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Why is everything so ugly?

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Re: Why is everything so ugly?

#241

Post by JadeNB »

vagab0nd wrote: post #196
JadeNB wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Tesla vehicles look beautiful to me. As you say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder—but, seriously, the Cybertruck as a thing of beauty? (This is from someone who actually liked the boxy car designs of old.)

Your comment just proved the point of gp. Even if you think something is ugly, why not acknowledge the fact that some might consider it beautiful?

> Even if you think something is ugly, why not acknowledge the fact that some might consider it beautiful?

I do. I was checking to see whether my parent really meant to include Cybertrucks among things of beauty. I didn't say that they were wrong—I think I made my point of view implicitly clear, but also said, in a reply https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39081204 to cs702's reply https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39080900, that my opinion was of no relevance to whether they found it beautiful.

Or maybe you mean, why even go so far as to ask the question?—but, well, this is a discussion board, the topic under discussion is specifically whether everything is ugly, and Teslas were advanced contra that thesis, so it seemed relevant!

Re: Why is everything so ugly?

#242

Post by shiroiuma »

c0pium wrote: post #239
twiddling wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Best television I had was a HD Sony CRT. Incredible picture. Also weighed over 230 pounds. My back does not miss CRTs

I guarantee you that this is not the case. Go watch an old CRT, even the eye-wateringly expensive ones sucked compared to even a mediocre OLED. We just think they were great because of the SD pieces of crap we compared them to. Ditto for all of the technology Millennials have ennui for.

As an Xer who grew up with all these old technologies and saw the transitions to modern stuff, I fully agree. It's odd how Millennials are so interested in obsolete and obviously inferior technologies like LPs and Polaroid photos.

There's very, very few cases I can think of where an older technology really was better in a significant way. Mechanical keyboards like the IBM Model M (or better yet, the Model F, though the layouts on those keyboards sucked) were really great, but they were also expensive, and we do have all the Cherry-switch mech keyboards now, though personally I don't like them as much.

However, one big negative trend I do see is with streaming services and the entire lack of ownership this carries. This isn't really a technology problem: there's nothing stopping you from buying real CDs and ripping them to FLAC and listening to those on your phone, for instance (that's what I do). I'd call this a mis-application of new technology, similar to how so much software is so ridiculously slow and laggy: it's entirely possible (and easier than ever before with modern tooling) to write software that performs well, but people are just too lazy to do it, and insist on building in too much BS like ads and tracking.

Re: Why is everything so ugly?

#243

Post by ironmagma »

snakeyjake wrote: post #124

> After New York replaced the sodium-vapor lights in the city’s 250,000 streetlamps with shiny new LEDs in 2017, the experience of walking through the city at night transformed, almost . . . overnight. Forgiving, romantic, shadowy orange gave way to cold, all-seeing bluish white. Before the late 1970s, NYC was illuminated at night by pinkish-white incandescent bulbs. When the yellow monstrosities were rolled out peop…

You seem to make no room for the possibility that the people rioting were correct in both cases, that the current lights are worse than the yellow, and the yellow lights are worse than the pinkish.

Re: Why is everything so ugly?

#244

Post by acuozzo »

c0pium wrote: post #239
twiddling wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Best television I had was a HD Sony CRT. Incredible picture. Also weighed over 230 pounds. My back does not miss CRTs

I guarantee you that this is not the case. Go watch an old CRT, even the eye-wateringly expensive ones sucked compared to even a mediocre OLED. We just think they were great because of the SD pieces of crap we compared them to. Ditto for all of the technology Millennials have ennui for.

Keep in mind that the OP stated "HD CRT".

Large 1080i 16:9 CRT TVs existed for several years. Several had HDMI inputs. They were massive.

I once conducted a side-by-side with a Pioneer Kuro plasma, PRO-111fd. Both sets were ISF calibrated with a colorimeter. The HD CRT was visibly and measurably better in nearly every category, most noticeably in black level. I, unfortunately, don't remember the model number of the HD CRT in question, but I know it was produced by Sony. The KD-34XBR960 looks close to what I remember.

Re: Why is everything so ugly?

#245

Post by acuozzo »

wonderwonder wrote: post #177
yostrovs wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When selling our previous property, the seller agent recommended we paint it in "agreeable gray," supposedly the current color that is neutral and will not affect anyone negatively.

