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Sarah O'Connor has coined a new word:
Qualitynesia = forgetting something was better in the past when it objectively was
[her example: recorded sound quality - spotify's compressed sound files carry less info than old CDs & as such have worse sound]
However, fellow Masto-folk, I'm sure you'll have you own candidates for 'Qualitynesia'...
see also @pluralistic 'Enshitification'.
the problem is that it collides with senile decay and damage caused by covid infections; has it got worse? have I got worse? how to distinguish?
@ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic I'm pretty sure my older Mastodon posts were better than my newer ones.
@ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic in my opinion, qualitynesia applies to most telephone conversations: landline-to-landline sound quality was, on average, considerably better than what we are now putting up with mobile phones (which is increasingly less due to the tech and more with how and where we speak on the phone).
@ElenLeFoll @ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic Ugh. That feature that many phones have which I presume is meant to cut out background noise, but also cuts out any speech of less than about three syllables... Combined with purple who efficiently answer all your questions with "yeah" or "no"...
@ElenLeFoll @ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic old land line phone was the equivalent of 64Kb/s. Many places are on VoIP phone systems where they can cut the speed . Half you hardly notice, any more and it becomes obvious.
@ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic I got an earlier version Sony Discman and used it for almost a decade until the spindle motor burned out. Then I replaced the spindle motor and laser and used it for another 5 years. It was heavy, had a hard metal shell that was easy to disassemble (because we used to design things *for servicing). Later versions were plastic, cheaply made, quicker to break, harder to fix - disposable. Sony's rep collapsed, as did many technician jobs. And the e-waste did flow.
@ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic a good example of the fait a complis that tech often offers. You can do something a bit faster, a bit cheaper, a bit (or a lot) less privately but the result is always a bit worse, a little step backwards because of the limitations of the tech itself.
@ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic In my younger days this would have been dismissed as just rose tinted thinking. But "enshittification" has made this objectively true. I know that websites used to be usable without barrelloads of ad blockers, search engines actually gave us what we searched for not what advertisers want us to see. Politicians caught wrong doing resigned. Companies tried to provide a decent product for a decent profit, instead of trying to grab maximum cash for minimum product And so on
@TerryBTwo @ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic Yup. I’d love to have a crowd-regulated tier of websites that promise to have minimal intrusions. Eg I have one with no ads, no referrals that I write as a hobby. I describe mine as ‘built for fun’.
@ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic This thing with lower quality due to audio compression is a bit of a myth. It is totally possible to compress music a whole lot without loosing quality in a way that is recognizable by humans. Here's a "classic" post discussing this in great detail: https://xiphmont.dreamwidth.org/57937.html
Technically, it's true that these compression algorithms loose information, but when it's impossible to recognize this information loss with a human ear, it's not relevant.
Hmmm... well I can certainly tell the difference between my high-end hifi at home & spotify through my friend's phone, but that (of course) may be due to the intervening amplification stages (I haven't tried spotify my hi fi as I don't have spotify or a smartphone)
@ChrisMayLA6 @hanno @pluralistic
There are many different kinds of compression. Lossless compression involves throwing away the stuff that is redundant and is indistinguishable form the original. However lossy compression involves throwing away actual data which can affect the output quality. I was involved in a bunch of testing with CBC and BBC back in the 80s where user perception was measured against the amount of lossy compression. At some point it becomes obvious to everyone, but most people dont perceive a moderate amount of lossy compression.
Yes, that seem right; different users with different aesthetic interest level in music will have different thresholds for noticing the degradation of sound quality.... I know lots of my friend just don't care particularly, while I find it a major issue
@ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic when I've been talking to conservation workers they've a similar concept "shifting baseline". People struggle to recall how much more wildlife (birds, insects, trees etc) there used to be and even then assume that what they recall from childhood is the "baseline" we should aim for
All things computing.
CelloDad got a new laptop. I had to listen to him curse for three days.
In the past, he never cursed like that. And he was happier then with the newer faster laptop. Which didn't spy on him.
@ChrisMayLA6 TVs didn't spy on your viewing habits.
@ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic Nice tactile buttons you could press by feel while driving and keep your eyes on the road. Smartphones that gave you access to maps and the internet but somehow weren't a ball and chain. PDAs with keyboards. Specific-use devices that weren't general purpose computers connected to the internet.
@dm319 @ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic And my axe. Not just as a meme. Most woodworking can be done faster with an axe than electric tools if you don't crave accuracy and complete smoothness of the surface. I like the surface left by an axe - it's not rough, it simply has the traces of the path the axe took. Somehow most general purpose cutting axes that are produced by the super accurate machines today don't hold an edge nearly as well as any century old axe does.
@dm319 @ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic ohhhh I miss my blackberry with its little keyboard. I think that portable computers going touchscreen only is part of some cause/effect relationship with them being passive consumption devices for doomscrolling. I'm "typing" this now on a touchscreen and it's slow and fiddly... I could be much more creative and write more, better, prose with a keyboard...
@dm319 @ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic Actual, physical buttons were one of the reasons we chose our current family car!
@dm319 @ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic modern car UIs are even worse than I thought. Realizing that some form of feedback is required, they created auditive cues. Touch the screen and you hear a sound. However, that sound plays whenever you touch the screen, regardless of whether you are touching a button or just some empty space. So not only are you missing an easy to process feedback, like a knob, you also get feedback that suggests you accomplished your goal even if that is not the case at all.
