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Everything with a battery should have an off switch

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Re: Everything with a battery should have an off switch

#431

Post by mdp2021 »

davchana wrote: post #428
mdp2021 wrote: post #415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope it can be disabled by the manufacturer upon request, like the E-Call system (microphone+GPS+radio device that should trigger an emergency call in case of actioned airbags).

No where in the manual I found how to disable it. Although there is a toggle option to NOT to call 911 in event of collision.

It is something that some workers in some department at the manufacturer's should know. Like for the E-Call: it is in the European law that it may be disabled (by the manufacturer and not by the car owner), but your interfaces to the manufacturer will easily not know.

Re: Everything with a battery should have an off switch

#432

Post by robonerd »

rzzzt wrote: post #418
Stratoscope wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does anyone remember Office 2013 with the UPPER CASE MENUS? They were bad enough, but then Visual Studio 2013 HAD THEM TOO. That was triply bad: ugly, took more screen width than Mixed Case, and perhaps worst of all, to a programmer they looked like errors. Most of the languages we work with are case sensitive, so FILE and File look like two different things. It was a constant irritant. The chief designer for VS2013…

A DESIGN WITH ALL-CAPS: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/visualstudio/a-design-with-al...

> 1) to keep Visual Studio consistent with the direction of other Microsoft user experiences

In other words, we jumped off this bridge because all our friends did to. Consistency... with other Microsoft products. What a joke. What about consistency with virtually every other Windows application, both from 3rd parties and Microsoft's own history? Citing consistency to justify such a bizarre departure from the 20 year norm is truly insulting.

Re: Everything with a battery should have an off switch

#433

Post by infogulch »

kemayo wrote: post #227
kyaghmour wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's such a godawful book. In my view it epitomizes everything that is wrong with design today. And the worst part is that comments like these make it come off as the go-to reference to actually solving these problems. The reasons it's the worst design guidance out there is that it teaches: 1) that engineers should NOT be entrusted/involved with user design. 2) to conceptualize users as blissful idiots. 3) that obs…

> So this is what we actually get, devices that SILENTLY fail, designed for people who are assumed not to know what they're doing and who likely do NOT have any technically-literate person around them that could assist them if they could in fact identify the problem. It sounds like your complaint isn't with the advice from the book, but rather that Apple didn't follow it. They did hide away the error messages, but th…

If you have to say "Oh it's good advice but you have to interpret it right," when the advice has an obvious misinterpretation pothole that clearly wrecks many prominent applications of it, maybe that reflects poorly on the original advice and indicates that it shouldn't be offered without the necessary critical context.

Re: Everything with a battery should have an off switch

#434

Post by titzer »

Zak wrote: post #414
moonbug wrote: post #381

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Battery hipsterism. Oh HN, you keep giving.

It was a valid point. There's a significant performance/weight reason most of the devices with non-removable batteries and built-in charging are using Li-ion instead of NiMH. Getting a bunch of consumers used to buying spare Li-ion cells and using external chargers might be a non-starter, but it's possible to have both onboard charging and removable cells so the upgrade path is there for those who want it.

I've had a series of Canon powershot cameras that have all used more-or-less the same Li-ion cell design[1] and I've been able to swap batteries with them. They're big enough that third parties have even offered replacement batteries.

There is probably room for standardization of a compact, rectangular, rechargeable battery of roughly those dimensions. Is someone pushing for it?

[1] https://www.apotelyt.com/camera-power/canon-g7-x-mark-iii-ba...

Re: Everything with a battery should have an off switch

#435

Post by robonerd »

donmcronald wrote: post #395
anonymousab wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This used to be how I assumed that awful UX keeps coming about, repeating the same mistakes and then making new ones by removing existing conveniences for no clear reason. But surely, I thought, I must be assuming the worst of an assuredly more rational situation. I then heard more about the designers at Microsoft for Vista through Windows 11 which deeply confirmed most of my prior negative assumptions. It sometimes…

It sometimes really is as simple as folks who think they know better than anyone who uses their product; people who refused to dogfood or even touch the thing they ostensibly work on, in any given day. The default white title bars that blend seamlessly into any white content behind them is a perfect example of this and so many people don't even realize they can change it. Windows usability has declined since Windows…

> Compare it to Linux UIs where you often have to grab a single pixel border on a 4k monitor to resize a window.

