Technology is no longer our friend..
Jan 31st 2007, 7:00 pm
#1
Banned
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 93
Technology is no longer our friend..
...seriously. It dawned on me today when I was in the restroom and wanted to complete the simple everyday task of washing my hands. What once involved turning a tap, rinsing in water and drying on a paper towel has now turned into a frustrating ordeal involving motion sensor faucets, infra-red towel dispensers and automatic soap dispensers.
Ah the good old days when a twist of the tap gave you all the water you need immediately. Now you have to spend 10 seconds waving your hands around like a goon trying to activate the sensor!
If that isn't bad enough, now there are toothbrushes with digital countdowns to assess how long you've brushed, cell phones that play music and stupid blu-tooth ear clips for the truly pretentious.
I mean seriously - do we as a human race need all this shit? It seems to me that the era of truly life changing inventions - the television, the telephone, the washing machine, the car - has given way to the era of useless aesthetic garbage - talking fridges, pens with built in calculators, etc.
On a final note - has anyone else noticed the great Television con that is taking place now? Manufacturers have obviously cottoned on to the fact that TVs weren't profitable for them. In the old days, you'd buy a basic 'box' TV and it would last 10-20 years. Now they have been phased out in favor of fancy plasma screens with HD.
The catch? These new TVs are designed so that the tube/filament burns out after 5 years, meaning the owner has to buy a new one. Ka-ching #1: another $2500 for the manufacturers in just a few years, rather than waiting a decade or two. Ka-ching #2, you now also need to subscribe to HD service signals for $10 a month, not to mention cable and/or digital, HD DVD, DVR, and all the rest of it. The irony? You're still watching the same old shitty reruns and paltry TV shows. It's like buying fine china to eat your Big Mac off.
Rant over - technology these days sucks.
Ah the good old days when a twist of the tap gave you all the water you need immediately. Now you have to spend 10 seconds waving your hands around like a goon trying to activate the sensor!
If that isn't bad enough, now there are toothbrushes with digital countdowns to assess how long you've brushed, cell phones that play music and stupid blu-tooth ear clips for the truly pretentious.
I mean seriously - do we as a human race need all this shit? It seems to me that the era of truly life changing inventions - the television, the telephone, the washing machine, the car - has given way to the era of useless aesthetic garbage - talking fridges, pens with built in calculators, etc.
On a final note - has anyone else noticed the great Television con that is taking place now? Manufacturers have obviously cottoned on to the fact that TVs weren't profitable for them. In the old days, you'd buy a basic 'box' TV and it would last 10-20 years. Now they have been phased out in favor of fancy plasma screens with HD.
The catch? These new TVs are designed so that the tube/filament burns out after 5 years, meaning the owner has to buy a new one. Ka-ching #1: another $2500 for the manufacturers in just a few years, rather than waiting a decade or two. Ka-ching #2, you now also need to subscribe to HD service signals for $10 a month, not to mention cable and/or digital, HD DVD, DVR, and all the rest of it. The irony? You're still watching the same old shitty reruns and paltry TV shows. It's like buying fine china to eat your Big Mac off.
Rant over - technology these days sucks.
Last edited by Reverend; Jan 31st 2007 at 7:11 pm.
Jan 31st 2007, 7:06 pm
#2
Unmitigated Gall
Joined: Dec 2006
Location: it's still too dark to tell
Posts: 16,162
Re: Technology is no longer our friend..
I don't participate.
Except for washing my hands. I do that.
Incidentally, I used an automatic hand dryer the other day that I swear used a surplus jet engine from an F-4 Phantom. It was ear splittingly loud and nearly cooked my hands in the time it took to dry them.
Except for washing my hands. I do that.
Incidentally, I used an automatic hand dryer the other day that I swear used a surplus jet engine from an F-4 Phantom. It was ear splittingly loud and nearly cooked my hands in the time it took to dry them.
Jan 31st 2007, 9:16 pm
#3
Forum Regular
Joined: Aug 2002
Location: SE Qld
Posts: 107
Re: Technology is no longer our friend..