@klongeiger @dm319 @ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic At least some manufacturers are learning from their mistakes- Hyundai and Kia are bringing physical controls back in newer models.
@klongeiger @ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic It's even worse than that - my car has steering wheel buttons that trigger a tactile feedback if 'pressed', but it doesn't actually move. Problem is it only activates with a whole flat finger and it is slightly slow. So you can really jam the side of your thumb into it but I end up pressing really hard before I realise that it isn't a real button and I need to place it like a fingerprint and wait then press gently.
@klongeiger @dm319 @ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic the continual demands to agree to things is the biggest problem imo.
Our Kia eNiro requires me to confirm I will obey the laws of the land before it will allow me to move.
It then demands I read, then agree to new terms and conditions (which allows them to sell our driving data to third parties) - but only after we’ve been moving for about a minute. And then tells me I have to stop the vehicle to read them.
@photonpoet @klongeiger @dm319 @ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic
Have you considered recording this debacle, and then REFUSING the new terms and conditions?
Then sue Kia/dealership in court for product misrepresentation, hacking, sabotage, and blackmail...
Because you demonstrably do NOT have the same product you initially bought. It has been modified without your consent, or has compelled you with threats of violence (seizure of car with hacking means) to agree.
Better yet, are there any activist #lawyers who would take this up?
@crankylinuxuser @klongeiger @dm319 @ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic I’ve tapped ‘disagree’ to those terms changes multiple times. The pop-over simply comes back the next time I turn the car on. The terms even state “You will have to agree to the terms to continue”. So far the car still works - it’s just a constant nag.
I’ll record and post the video here sometime this week. Thanks for the suggestion!
@photonpoet @klongeiger @dm319 @ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic
A friend with a KIA took it in because parts of the dash weren't working. Apparently a salesman showed him how to remove a chip and fix the problem. It was a SIMM chip and the fix is kind of like the old game cartridge fix. I want this about as much as I want all my data saved to onedrive.
@kneworldodor @klongeiger @dm319 @ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic oh, that’s interesting - will try our dealer. Have considered building a small GNSS jammer to thwart their data greedy plans but that’s probably taking things too far.
@photonpoet @klongeiger @dm319 @ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic
I'd be curious to know if network is required for proper functionality or just updates and spy data transmission.
@kneworldodor @klongeiger @dm319 @ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic I imagine it’s handy for the manufacturer to simply push mapping and software updates to the car, avoiding the need to ‘waste’ time at the dealership, but I suspect the main benefit is for the company’s data collection/sales programme.
Hard to be sure, given the generic nature of the T&Cs.
@photonpoet @klongeiger @dm319 @ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic
Data sales would be the biggest incentive. Information that would assist claim denial and insurance rate hikes.
@dm319 @ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic
I still have a couple of those. A Garmin GPS that I use to direct me on the roads (it's nice, has a 15 cm diaganolly measured screen, speaker loud enough to be heard while going 100km/hr with the windows down), and a Kindle e-reader. The reason I stick with Kindles is no notifications or other interruptions--also books in many languages easily. My Kindle doesn't render Hebrew well so when I read Hebrew books I have to use my tablet. The difference is stark!
@ChrisMayLA6
Also applies to video. HD video from Blu-ray is still so much better than a modern streaming service.
@ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic 1) Older washing machines that used more water for a thorough clean. 2) Appliances with simple dials that didn’t beep or lock you into specific settings. 3) Tools and hardware made to last.
4) Laptops with multiple ports (USB, HDMI) without needing dongles. 5) Cars with physical climate control knobs instead of touchscreens. 6) Software that worked offline without constant cloud dependence.
The history of commercial recorded sound from the 1890s forward is filled with convenience triumphing over better sound quality.
Hmmm.... I'd say that only really got underway once the 33rpm record had become normalised.... up until then each improvement did make for better sound quality - then there was a period when HiFi equipment caught up.... and then cassettes, reversed that trend.... shifting to convenience
The earliest disc records were worse audio quality than contemporary cylinder records (though they later generally caught up). The larger higher fidelity "opera" cylinders never got beyond being a small niche market. Then in the 1910s the Edison "Diamond Disc" system had some significant superior qualities vs standard lateral "78s" of the time.
Book "From Tinfoil to Stereo" (though US-centric and imperfect) gives a good overview.
hmmm.... OK, I've never taken that much interest in the pre-LP phase... but LPs & associated sound equipment did offer (it seems to me) a series of real sound improvements....
@ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic TVs that dont require a login with a subscription.
@ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic computers! boy were they great in the 1980s and boy do they suck these days ...
@ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic If you initially read that as "Sarah Connor" the mental picture of what she wants to do about it is very different
@ChrisMayLA6 @pluralistic There should also be a similar, opposite-sensed word for the act of thinking that things were better in the past when they objectively weren’t- a number of political manifestos are built on that rose-tinted view just now
@pluralistic @ChrisMayLA6 cling wrap used to be stickier. But that’s because some dangerous compounds were removed from it.
“what it has lost in effectiveness, it has gained in protecting the health of the environment and the consumer, and that’s the kind of trade-off I don’t mind at all.”
https://blog.suvie.com/why-doesnt-my-cling-wrap-work-the-way-it-used-to
Telephone audio. Took forever to get there, but the old analog phones ultimately had good, clear audio.
Digital phone audio now is crap of varying quality.