Floppy disks turn out to be the greatest TV remote for kids

Post by GJim » Mon, Jan 12, 2026, 5:09 PM UTC

mock-possum wrote: post #147

asielen wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I won't argue that it is a universal truth but it has played out the same for my kids and my friends groups kids. They treat it like a drug and lose all emotional regulation. I don't believe all screen time is bad, but it is something you have to teach them to regulate and 3 year olds and younger are just bad at regulating emotion in general. Teaching them to do this is just part of parenting. One of the most importa…

Hard disagree with ‘great to be bored’ - being bored is one of the worst possible feelings, that you’re wasting your time doing nothing when there is almost certainly something you would rather be doing. As a child I used to hate the feeling of boredom, knowing that I could be doing something I wanted to do. As an adult I am hardly ever bored, and it’s a strict improvement, never have I ever found myself wishing I co…

Post by amiga-workbench » Mon, Jan 12, 2026, 5:10 PM UTC

reaperducer wrote: post #133

c22 wrote: post #50

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You can purchase commercial signage displays that are just dumb screens, but the markup is quite high. Easier to just get one of the 'smart' ones and never let it connect to the internet.

but the markup is quite high Maybe a decade or two ago, but I looked into this last year, and the prices were just about the same.

Post by ggus » Mon, Jan 12, 2026, 5:16 PM UTC

no_wizard wrote: post #65

brk wrote: post #48

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That sounds like you have an overly shitty ‘smart’ TV. Plenty of external devices (I’m partial to AppleTV) have no significant lag. Or it could be you’re using some niche service that has its own issues.

It’s a matter of time before tv manufacturers start requiring an app to sync with the TV to set it up. That would let them glean information about you every time you use said app. You’re still getting around this with a 3rd party device like an Apple TV for the most part but if it’s required to even turn it off or on it’ll be enough to sync any metadata that it holds

Post by bluGill » Mon, Jan 12, 2026, 5:18 PM UTC

SoftTalker wrote: post #119

bluGill wrote: post #88

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Sure, but uncle (who drove a truck for a job) sat down with the manual for several hours one night and figured it out. He was probably the only person in the entire town he lived in. Most people could have as well - but it would mean spending several hours of study and most people won't do that unless forced (and rarely even then - see all the tropes about homework...)

I mean that's exaggerating. I did it, it took maybe 10 minutes following the examples in the manual. It was not very intuitive though, so if it wasn't something you set up often you'd always have to go back and read the instructions again the next time.

Post by richardlblair » Mon, Jan 12, 2026, 5:22 PM UTC