...seriously. It dawned on me today when I was in the restroom and wanted to complete the simple everyday task of washing my hands. What once involved turning a tap, rinsing in water and drying on a paper towel has now turned into a frustrating ordeal involving motion sensor faucets, infra-red towel dispensers and automatic soap dispensers.
Ah the good old days when a twist of the tap gave you all the water you need immediately. Now you have to spend 10 seconds waving your hands around like a goon trying to activate the sensor!
If that isn't bad enough, now there are toothbrushes with digital countdowns to assess how long you've brushed, cell phones that play music and stupid blu-tooth ear clips for the truly pretentious.
I mean seriously - do we as a human race need all this shit? It seems to me that the era of truly life changing inventions - the television, the telephone, the washing machine, the car - has given way to the era of useless aesthetic garbage - talking fridges, pens with built in calculators, etc.
On a final note - has anyone else noticed the great Television con that is taking place now? Manufacturers have obviously cottoned on to the fact that TVs weren't profitable for them. In the old days, you'd buy a basic 'box' TV and it would last 10-20 years. Now they have been phased out in favor of fancy plasma screens with HD.
The catch? These new TVs are designed so that the tube/filament burns out after 5 years, meaning the owner has to buy a new one. Ka-ching #1: another $2500 for the manufacturers in just a few years, rather than waiting a decade or two. Ka-ching #2, you now also need to subscribe to HD service signals for $10 a month, not to mention cable and/or digital, HD DVD, DVR, and all the rest of it. The irony? You're still watching the same old shitty reruns and paltry TV shows. It's like buying fine china to eat your Big Mac off.
Rant over - technology these days sucks.
Ah the good old days when a twist of the tap gave you all the water you need immediately. Now you have to spend 10 seconds waving your hands around like a goon trying to activate the sensor!
If that isn't bad enough, now there are toothbrushes with digital countdowns to assess how long you've brushed, cell phones that play music and stupid blu-tooth ear clips for the truly pretentious.
I mean seriously - do we as a human race need all this shit? It seems to me that the era of truly life changing inventions - the television, the telephone, the washing machine, the car - has given way to the era of useless aesthetic garbage - talking fridges, pens with built in calculators, etc.
On a final note - has anyone else noticed the great Television con that is taking place now? Manufacturers have obviously cottoned on to the fact that TVs weren't profitable for them. In the old days, you'd buy a basic 'box' TV and it would last 10-20 years. Now they have been phased out in favor of fancy plasma screens with HD.
The catch? These new TVs are designed so that the tube/filament burns out after 5 years, meaning the owner has to buy a new one. Ka-ching #1: another $2500 for the manufacturers in just a few years, rather than waiting a decade or two. Ka-ching #2, you now also need to subscribe to HD service signals for $10 a month, not to mention cable and/or digital, HD DVD, DVR, and all the rest of it. The irony? You're still watching the same old shitty reruns and paltry TV shows. It's like buying fine china to eat your Big Mac off.
Rant over - technology these days sucks.
Jan 31st 2007, 9:19 pm
#4
Banned
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 93
Re: Technology is no longer our friend..
LOL! No - and that's what's scary. I'm a young guy and I honestly think that we are putting technology in places it really doesn't NEED to be, just for the hell of it. I mean come on -- who needs a motion sensor soap dispenser for Gods Sake? Was it really all that complicated to press it with your hand?
It's funny that when you look back on old movies, they envisioned the Year 2010 as a place of flying cars, teleportation and domestic hovercrafts. Well we don't have any of that...but we do have mp3-enabled dog leashes!
It's funny that when you look back on old movies, they envisioned the Year 2010 as a place of flying cars, teleportation and domestic hovercrafts. Well we don't have any of that...but we do have mp3-enabled dog leashes!
Jan 31st 2007, 9:24 pm
#5
Forum Regular
Joined: Aug 2002
Location: SE Qld
Posts: 107
Re: Technology is no longer our friend..
Really? I gotta get me one of those.