What I find really interesting is that women can see shades that men cannot. My wife painted several shades of grey on the wall, including "agreeable gray" and I could not tell the difference, all looked the same. I experienced the same thing when she was looking for a grey / green for the kitchen cabinets. I could not tell the difference and all looked grey. She was also able to see shades of blue where all I saw wa…

https://www.xrite.com/hue-test

Re: Why is everything so ugly?

#246

Post by nradov »

bufio wrote: post #228
renewiltord wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of these aesthetic criticism people are just conservative people. They don't like change. The world was best when they arrived somewhere. That's pretty much it. SF is full of a similar kind.

Do you really prefer hospital lighting over yellow lighting?

I really prefer full spectrum lighting over yellow lighting in all circumstances. Bring on the white LEDs.

Re: Why is everything so ugly?

#247

Post by acuozzo »

nytesky wrote: post #86
KerrAvon wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Millennials in America apparently actually like the monotone look; it’s not just the resale thing. The process of making the house more bland for resale used to be called ‘beige-ing‘ by realtors (estate agents?) in the US; it’s not new, but it wasn’t always white and gray.

Pretty sure it’s embraced by Millenials. Kids toys and room decorations used to be vivid bright colors, and now they are a sea of beige highlighted with very faint pastal colors if they have color at all. https://www.crateandbarrel.com/kids/ https://www.wsj.com/articles/hot-new-baby-gear-is-sad-beige-...

Which is hilarious because all of the free/cheap real wood furniture on FB Marketplace is stained golden oak or similar.

My entire dining room cost $600. All from FB. All solid wood. Buffet table, china cabinet, dining table, and six chairs. It must have cost $5,000+ when purchased new.

My peers would rather fill a home with monotone colors and disposable cardboard furniture.

So as a millennial all I can say is: Yay! I'll gladly take the stuff they're passing up.

Re: Why is everything so ugly?

#248

Post by randomdata »

pixl97 wrote: post #131
latency-guy2 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I firmly dislike cherrywood, anything that is more red than brown is absolute shit to me. My parents loved it, thought it was the pinnacle of wealth. Now you might be questioning why I dislike cherrywood. The answer doesn't actually matter though, I dislike it. Most importantly, I am not the only one. I like vinyl, because I spent a few weeks of my life (probably at most a few hours total actual wall clock hours on i…

No idea why you're downvoted for this, but I guess pointing out the obvious on HN makes some people mad.

You do not understand why people are pressing the "this is correct" button even while you recognize that the comment is stating the obvious?

Perhaps you don't understand why anyone would take time out their day to press any button that doesn't do anything? I suppose that's fair. One of life's mysteries.

Re: Why is everything so ugly?

#249

Post by rootusrootus »

ricardobeat wrote: post #202
crazygringo wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Now this dude is nostalgic for them? No, they really were better for sleep. With the orange-ish sodium lights, I could go to sleep with their light still coming through the bedroom window. The amber glow was reminiscent of the glow of fire. The harsh blue light now tells my brain it's daytime. I had to buy blackout curtains to be able to fall asleep. It's the same principle as using the amber-hued Night Mode on you…

> Contrast with highways where you do want people to stay awake, so blue makes sense I remember some kind of study around yellow light being ideal for roads actually. The human eye is more sensitive in the green/yellow part of the spectrum, the lights are more efficient and cut through fog better.

The difference between white & yellow light in fog is minimal. What really makes fog lights effective is being under 18 inches off the ground so they shine under the fog.

Re: Why is everything so ugly?

#250

Post by rootusrootus »

inglor_cz wrote: post #212
saghm wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> With the orange-ish sodium lights, I could go to sleep with their light still coming through the bedroom window. The amber glow was reminiscent of the glow of fire. > The harsh blue light now tells my brain it's daytime. I had to buy blackout curtains to be able to fall asleep. When I moved in with my fiancee (at the time my girlfriend), I noticed after a couple months that I had a bit of trouble sleeping due to he…

Sleep mask + very good earplugs + some melatonin made me a very sound sleeper in my forties, while I suffered from chronic insomnia since my teens.

An alternative to earplugs for people who are sensitive to having things in their ears is a good old white noise generator. Preferably a non-electronic one, like the original Marpac DOHM.
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