Social Technology Rants

[DragRacer]

Do yourself a favor and don’t mess with any appliances made in the last 6-10 years if your old ones are still doing their job.

We’re on our 4th home refrigerator since 2001 now, while the simple 1989 Frigidaire (made in Indiana) I’ve got in my warehouse’s office keeps humming along cold as a meat locker.

Fridges, washers, driers, all this stuff is designed to burn out like a light bulb and require replacement. Yeah, the new stuff is pretty and mandated to be energy efficient, but how efficient is that energy when it goes to a landfill in 7-8 years compared to the resources required to produce a new one?

 

[GSP_37]

THIRD RANT

Why can't the people who make the devices like cell phone chargers and chargers for electronic devices like modems, routers etc, make the chargers with the power supply in the cord instead of in the plug like the laptop computers do.

The cord breaks, but you can still use the charging brick with new cord. Brick in middle would probably mean you need two separate cords on each end.

I bought a GE grounding adapter to try to plug modem's AC adapter block into that to free up space to plug something else in next to it. Haven't tried it yet.

Curious if there's some sort of thing like the Hot Pockets foil sleeve to put bread in to make toast via microwave.

 

[moreorless87]

Do yourself a favor and don’t mess with any appliances made in the last 6-10 years if your old ones are still doing their job.

We’re on our 4th home refrigerator since 2001 now, while the simple 1989 Frigidaire (made in Indiana) I’ve got in my warehouse’s office keeps humming along cold as a meat locker.

Fridges, washers, driers, all this stuff is designed to burn out like a light bulb and require replacement. Yeah, the new stuff is pretty and mandated to be energy efficient, but how efficient is that energy when it goes to a landfill in 7-8 years compared to the resources required to produce a new one?

Had a Sanyo microwave dating from the late 80's until a couple of years ago, fully expect the replacement I got to be claped out within 5 years.

 

[ssBaldy]

I hate every button being a sensor now and I hate soft touch plastic. It degrades and becomes sticky.

 

[PG29 red0 Jr]

Not once, have I ever wished I had a toaster.

You must love toast.

 

[GergreG]

I remember visiting my dad's sisters family in the 1960s. They had a toaster that they received as a wedding gift when they got married in the 1920s like the one from E-bay below. It was heating elements with flip down doors. It had to be constantly watched. My uncle would be sitting at the table asking everyone if they wanted toast and seemed really disappointed if someone didn't. He really enjoyed making toast with that toaster.

toaster

My dad had one of those. Bloody bastard to hold the flap open to flip the toast without burning your fingers.

 

[ralphc1]

I made a shitload of small extension cords of varying sizes out of a 100-footer, for purposes just like this.

They sell the cords on Amazon. I used the last one I had for the toaster so I just bought 20 more for $37. I can't buy ends for that. There are kits of 5 male and 5 female ends for $23 or $4.60 per cord without any cord and I would have to make them. The cords from Amazon cost $1.85 each with the molded cord ends.

 

[ralphc1]

Your toaster had an impressive run.

That being said, toasters are cheap as hell nowadays. Even if you only lived another two months, it would still work out to under $1 a day. And if you do kick it sooner, someone will become the recipient of a lightly used toaster.

$15.99 so only 26 cents per day for 2 months!

 

[jeff7b9]

I got one.

I set every device I own to no automatic updates.

Yet I constantly open either phone or tablet to either "updated to be installed tonight" or "updated was installed overnight"

If you tech cocksuckers are just going to force thru updates anyway, why the fuck is there even an option for "no updates" ?

Anyway, fuck all the dorks involved in forcing updates I don't want onto my devices, may they all stub their pinky toes often.

 

[ralphc1]

Do yourself a favor and don’t mess with any appliances made in the last 6-10 years if your old ones are still doing their job.

We’re on our 4th home refrigerator since 2001 now, while the simple 1989 Frigidaire (made in Indiana) I’ve got in my warehouse’s office keeps humming along cold as a meat locker.

Fridges, washers, driers, all this stuff is designed to burn out like a light bulb and require replacement. Yeah, the new stuff is pretty and mandated to be energy efficient, but how efficient is that energy when it goes to a landfill in 7-8 years compared to the resources required to produce a new one?

The refrigerator I have was also purchased in 1978 when I built my house. In the late 90s, I noticed that it makes a clunking sound when the compressor shuts down. I asked a friend who had an appliance service business if I should be concerned. He said no, it will keep making that sound for another 20 years.