In the case of motion sensor equipped bathrooms, thats probably just down to councils being scared you'll sue them if you catch a cold of a dirty tap or something equally dumb.
I'm surprised the MP3 dog leash wasn't released earlier. Its obviously a huge untapped market.
In the case of motion sensor equipped bathrooms, thats probably just down to councils being scared you'll sue them if you catch a cold of a dirty tap or something equally dumb.
I'm surprised the MP3 dog leash wasn't released earlier. Its obviously a huge untapped market.
Jan 31st 2007, 9:31 pm
#6
Thinking about it
Joined: Oct 2005
Location: Mid-West
Posts: 9,435
Re: Technology is no longer our friend..
...seriously. It dawned on me today when I was in the restroom and wanted to complete the simple everyday task of washing my hands. What once involved turning a tap, rinsing in water and drying on a paper towel has now turned into a frustrating ordeal involving motion sensor faucets, infra-red towel dispensers and automatic soap dispensers.
These people need to get their priorities sorted out.
Jan 31st 2007, 9:32 pm
#7
Banned
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 93
Re: Technology is no longer our friend..
I'm sick of people posting something that bothers them about American culture (which is to be expected on an ExPat forum - DUH), only for some 2 dimensional smart alec to tell them "If you don't like, go live somewhere else".
BOOOOOOORING.
"Go and live with the Amish". Thanks for your contribution and feedback.
Jan 31st 2007, 9:33 pm
#8
Mr. Grumpy
Joined: Jun 2003
Location: Nashville, TN
Posts: 3,100
Re: Technology is no longer our friend..
...seriously. It dawned on me today when I was in the restroom and wanted to complete the simple everyday task of washing my hands. What once involved turning a tap, rinsing in water and drying on a paper towel has now turned into a frustrating ordeal involving motion sensor faucets, infra-red towel dispensers and automatic soap dispensers.
If that isn't bad enough, now there are toothbrushes with digital countdowns to assess how long you've brushed, cell phones that play music and stupid blu-tooth ear clips for the truly pretentious.
On a final note - has anyone else noticed the great Television con that is taking place now? Manufacturers have obviously cottoned on to the fact that TVs weren't profitable for them. In the old days, you'd buy a basic 'box' TV and it would last 10-20 years. Now they have been phased out in favor of fancy plasma screens with HD.
The catch? These new TVs are designed so that the tube/filament burns out after 5 years, meaning the owner has to buy a new one. Ka-ching #1: another $2500 for the manufacturers in just a few years, rather than waiting a decade or two. Ka-ching #2, you now also need to subscribe to HD service signals for $10 a month, not to mention cable and/or digital, HD DVD, DVR, and all the rest of it. The irony? You're still watching the same old shitty reruns and paltry TV shows. It's like buying fine china to eat your Big Mac off.
.
If that isn't bad enough, now there are toothbrushes with digital countdowns to assess how long you've brushed, cell phones that play music and stupid blu-tooth ear clips for the truly pretentious.
On a final note - has anyone else noticed the great Television con that is taking place now? Manufacturers have obviously cottoned on to the fact that TVs weren't profitable for them. In the old days, you'd buy a basic 'box' TV and it would last 10-20 years. Now they have been phased out in favor of fancy plasma screens with HD.
The catch? These new TVs are designed so that the tube/filament burns out after 5 years, meaning the owner has to buy a new one. Ka-ching #1: another $2500 for the manufacturers in just a few years, rather than waiting a decade or two. Ka-ching #2, you now also need to subscribe to HD service signals for $10 a month, not to mention cable and/or digital, HD DVD, DVR, and all the rest of it. The irony? You're still watching the same old shitty reruns and paltry TV shows. It's like buying fine china to eat your Big Mac off.
.
You also seem not to have a clue
how can motion sensoe stuff in public lavatories not be more hygenic and more sanitary thus resulting in fewer germs?
