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Video games that didn’t need software updates :)
Yes they absolutely did, they just couldn't get them. Games still shipped buggy, you just had to get used to it, tough. I work with people who were in the games industry in late 90s and the idea that games shipped without bugs is just funny to them.
I loved the "fixes" to Plants vs Zombies when EA bought popcap.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Video games that didn’t need software updates :)
Yes they absolutely did, they just couldn't get them. Games still shipped buggy, you just had to get used to it, tough. I work with people who were in the games industry in late 90s and the idea that games shipped without bugs is just funny to them.
Today's games are more buggy, in part because they're much more complex, and in part because software update allows to ship them unfinished.
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The internet didn't fix these things, fuel injection, electronic ignition, and digital signal processing / denser silicon integration did.
Irrespective of why, cars and phones did not function in a more reliable manner back then. The statement is false.
Something you're overlooking with your concept of "reliability" is that cars produced before 1980 can be fixed using pretty basic tool. It's conceivable that a car from that era could continue to work well into the 2100s. Because most of what can break on can be remanufactured by a reasonably-skilled machinist.
Yeah, cars need to be fixed much less often, and they are substantially less fickle vis-a-vis temperature and operating conditions. But the moment the software to repair newer cars is gone, so too goes our ability to easily fix them.
This isn't some far-flung dystopian idea either. It's totally possible that the hardware & software used to repair today's cars is difficult or impossible to come by in 30 years. Some of this stuff is five- and six-figure investments. Maybe stuff for GM or Honda vehicles will be accessible, but what about smaller companies like Mazda or Subaru?
I stopped reading at Try to recall a time back when the Internet didn't exist... Where things like cars and phones functioned on their own in a much more reliable manner. I grew up in the 80s and have owned several cars from that era. They were significantly less reliable than cars of today. Carburetors were still present (though being phased out) and there were always vacuum hoses that, when they leaked, caused your…
You're right that cars are more reliable today but I follow a lot of mechanics on YouTube (Car Wizard, Kilmer, etc) who say that cars were easier to work on back then. These days (at least in the luxury segment) there are a lot of electronic components that can only be repaired by the OEM. We are also in a strange transitional period with the addition of auto start-stop, hybrid engines, etc that also complicate the c…
even that is changing according to youtubers like Kilmer. IIRC he has lambasted his favorite car maker Toyota for having a lower quality today than years past.
I stopped reading at Try to recall a time back when the Internet didn't exist... Where things like cars and phones functioned on their own in a much more reliable manner. I grew up in the 80s and have owned several cars from that era. They were significantly less reliable than cars of today. Carburetors were still present (though being phased out) and there were always vacuum hoses that, when they leaked, caused your…
You're right that cars are more reliable today but I follow a lot of mechanics on YouTube (Car Wizard, Kilmer, etc) who say that cars were easier to work on back then. These days (at least in the luxury segment) there are a lot of electronic components that can only be repaired by the OEM. We are also in a strange transitional period with the addition of auto start-stop, hybrid engines, etc that also complicate the c…
I stopped reading at Try to recall a time back when the Internet didn't exist... Where things like cars and phones functioned on their own in a much more reliable manner. I grew up in the 80s and have owned several cars from that era. They were significantly less reliable than cars of today. Carburetors were still present (though being phased out) and there were always vacuum hoses that, when they leaked, caused your…
I think you're overlooking the "on their own" part. The OP isn't lamenting that things are less reliable in general, just that they aren't reliably capable of working offline or on a local network. Phones are maybe an odd example, but it's somewhat true: Traditional phone systems let you make local calls even if long-distance lines fail, or within a building without leaking data externally. Very few people would ever…
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Yes they absolutely did, they just couldn't get them. Games still shipped buggy, you just had to get used to it, tough. I work with people who were in the games industry in late 90s and the idea that games shipped without bugs is just funny to them.
i have bought some nintendo games a year or two ago, some of them received 0 update, still operate as a charm, without any (at least noticeable) bug.
Still, Nintendo does a pretty good job of avoiding most critical bugs before release even on the Switch.
Spoiler alert: the answer is that it's more profitable that way.
And people don't care about the long term. :(
I stopped reading at Try to recall a time back when the Internet didn't exist... Where things like cars and phones functioned on their own in a much more reliable manner. I grew up in the 80s and have owned several cars from that era. They were significantly less reliable than cars of today. Carburetors were still present (though being phased out) and there were always vacuum hoses that, when they leaked, caused your…
I think you're overlooking the "on their own" part. The OP isn't lamenting that things are less reliable in general, just that they aren't reliably capable of working offline or on a local network. Phones are maybe an odd example, but it's somewhat true: Traditional phone systems let you make local calls even if long-distance lines fail, or within a building without leaking data externally. Very few people would ever…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Video games that didn’t need software updates :)
Also video games that didn't get regular, free content updates. Top of mind because my partner and I are doing another playthrough of Terraria and there's once again a bunch of new content for us to go through.