The Technology Vent and Rant Thread

[ownedbycats]

Ugh, so Pinecone Research. They very infrequently send out a survey, less than once a month at times. Each survey was 300 points and I could instantly redeem it for a $3.00 PayPal payment.

Whoops, they just raised the minimum cashout to 1000 points.

It's not even divisible.

[DiapDealer]

My phone thinking I need assistance with correctly using it's/its. Especially when it's wrong 98% of the time when "correcting" its to it's.

[John F]

Siri in the car.

Me: "Siri, call X" the numbers are in my contacts, with 2 different labels
Siri: "would you like to cal xxx xxx xxxx or yyy yyy yyyy?"

How about a little help siri and use the labels when asking.

[ownedbycats]

User interfaces with small buttons.

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

User interfaces with small buttons.

I strongly agree. I've got a smartphone with a screen that's about 2.75 inches by 6.25 inches, yet the on-screen keyboard only takes up about the bottom quarter of that space. Although it does have an option to make the keyboard larger (so it takes about a third of the screen) it is not large enough.

That's why I went back to typing on the 12-key phone pad like the one on my flip phone. While it seems slower to type on, it's actually faster because with the small keys I was often tapping the wrong keys (as an example: I want to type a "C" and I end up typing "X", "V", "D" or the space bar) that I have to go back and correct. With the 12-key pad when I want to type a "C" I actually get a "C".

The only issue I have with it is that for some reason they put "S" (a very common letter) on the 7 key so I have to tap it four times to get an "S". They should have put it on the "8" key as the first letter.

[JSWolf]

Portable devices being made too light and thin so they are not all that good to hold.

[Comfy.n]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Portable devices being made too light and thin so they are not all that good to hold.

yet they announce that as a feature, like this "Its new frameless four-sided NanoEdge display boasts an ultraslim 5.7mm bezel" *so thin that it can almost cut you like a knife!*

[ownedbycats]

I think Samsung removed the headphone jacks from their phones in order to make them skinnier. (Or possibly to push sales for Bluetooth headphones.)

[Comfy.n]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I think Samsung removed the headphone jacks from their phones in order to make them skinnier. (Or possibly to push sales for Bluetooth headphones.)

I've learned about that removal only recently. I had to upgrade in January from an A3 2016 to an s10e, because it's the closest in compactness and fortunately, as it's a 2019 model, it still has the headphone jack. Also, it came with a free case that makes it good to hold, because it adds thickness to the device and has a good grip.

According to this article, "the company simply wants to save space for other parts."

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by Comfy.n

I've learned about that removal only recently. I had to upgrade in January from an A3 2016 to an s10e, because it's the closest in compactness and fortunately, as it's a 2019 model, it still has the headphone jack. Also, it came with a free case that makes it good to hold, because it adds height to the device and has a good grip.

According to this article, "the company simply wants to save space for other parts."

The problem with Bluetooth is that it isn't as good as a wired connection. I've used it with my digital audio player and at times when I'm using Bluetooth the audio will cut out. I don't know if it is because of my headphones (a pair of Shokz OpenMove bone conduction headphones) or because my digital audio player is using Bluetooth Version 4.2.

[Comfy.n]

Bluetooth has an inevitable audio delay in many cases

[Comfy.n]

As for USB-C earphones... that's another vent and rant, for reasons I don't care to argue ATM...

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by Comfy.n

Bluetooth has an inevitable audio delay in many cases

An audio delay shouldn't be an issue if you listening to music. It's only an issue if you are watching video or playing video games since the audio must stay in sync with the video.

What I would like to see is a set of Bluetooth headphones that contains a buffer memory. That way the audio is sent to the buffer, and you listen to the audio from the buffer. If there's an interruption in the Bluetooth signal the buffer gives the player time to recover before there is an interruption in the music.

Related example: When they were introducing Minidisc they showed just how skip proof the player was by, when the music was playing, pulling out the Minidisc, holding it up and then putting it back in the player with no interruption of the music.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Comfy.n

yet they announce that as a feature, like this "Its new frameless four-sided NanoEdge display boasts an ultraslim 5.7mm bezel" *so thin that it can almost cut you like a knife!*

That's OK if it's a TV because it's not portable.

One thing I do like is that my phone is not larger and heavier and much easier to hold. And because my phone is not larger and thicker, the speakers are much better then they were before.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Solitaire1

The problem with Bluetooth is that it isn't as good as a wired connection. I've used it with my digital audio player and at times when I'm using Bluetooth the audio will cut out. I don't know if it is because of my headphones (a pair of Shokz OpenMove bone conduction headphones) or because my digital audio player is using Bluetooth Version 4.2.

I've never had any Bluetooth headphones/earbuds cut out other then when the battery is flat. I think it's your Shokz that's the problem.

Even using Bluetooth with my TVs, I've never had a cut out or audio sync issue.