Blue tooth ear sets are a great safety device for drivers - although I do laugh at people just randomply wearing them at the grocery store
And what nonsense are you talking about plasma tvs?
the resolution and viewing experience is far superior and you are talking crap about lifespan - manufacturers rate their sets at 60k hours which for someone watching 4 hours a day equates to 40 years - how is that a con?
I suggest you do some research before having a rant on a subject you seem clueless about
Jan 31st 2007, 9:34 pm
#9
Banned
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 93
Re: Technology is no longer our friend..
Jan 31st 2007, 9:39 pm
#10
Banned
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 93
Re: Technology is no longer our friend..
you have choice - go and live with the amish
You also seem not to have a clue
how can motion sensoe stuff in public lavatories not be more hygenic and more sanitary thus resulting in fewer germs?
Blue tooth ear sets are a great safety device for drivers - although I do laugh at people just randomply wearing them at the grocery store
And what nonsense are you talking about plasma tvs?
the resolution and viewing experience is far superior and you are talking crap about lifespan - manufacturers rate their sets at 60k hours which for someone watching 4 hours a day equates to 40 years - how is that a con?
I suggest you do some research before having a rant on a subject you seem clueless about
You also seem not to have a clue
how can motion sensoe stuff in public lavatories not be more hygenic and more sanitary thus resulting in fewer germs?
Blue tooth ear sets are a great safety device for drivers - although I do laugh at people just randomply wearing them at the grocery store
And what nonsense are you talking about plasma tvs?
the resolution and viewing experience is far superior and you are talking crap about lifespan - manufacturers rate their sets at 60k hours which for someone watching 4 hours a day equates to 40 years - how is that a con?
I suggest you do some research before having a rant on a subject you seem clueless about
Now to address your points:
1 - Whoever the wusses and wimps are who catch "germs" and "infections" from touching a damn soap dispenser, they have bigger problems than sanitary issues. Touching taps never hurt my grandparents generation - they certainly were much more robust and tough than the pretentious, hygeine obsessed freaks of today. I'd rather technology be better used to advance us more strongly, thank you.
2 - Ear sets for drivers are a moot point. It's the distraction of the call itself- IE the conversation, the talking and thinking - that creates dangerous driving situations, not the mere holding of a phone. Any idiot who is so important and so self obsessed that he can't even walk into the grocery store without risking missing a call must live a sad little life.
3 - Who the hell cares about DPI and resolution? So what? Now I can get a better look at the zits on Pauline Fowler's face? Great - sign me up.
As for "a subject you seem clueless about" - how can I be clueless about the society I live in, you idiot?! If you really feel that your life has been enriched and fulfilled by HD TVs and motion sensors urinals, then congratulations. You are obviously easily pleased.
Last edited by Reverend; Jan 31st 2007 at 9:47 pm.
Jan 31st 2007, 9:44 pm
#11
Thinking about it
Joined: Oct 2005
Location: Mid-West
Posts: 9,435
Re: Technology is no longer our friend..
First of all, BritGuy,**** off.
Now to address your points:
1 - Whoever the wusses and wimps are who catch "germs" and "infections" from touching a damn soap dispenser, they have bigger problems than sanitary problems. Touching taps never hurt my grandparents generation - they certainly were much more robust and tough than the pretentious, hygeine obsessed freaks of today. I'd rather technology be better used to advance us more strongly, thank you.
2 - Ear sets for drivers are a moot point. It's the distraction of the call itself- IE the conversation, the talking and thinking - that creates dangerous driving situations, not the mere holding of a phone. Any idiot who is so important and so self obsessed that he can't even walk into the grocery store without risking missing a call must live a sad little life.
3 - Who the hell cares about DPI and resolution? So what? Now I can get a better look at the zits on Pauline Fowler's face? Great - sign me up.
As for "a subject you seem clueless about" - how can I be clueless about the society I live in, you idiot?! If you really feel that your life has been enriched and fulfilled by HD TVs and motion sensors urinals, then congratulations. You are obviously easily pleased.
