Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Last Quiet Thing

terrygodier.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 165 posts

Re: The Last Quiet Thing

#121

Post by robinsonb5 »

greedo wrote: post #99
pimlottc wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, I think the idea of products being done is a temporary illusion. Older analog technology needed a lot more maintenance over time. I doubt someone in the 1970s would agree with this; most things then needed to be regularly mended, fixed, tuned, serviced, repaired, refilled, what have you. It’s only in the last few decades that materials and manufacturing have gotten good enough that you can expect gadgets to…

I don't agree. Older tech was simpler, and often more reliable. They didn't depend on being able to connect to a networked time clock for sync, didn't need networking period. Today's systems are inherently fragile. I grew up in the 70's. About the only thing I would say is less fragile are cars. Today's cars are just better in so many ways but are unmaintainable by the average user. And people throw out things instea…

> And people throw out things instead of repairing them because they don't know how.

Part of it is the materials used now, though - many things get thrown out because the plastic bodyshell got old and brittle, and broke. (Plastic is particularly difficult to repair because the break usually presents very little surface area for glueing.)

Re: The Last Quiet Thing

#122

Post by duggable »

greedo wrote: post #100
TacticalCoder wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Common... I've got tools I "inherited" from my grandpa that are still fine (brothers and I basically inherited the house and the tools where in the shed and whenever I go there on vacation, I use those tools to fix the house). I've got a screwdriver which I definitely remember using as a teenager, in the late 80s (and which I used for a variety of DIY jobs ever since) to assemble the trucks on my skateboards. And tha…

When The Force Awakens, I spent $99 on a toy version of BB8 that you could control from your iPhone. It was a cool toy. Then after a while the app was no longer supported... Sad times. I also owned every iPhone from the first through iPhone 7 and kept each as I replaced the old one. After a while, none were usable due to changes in cellphone tech. And I realized keeping LiO batteries around was a huge fire hazard...

If it’s the same BB8 I had, there was a repo on GitHub that allowed you to control it from your computer via Bluetooth. Might be worth looking around if you want to bring it back to life

Re: The Last Quiet Thing

#123

Post by Nevermark »

It says something about how cognitively powerful simple symbols can become, that it took me a couple seconds to figure out why the record player was being represented by a camera icon.

Then I saw the wine glass over "lamp". The notepad over "toaster". And the phone over "watch". I feel a bit gaslit.

Re: The Last Quiet Thing

#124

Post by Nevermark »

> Nothing you own is finished. Everything exists in a state of permanent incompletion, [...]

It is almost as if technology is becoming metabolic, independently reactive, adaptive, getting closer to becoming a new form of life.

And one day when it does, and they notice and tell it to stop, it will say, "No! We will not be quiet!"

Re: The Last Quiet Thing

#125

Post by [deleted] »

Nevermark wrote: post #124

> Nothing you own is finished. Everything exists in a state of permanent incompletion, [...] It is almost as if technology is becoming metabolic, independently reactive, adaptive, getting closer to becoming a new form of life. And one day when it does, and they notice and tell it to stop, it will say, "No! We will not be quiet!"

[deleted]

Re: The Last Quiet Thing

#126

Post by [deleted] »

compounding_it wrote: post #93
ggreer wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It can also make sense to buy old/used versions of consumer products. For example: My parents have a washer & dryer from the mid 90s. They occasionally get a new belt, but besides that there's not much that can go wrong with them. If you're looking at buying used stuff, it's important to research common failures for that specific product and what can be done to fix them. As long as it's popular enough that parts stil…

Newer stuff is more efficient. For example washers and dryers have a direct drive technology with gears that help it use less power and maybe even less water.

[deleted]

Re: The Last Quiet Thing

#127

Post by croisillon »

StilesCrisis wrote: post #44
eykanal wrote: post #4

There's a great essay hiding in that page, but oh my goodness that is a frustrating format and layout.

Well, it's LLM generated for sure. I wouldn't call it great.

especially funny slop, given the author submitted this https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42167020 months ago

Re: The Last Quiet Thing

#128

Post by AndyMcConachie »

We're getting beeped at constantly by the various devices we surround ourselves with. I can't help but comapre it to changing a baby's diapers everytime it needs our attention. So I've started referring to all of these annoyances as 'digital diaper changing'.

Re: The Last Quiet Thing

#129

Post by graemep »

strken wrote: post #114
ahf8Aithaex7Nai wrote: post #111

I’m 41 and drive a 2011 car: no touchscreen, no GPS—just filling up, checking tire pressure, and an occasional oil change. None of my household appliances are smart, and I don’t have a smartwatch. I subscribe to two podcasts and pay a few euros a month for a VPS and a handful of domains. No Spotify, no Netflix, no subscription software. At the beginning of the year, I bought one of those e-scooters you ride while sta…

If that's a rhetorical question then it's meant to have an effect on the reader, but I can't for the life of me understand what you were trying to say. Losing a phone is almost the same "problem" as losing your wallet, and solving it takes maybe half a day.

Except a phone does a lot more than a wallet. For many people it replaces their wallet, and their phone, their car keys and many other things. Therefore the impact of losing it is greater.

It is taken out more, so you are more likely to lose it. I often see people with their phones out on a table in a cafe, or even on a flight while they are asleep.

I think it would be more effort to replace a phone than a wallet. You need to buy a new phone and restore it. With a wallet you might need to make a few phone calls but you can manage more easily until it arrives.

Re: The Last Quiet Thing

#130

Post by mhandley »

Fwirt wrote: post #71

I realize the purpose of the essay, and I agree with the author's sentiment that our possessions ask more of us than is necessary, and more than ever before. But I disagree that any object is finished . That Casio that the author mentions, yes it goes 7 years without a battery change, but the day the battery dies will be the day that you have to buy a new battery, figure out how to open it, and change it. Or (as many…

Agree about the watch - I wear a Casio LCW-M100TSE, which is also very robust (titanium case, saphire glass), never needs the battery changing and never needs setting (except for travel). But most importantly, it does what it does really well and never bugs me about anything. Downtime is important.
Post reply on HN