at least when it comes to consumer tech

like i can't even remember the last time i was excited for a new tech thing. maybe my second smart phone, i guess? that one was at least a big improvement from my first one. third was marginally better, and then the fourth, which i'm using now, i feel like i only got because of planned obsolescence (slow down/battery problems etc.)

it's such a stark contrast from growing up in the 90s/early 2000s

  • raven [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I had a phone with a fingerprint reader on the back, and it even let me scroll the content on screen with it. That was probably peak smartphone for me. Now it seems like they keep taking on engineering challenges they're really sure are exactly what the consumer wants. Like I really don't want a notch, bluetooth audio still isn't ready, and you really don't need to shove a fingerprint reader behind the display.

    Hardware and software are both getting increasingly user-hostile by the day. I want dials and switches and buttons. Fuck touch interfaces for everything :angery:

    • DespiteAllMyWage [des/pair]
      ·
      2 years ago

      I’ll never not be mad huawei got banned. It had one of those finger scanners/touchpads in the back and you’re correct: it fucking ruled.

        • DespiteAllMyWage [des/pair]
          ·
          2 years ago

          Nice! So many cool phone techs abandoned after partial adaptation. Like is Samsung the only one with those edge screens? Combine that with a back scanner and almost the entire hand would be usable to interface while holding the phone.

            • DespiteAllMyWage [des/pair]
              ·
              2 years ago

              Lol u right. Reason I don’t have one is because I broke it.

              It really does seem that the basic form is the only area that still innovates (foldable touch screens for example).

    • thisismyrealname [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      every new pixel phone seems to drop one of the good features that the previous generation had

      the 6 no longer has the rear fingerprint reader, it's got a slower under-screen one
      the 6a doesn't have a headphone jack anymore (sidenote: anyone who tells you that headphone jack hardware takes up too much space to go in a modern cellphone doesn't know what the fuck they're talking about; 99% of the hardware is still in there to drive the speakers)