Things that are meant to be better but are not better

Oh yeah. "New, improved recipe" invariably means "We've found a way to make it just fractionally cheaper, and that bit less good to eat"

Thr fact cars don't have a cd player! DHs still does and I love putting a cd in, and just letting it play. Nothing fiddly, no streaming, no adverts , LOVE it!

I have Bluetooth headphones which I won't wear outside because you can bet I'll get part of walk done and low battery hits! Do love them when cleaning the house though!

Electronic bingo. Used to enjoy a night out with the girls on 6 tickets with my dabber & as much of a chance of winning as everyone else. You're now up against people who've spent a fortune on 120 tickets. It's taken the fun out of it.

I love a bar of something chocolatey with my evening coffee from time to time. Some of the bars are so bloody small I need 2 of them.
Everything has gone up in price but the sizes are much smaller.

I have an ancient recipe for Mars bar crispies. It says to use 3 Mars bars - I'd need about 10 of today's!

To be honest, they could stop forever - except maybe a bit of news and current affairs.

We already have millions of hours of TV/video/film - in the English language alone; I'm not convinced we actually need any more ever!

Chocolate. Almost all chocolate is rank these days. Waxy and cheap (I'm looking at you Cadbury's).
Lindt is my saviour.

I remember saying I wish they'd stop making stuff for a couple of years so we can catch up...and they pretty much did during the plague..and now there seems to be more stuff to watch than ever, and of course it's all on a different streaming service for yet another monthly payment.
Bring back the days of four channels.

Who dreams up these ideas such as apps for everything? Do they really look at this and not wonder (as I do) - what if the WiFi signal is poor or the equipment breaks down? Probably no, as they're selling a product and, once it's sold, don't care about the customer's actual experience using it. Aftercare is usually shit or non existent.

Had to have a new combi boiler installed last year. My old one had dial for temperatures separately for heating and water and times programmed in for each day but a button to override on/off if wishes. Simple. This new one is so complicated I leave heating as is because I’m frightened of cocking the system up. Technology makes things harder not easier.

I do hate companies that charge a card fee when you can ONLY pay by card!

Biggest telltale sign of smaller packaging when they change the logo.

2FA via SMS. There is no mobile signal where I live. It drives me absolutely potty and by the time a code actually arrives, it has expired.

Absolutely this, and where do you keep the key when you're in the car? At least when the key was in the ignition I knew where it was.

Those bloody new bottle tops. I can't do them up properly and have spilt endless amounts of liquids in my bag. I've moved to Pepsi in protest as they haven't gone to the dark side yet.

Usually in a smaller packet as well!

Pretty much any food that is labelled ‘new improved’.

@MissMarplesNiece Due in part to all the electricity, produced by burning fossil fuels, that is needed to charge our phones so that we can use the apps that are needed to negotiate daily life these days (tongue in cheek, lol) To say nothing of those celebrities travelling to "climate change conferences" in their private jets, and the electricity for Greta Thunberg's microphone as she preaches despair among young people.

I completely agree. I always feel the same about tipping: I would rather know the desired/expected total price in advance; but whenever it comes up on threads, people misunderstand and accuse you of being tight.

I suppose, when companies are rinsing you and you're willingly handing over a lot of money, they just can't resist pushing it even further and taking more.

It will never happen, but if enough people started to book tickets and then just stopped the transaction and decided not to go ahead with the purchase once they discovered the actual higher price (including 'booking fee'), it would show up on their analytics and might make them think again. We know it's a rip-off, but at least don't make it a devious underhand rip-off.

That sentence would be even better without the word 'music'

This is such a good point. It used to be a sci fi horror movie concept, and it's happening now and has come about so subtly

I wonder if this might be something to do with tax? I'm not 100% certain (despite submitting my tax return as required but with my jaw clenched and fingernails embedded in palms) but can you claim tax against the cost of the ticket price but not the booking charges? Or something? It's the absolute only reason I could come up with for this.

"And my one keeps covertly feeding me climate change propaganda, with "temperatures to break record for 20th March" appearing in tiny print in the corner of the screen."
Due in part to all the electricity, produced by burning fossil fuels, that is needed to charge our phones so that we can use the apps that are needed to negotiate daily life these days (tongue in cheek, lol)

Computers in general. They used to be your servants. They would do exactly as you told them.

Now they're always controlling you: you can't do anything without the internet; you pick it up because you want to use it, and you're foiled with "installing updates: please be patient". It makes me long for the days of "Bad command or filename", or the moralising message about always shutting down before switching off. (Remember that, from the early 90s?)

And my one keeps covertly feeding me climate change propaganda, with "temperatures to break record for 20th March" appearing in tiny print in the corner of the screen.

This, 100%. Why aren’t these endless pointless ‘updates’ genuinely optional, ie the device will still work properly without them?

Key less start in your car. Great when it works but when you’re struggling for battery or the button breaks there’s no give a turn and try - that’s it you just have to call someone.

I so agree with everything on this thread. And don’t get me started on tiny little ‘buttons’ for big clumsy fingers or hands that aren’t perfectly steady. Or machines that resolutely refuse to understand my voice, whether I’m speaking normally or bellowing or e-nun-ci-a-ting ver-y clear-ly …