#technological obsolescence

[bunnieismyname]

i don’t WANT to use bluetooth. bluetooth speakers fucking SUCK. I WANT A WIRED CONNECTION. all that tech has done in the last 10 years is TAKE AWAY options from the user, with the excuse of streamlining and “simplifying”

FUCK THAT

LET ME HAVE MY PORTS, MULTIPLE OF THEM, I WANT BUTTONS, TOGGLE SWITCHES EVEN. DONT INSULT ME BY TAKING AWAY MY WIRES AND SAY IT’S AN IMPROVEMENT

[dandelionsresilience]

Good News - August 15-21

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1. Smart hives and dancing robot bees could boost sustainable beekeeping

“[Researchers] developed a digital comb—a thin circuit board equipped with various sensors around which bees build their combs. Several of these in each hive can then transmit data to researchers, providing real-time monitoring. [… Digital comb] can [also] be activated to heat up certain parts of a beehive […] to keep the bees warm during the winter[…. N]ot only have [honeybee] colonies reacted positively, but swarm intelligence responds to the temperature changes by reducing the bees' own heat production, helping them save energy.”

2. Babirusa pigs born at London Zoo for first time

“Thanks to their gnarly tusks […] and hairless bodies, the pigs are often called "rat pigs" or "demon pigs” in their native Indonesia[….] “[The piglets] are already looking really strong and have so much energy - scampering around their home and chasing each other - it’s a joy to watch. They’re quite easy to tell apart thanks to their individual hair styles - one has a head of fuzzy red hair, while its sibling has a tuft of dark brown hair.””

3. 6,000 sheep will soon be grazing on 10,000 acres of Texas solar fields

“The animals are more efficient than lawn mowers, since they can get into the nooks and crannies under panel arrays[….] Mowing is also more likely to kick up rocks or other debris, damaging panels that then must be repaired, adding to costs. Agrivoltaics projects involving sheep have been shown to improve the quality of the soil, since their manure is a natural fertilizer. […] Using sheep instead of mowers also cuts down on fossil fuel use, while allowing native plants to mature and bloom.”

4. Florida is building the world's largest environmental restoration project

“Florida is embarking on an ambitious ecological restoration project in the Everglades: building a reservoir large enough to secure the state's water supply. […] As well as protecting the drinking water of South Floridians, the reservoir is also intended to dramatically reduce the algae-causing discharges that have previously shut down beaches and caused mass fish die-offs.”

5. The Right to Repair Movement Continues to Accelerate

“Consumers can now demand that manufacturers repair products [including mobile phones….] The liability period for product defects is extended by 12 months after repair, incentivising repairs over replacements. [… M]anufacturers may need to redesign products for easier disassembly, repair, and durability. This could include adopting modular designs, standardizing parts, and developing diagnostic tools for assessing the health of a particular product. In the long run, this could ultimately bring down both manufacturing and repair costs.”

6. Federal Judge Rules Trans Teen Can Play Soccer Just In Time For Her To Attend First Practice

“Today, standing in front of a courtroom, attorneys for Parker Tirrell and Iris Turmelle, two transgender girls, won an emergency temporary restraining order allowing Tirrell to continue playing soccer with her friends. […] Tirrell joined her soccer team last year and received full support from her teammates, who, according to the filing, are her biggest source of emotional support and acceptance.”

7. Pilot study uses recycled glass to grow plants for salsa ingredients

“"We're trying to reduce landfill waste at the same time as growing edible vegetables," says Andrea Quezada, a chemistry graduate student[….] Early results suggest that the plants grown in recyclable glass have faster growth rates and retain more water compared to those grown in 100% traditional soil. [… T]he pots that included any amount of recyclable glass [also] didn't have any fungal growth.”

8. Feds announce funding push for ropeless fishing gear that spares rare whales

“Federal fishing managers are promoting the use of ropeless gear in the lobster and crab fishing industries because of the plight of North Atlantic right whales. […] Lobster fishing is typically performed with traps on the ocean bottom that are connected to the surface via a vertical line. In ropeless fishing methods, fishermen use systems such an inflatable lift bag that brings the trap to the surface.”

9. Solar farms can benefit nature and boost biodiversity. Here’s how

“[… M]anaging solar farms as wildflower meadows can benefit bumblebee foraging and nesting, while larger solar farms can increase pollinator densities in surrounding landscapes[….] Solar farms have been found to boost the diversity and abundance of certain plants, invertebrates and birds, compared to that on farmland, if solar panels are integrated with vegetation, even in urban areas.”