I have an old refrigerator that my grandparents had that is from the early 1950s that I have in my basement. I plugged it into a Kill A Watt meter to see how much electricity it used and it wasn't much more than the new, "energy efficient" ones are rated to use. My 1978 one is about the same. I figured that with the cost of a new one, it would take almost 60 years to cover the cost of a new one. I did have to replace the defrost timer in my 1978 model but that was under $15.

The energy efficiency ratingsare a scam to get rid of the old reliable appliances.

 

[ralphc1]

The cord breaks, but you can still use the charging brick with new cord. Brick in middle would probably mean you need two separate cords on each end.

I bought a GE grounding adapter to try to plug modem's AC adapter block into that to free up space to plug something else in next to it. Haven't tried it yet.

Curious if there's some sort of thing like the Hot Pockets foil sleeve to put bread in to make toast via microwave.

Usually it's the transformer in the charger that goes out.

 

[ralphc1]

I got one.

I set every device I own to no automatic updates.

Yet I constantly open either phone or tablet to either "updated to be installed tonight" or "updated was installed overnight"

If you tech cocksuckers are just going to force thru updates anyway, why the fuck is there even an option for "no updates" ?

Anyway, fuck all the dorks involved in forcing updates I don't want onto my devices, may they all stub their pinky toes often.

Didn't windows stop even giving you an option? The only option is what time.

 

[jeff7b9]

Didn't windows stop even giving you an option? The only option is what time.

Currently both devices (tablet and phone) are running Android.

There is an option

Automatic updates on/off

I select off. Updates keep coming.
There is a way to delete the update but it is kind-of a pain in the ass and I don't remember the procedure.

 

[west42]

 

[ralphc1]

My dad had one of those. Bloody bastard to hold the flap open to flip the toast without burning your fingers.

The one they had heated both sides of the slice at once.

 

[NoSmilez]

I like my new toaster. It's a touch screen that acts like a clock when I am not using it. It has a crumb tray on the bottom. My old toaster had burnt crumbs from decades ago.....

 

[ralphc1]

FIFTH RANT

Why don't manufacturers put power switches on everything or a way to remotely reset their devices. My cable boxes have to be reset periodically or they start showing content in a flickering mode. When I started watching Succession on HBO I assumed it was recorded that way. Then I watched it online and realized it wasn't. House of the Dragon was the same way. I had to unplug the cable box to reset it. The cords aren't in an easy spot to access. My cable modem and router sometimes have to be reset by removing the power. I purchase a set of 5 remote control outlets with 2 controllers so I can shut the power off to them without unplugging them. Of course the outlets are large enough to be covered under my second and third rant about blocking another receptacle. It is nice to be able to turn the power off without having to get behind a bookshelf to reach the cord. I don't have to leave the room to reset the cable modem or router.

 

[blaseblase]

I didn't want to buy a new toaster because I'M OLD and figured I don't have much time left so a new toaster is a waste of money but I ordered a new one on Amazon.

Why would you choose to be frugal if you don't have much time left? Can't use the money when you're dead and it's a fucking toaster.

Also you know you can just use the oven right? It works the same it always has.

 

[GSP_37]

FIFTH RANT

Why don't manufacturers put power switches on everything or a way to remotely reset their devices. My cable boxes have to be reset periodically or they start showing content in a flickering mode. When I started watching Succession on HBO I assumed it was recorded that way. Then I watched it online and realized it wasn't. House of the Dragon was the same way. I had to unplug the cable box to reset it. The cords aren't in an easy spot to access. My cable modem and router sometimes have to be reset by removing the power. I purchase a set of 5 remote control outlets with 2 controllers so I can shut the power off to them without unplugging them. Of course the outlets are large enough to be covered under my second and third rant about blocking another receptacle. It is nice to be able to turn the power off without having to get behind a bookshelf to reach the cord. I don't have to leave the room to reset the cable modem or router.

At least 2 out of my last 3 DVR's let you reboot the box via settings menu.

Maybe you need to upgrade to RG-11 coaxial cables. They definitely helped receive better cable signal for one particular channel that was too weak to show anything. Even just one RG-11 cable from wall to splitter improved the cable TV, so I didn't buy another for from splitter to DVR.

 

[GSP_37]

Why would you choose to be frugal if you don't have much time left? Can't use the money when you're dead and it's a fucking toaster.

Also you know you can just use the oven right? It works the same it always has.

Oven doesn't seem energy efficient.