Now to address your points:
1 - Whoever the wusses and wimps are who catch "germs" and "infections" from touching a damn soap dispenser, they have bigger problems than sanitary problems. Touching taps never hurt my grandparents generation - they certainly were much more robust and tough than the pretentious, hygeine obsessed freaks of today. I'd rather technology be better used to advance us more strongly, thank you.
2 - Ear sets for drivers are a moot point. It's the distraction of the call itself- IE the conversation, the talking and thinking - that creates dangerous driving situations, not the mere holding of a phone. Any idiot who is so important and so self obsessed that he can't even walk into the grocery store without risking missing a call must live a sad little life.
3 - Who the hell cares about DPI and resolution? So what? Now I can get a better look at the zits on Pauline Fowler's face? Great - sign me up.
As for "a subject you seem clueless about" - how can I be clueless about the society I live in, you idiot?! If you really feel that your life has been enriched and fulfilled by HD TVs and motion sensors urinals, then congratulations. You are obviously easily pleased.
Jan 31st 2007, 9:50 pm
#13
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2004
Location: Northern California
Posts: 872
Jan 31st 2007, 9:54 pm
#14
Mr. Grumpy
Joined: Jun 2003
Location: Nashville, TN
Posts: 3,100
Re: Technology is no longer our friend..
First of all, BritGuy,**** off.
Now to address your points:
1 - Whoever the wusses and wimps are who catch "germs" and "infections" from touching a damn soap dispenser, they have bigger problems than sanitary problems. Touching taps never hurt my grandparents generation - they certainly were much more robust and tough than the pretentious, hygeine obsessed freaks of today. I'd rather technology be better used to advance us more strongly, thank you.
2 - Ear sets for drivers are a moot point. It's the distraction of the call itself- IE the conversation, the talking and thinking - that creates dangerous driving situations, not the mere holding of a phone. Any idiot who is so important and so self obsessed that he can't even walk into the grocery store without risking missing a call must live a sad little life.
3 - Who the hell cares about DPI and resolution? So what? Now I can get a better look at the zits on Pauline Fowler's face? Great - sign me up.
As for "a subject you seem clueless about" - how can I be clueless about the society I live in, you idiot?! If you really feel that your life has been enriched and fulfilled by HD TVs and motion sensors urinals, then congratulations. You are obviously easily pleased.
Now to address your points:
1 - Whoever the wusses and wimps are who catch "germs" and "infections" from touching a damn soap dispenser, they have bigger problems than sanitary problems. Touching taps never hurt my grandparents generation - they certainly were much more robust and tough than the pretentious, hygeine obsessed freaks of today. I'd rather technology be better used to advance us more strongly, thank you.
2 - Ear sets for drivers are a moot point. It's the distraction of the call itself- IE the conversation, the talking and thinking - that creates dangerous driving situations, not the mere holding of a phone. Any idiot who is so important and so self obsessed that he can't even walk into the grocery store without risking missing a call must live a sad little life.
3 - Who the hell cares about DPI and resolution? So what? Now I can get a better look at the zits on Pauline Fowler's face? Great - sign me up.
As for "a subject you seem clueless about" - how can I be clueless about the society I live in, you idiot?! If you really feel that your life has been enriched and fulfilled by HD TVs and motion sensors urinals, then congratulations. You are obviously easily pleased.
You comment on tvs was something that is not up for conjecture or interpretation - you were factually completely wrong - so therefore you were clueless. When I watch movies or sports, being able to see details rather than fuzzy blobs is a definte benefit. If you all watch is east enders, then fair enough, I can see why you would not care about clarity
Actually, yeah, if i'm at a sports event, I'd much rather not have to touch a water tap that 2000 other blokes have touched just after shaking thier cock - do you like the idea of that? I'm not a clean freak by any means but theres somethings that are just gross!
Your comment about conversations in the car is equally ridiculous - yes, any king of distraction is bad, but the reality is that you can;t stop drivers talking to passengers or talking on their phones; bluetooth headsets are right now probably the best way to mitigate the risk of accidents.
If I'm easily pleased at least I'm living a fulfilled life, by your comments you imply that things aren't measuring up for you to your high standards...