On Linux you hold the super/windows key and click/drag anywhere on the window to move it, or right-click/drag anywhere on the window to resize it. It's much easier than using thick borders. Discoverability is admittedly not great, but this feature easily coexists with window borders. Microsoft could keep the thick borders by default and also implement this.

Re: Everything with a battery should have an off switch

#436

Post by bonestamp2 »

Apple Airpods Max: My biggest complaint about these is that they don't have a proper power switch that absolutely cuts the power. This is especially awful since the case they ship with is awful and I don't want to use (but it, or some other magnetic solution is required to put them in low power mode. I don't want low power mode, I want no power mode. Just put a damn switch on them!

Re: Everything with a battery should have an off switch

#437

Post by code_duck »

One of the most annoying on-off interfaces I deal with for an electronic device is my insulin pump. When one intentionally turns off delivery or it runs out of insulin, it beeps loudly every few minutes. To turn it off, it has to be plugged in, and then the shallow, stiff button on the top held for 20-30 seconds. Turning it on is easier, but opaque - connecting it to power starts it up after a few seconds.

I understand why a crucial medical device doesn't have an off switch that could be engaged accidentally, but I don't understand why they tie the function to being connected to a power source.

Re: Everything with a battery should have an off switch

#438

Post by joshAg »

cardiffspaceman wrote: post #376
Kalium wrote: post #243

> Oh, great, this debate again! I shall use this post as ammunition next time I am arguing with our stupid design team about why we need an off switch on the stupid product we are designing, because it is a giant pain to live with devices you cannot turn off. I increasingly subscribe to the thesis that many designers and design teams design primarily in an effort to impress other designers . They don't have to use th…

Chris Bangle, who was the chief designer at BMW for the E65 generation of 7 series and E46 generation of 3 series, said that he was designing to the other designers. Which is why he ignored the feedback that the E65 was ugly. The term "Bangle Butt" was applied to the E65. His successor took the radical position that this thing called "beauty" was important. I don't have sources at hand but it was discussed in print a…

Sometimes they're not entirely wrong though. The E46 design is now decently well-regarded by many car enthusiasts. Granted, I'm probably not the best person to ask about BMW aesthetics since I think the best looking one they've made is the clownshoe and thought the hood bulge was exceptionally lazy.

Re: Everything with a battery should have an off switch

#439

Post by weberer »

memco wrote: post #430

An off switch is always handy. I have a monitor without a power button and so I can’t shut it off without disconnecting it. It also makes it harder to troubleshoot when there’s no signal: is it the power or data that’s at fault? I’m not sure because there’s no buttons at all so I just have to keep connecting and disconnecting cables until it works which is more difficult to discern because I’m looking at the back whe…

Just plug it in to a power strip that has a switch.

Re: Everything with a battery should have an off switch

#440

Post by justin_oaks »

Stratoscope wrote: post #375
anonymousab wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This used to be how I assumed that awful UX keeps coming about, repeating the same mistakes and then making new ones by removing existing conveniences for no clear reason. But surely, I thought, I must be assuming the worst of an assuredly more rational situation. I then heard more about the designers at Microsoft for Vista through Windows 11 which deeply confirmed most of my prior negative assumptions. It sometimes…

Does anyone remember Office 2013 with the UPPER CASE MENUS? They were bad enough, but then Visual Studio 2013 HAD THEM TOO. That was triply bad: ugly, took more screen width than Mixed Case, and perhaps worst of all, to a programmer they looked like errors. Most of the languages we work with are case sensitive, so FILE and File look like two different things. It was a constant irritant. The chief designer for VS2013…

> We decided to keep the uppercase menus because we want more energy in this part of the interface.

Translation: Here is vague explanation that distracts from the fact that I made this choice emotionally rather than rationally.

I see this time and time again. People are simply reacting emotionally. If they try to explain why they behaved a certain way, they offer an explanation with something that sounds rational but isn't actually the reason.

In this case, the designer probably was hurt that people didn't like their work and stubbornly resisted it.

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