up, that reads: "...your bank account may be in danger of being compromised. We, as your bank, want to protect your privacy - click here, to fill out the form completely, so that we may thwart any account compromises upon your hard-earned money..."

The next business day, they have a zero account balance, their 401 K has been cashed in, along with various CDs, and other investments that their bank handles for them. What a shame.

We all remember the days of Mosaic, and the precursors to Netscape, et al. This was back when cookies weren't de rigeur, or - not as plentiful. People believed that the Web and the Internet were the last bastions of freedom. Well, we have companies in 'InterWeb' advertising that have codesters who set up servers that track you, find out what your online buying habits are, and establish - like Bing does - your Consumer ID, your identity, everything - down to your address, if you have location access on your smartphone turned on, or if you allow apps in your computer to be accessed online. We have surveillance from Big Brother - a running history of keywords that alert the NSA, and you may become an Enemy Combatant.

Or, at least you'll gain an increased level of scrutiny.

Winblows 10. Definitely a part of the problem, not the solution - and, yes - we are no longer TRULY FREE.

Merry Christmas everybody. I'm still here, every once in awhile. Marriage takes a LOT of time.

LW

Dngrsone · Dec 23, 2015

When someone spills water into my laptop.

I'm seriously upset... I have nine people living in a house built for a family of four. I have one little space that is supposedly mine, next to the loveseat currently occupied by my eldest, who is sleeping in it, and everyone dumps their crap there.

Now, there's a sippy cup and a water cup there, and one of those must have been knocked over into my laptop bag, and my machine has water in it and won't turn on.

This was a $2,000 machine last year, I can get a refurb for $950 right now, and I don't have that kind of money just lying around.

Deleted User · Dec 23, 2015

Dngrsone said:
When someone spills water into my laptop.

I'm seriously upset... I have nine people living in a house built for a family of four. I have one little space that is supposedly mine, next to the loveseat currently occupied by my eldest, who is sleeping in it, and everyone dumps their crap there.

Now, there's a sippy cup and a water cup there, and one of those must have been knocked over into my laptop bag, and my machine has water in it and won't turn on.

This was a $2,000 machine last year, I can get a refurb for $950 right now, and I don't have that kind of money just lying around.

A 'like' doesn't seem appropriate for that one. Is your laptop totally fried? Hope you can get it sorted.

kct1975 · Dec 23, 2015

Dngrsone said:
When someone spills water into my laptop.

I'm seriously upset... I have nine people living in a house built for a family of four. I have one little space that is supposedly mine, next to the loveseat currently occupied by my eldest, who is sleeping in it, and everyone dumps their crap there.

Now, there's a sippy cup and a water cup there, and one of those must have been knocked over into my laptop bag, and my machine has water in it and won't turn on.

This was a $2,000 machine last year, I can get a refurb for $950 right now, and I don't have that kind of money just lying around.

That really sux! [emoji107]

Sorry to hear that! [emoji17]

I sincerely hope that you can dry it out and get it working again

Dngrsone · Dec 23, 2015

Nope. Dried it out and it's not working. Going to have to try and figure out if I bought insurance on this thing and see if it's still valid

Kaat72 · Dec 23, 2015

Dang. Sorry man.

Dngrsone · Dec 23, 2015

Well, it looks like I was smart enough to purchase a two-year protection ~~racket~~ plan for it.

Hell, I'd only bought it last May, so it's still under warranty... Don't know if Toshiba will repair it if there's water damage. :/

Rant Thread - What really grinds your gears?

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