10. National Wildlife Federation Forms Tribal Advisory Council to Guide Conservation Initiatives, Partnerships

“The council will provide expertise and consultation related to respecting Indigenous Knowledges; wildlife and natural resources; Indian law and policy; Free, Prior and Informed Consent[… as well as] help ensure the Federation’s actions honor and respect the experiences and sovereignty of Indigenous partners.”

August 8-14 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[wreckingball4good]

[amethystsoda]

Shutting Down by SacriStuff // Goodbye to a World by Porter Robinson // Minecraft end poem

[recursive360]

[zerofuckingwaste]

I’m not sure if you have a kindle, or knows anyone who does and it feels like such a small issue in comparison to what’s happening now, but if you do ( have a kindle or know someone with one) Amazon is going to remove the ability to download ebooks via usb on the 26th of February

just thought I should say something, have a good night!

I do not, but thank you for the PSA- there are lots of alternatives out there, but planned obsolescence is the fucking worst!

Support your local library and bookstores, and if you like ebooks, check out Libby as a great alternative to giving Bezos a single penny.

[canadianlucifer]

Hot take but if I buy something I think I should own it :/

[thetrashywritingwitch]

Well RIP after almost eight years of having my phone I've finally cracked the screen. It fell on a rug and now there's a crack. Wonderful

[silverfroot]

12 Y.O. Samsung tablet and notes on a train.

Physiology notes on #OneNote

Had to change the android version to a pirate one and it's running easily everything except adobe pdf reader (SHAME ON YOU! AGAIN AND AGAIN!). Proving programed obsolescence is a THING, even the battery life improved.

This tablet is completely okay and was given to me because apps wasn't running on it. My pirate android proved that the tablet is still good. Big tech corporations are the ones that blocks the user from accessing technology without constantly spending money and resources on it.

God, I HATE capitalism...

[lemmaeof]

some of y'all aren't gonna like hearing this but planned obsolescence as you think of it doesn't exist. there aren't any evil businessmen sitting in a boardroom somewhere twiddling their fingers as they calculate the exact date your phone is gonna stop working

there is no magic line of code that makes your current phone slow down when it gets a new update, it's a mix of confirmation bias and the shareholder demand for every new os version to have new features. cpus also just get worse over time as more of the transistors burn out from the obscene amounts of energy poured through them daily

if anything modern hardware and software is designed for a fuckton of graceful degradation - underclocking means your phone's battery and cpu will last longer and a lot of old smartphones (even dating back to the original iphone) still fucking work even if they can't use modern apps

the problem with smartphones isn't some evil conspiracy to force you to upgrade every year, it's a combination of the limitations of electronics, the second law of thermodynamics, and good old market pressures. grow up and let yourself accept that the world is more complex than you think.

[threefoothobbit]

Planned obsolescence pisses me off to no end

My husband picked up a receiver (for the unaware, a receiver is part of stereo equipment that you hook like a tape deck or record player to, that lets you adjust your levels.) and these speakers for $20 at a yard sale. After some research, hubs found out that this system was made in 1987-88. We fired this thing up and oh my gawd! The sound that comes through those speakers is incredible. Do you have any idea how many sound bars we have gone through in 14 years? 3. This stereo system is 35 years old and it’s still working like it did in the 80s. I’m sure the people who owned it took very good care of it too. But like, Sony can’t make a sound bar for my TV that lasts longer than five years?

[winterwrites23]

Brother I genuinely do not know, considering this was the tablet me and my sister used to use to play games on when we were younger too I genuinely don't know how it didnt die earlier.

You were blessed by the tablet god to have a good product 😂😂

[forgottenbones]

iPhone 15 Drama

[netscapenavigator-official]

It seems that Zorin OS 17 finally fixed compatibility issues with a third-party Cirrus Audio driver that caused certain MacBook models to have no audio, so now my mid-2017 MacBook Pro 13-inch can have a modern, updating, OS that gets new features and active development.

Apple sold this laptop, new, until 2019 (which is when I bought mine, none-the-wiser), and they discontinued support in 2023 with the release of macOS Sonoma 14. I'll be damned if I let a 4-year-old laptop get turned into eWaste, though.

I had previously wiped the SSD and installed Windows 11 because of the aforementioned issues with the audio drivers. Now that I can have audio, though, this computer lives on as Linux machine, as it's 2011 15-inch counterpart does.

[gnarlymetalghost]

fucked up that video games can just. disappear. like Cult of the Lamb threatening to be deleted after the Unity thing, one of the Evil Dead games is disappearing soon, i tried to play the group play on a Tell Tale game last week and it doesn’t work anymore. there’s so much content that just vanishes and no one can stop it and i feel so useless about it