Things that are meant to be better but are not better

[CrocsNotDocs]

Look, I’m not a Luddite- I usually love technology.

But why oh why have headphones jacks been removed from phones and tablets? I don’t want Bluetooth headphones or earbuds that I have to worry about charging before I go anywhere and that cost a zillion dollars. I want cheap old fashioned headphones that don’t go flat that can be plugged into your device and just work. I don’t want to use the charging port for headphones- I like to charge my device while using it. I want headphone jacks back.

YABU- Everything new is always better
YANBU- some things were not broken and should have been left alone

I love them and rarely have a problem. Just been converted to self scan which is even better.

I did mourn the loss of the headphone jack. I used to have a stupidly long commute and once or twice forgot my headphone I could pick up a cheap pair in the shop @GarlicStyle which ones did you get? I got a pair off 'the evil place' also and they were useless

I love my smart lights though I can turn them on coming home when it is dark. Change the strength.

The parking apps that make you top up by €10 when you sign up, I now have 3 parking apps for different towns with money on all

Totally agree with you OP. And it drives me mad that for EVERYTHING these days you have to download an app to your phone. Every single service provider 'Do you have our app?' 'Oh well it's really easy to do if you have our app'. I don't want a fucking app for everything!!!!!!

No Reps in holiday hotels!

Recently had a problem on holiday and wanted to switch to a hotel we knew nearby.

Could I contact EasyJet? Of course not! Taken round in endless loops on-line. No way to contact anyone.

In the good old days, an EasyJet Rep would have been in reception for a few hours most days. Bish, bash, bong, it would have been sorted.

This happened to me once and I went to the ticket counter, they put my phone on charge and printed me off a ticket. Don't know if all stations are as helpful but I was impressed with Newton Abbot, I was in a panic and they just calmly smiled and said don't worry and sorted it.

I do use my phone camera but also a DSLR. I found it hilarious when they brought out interchangeable lenses for mobile phones. Do they actually work ?

@Patagonianpenguin Is the qr code on a receipt the server gives you or at the table? If it’s at the table, it’s vulnerable to qr code scams, where a fake code is stuck over the real one. Always check carefully to make sure it’s the original code. (This scam is also becoming more common in car parks)

On the rare occasion I need to bank cash, I have to fight with a "customer service representative " trying to strong arm me into doing it with the big cash machine. And I always insist on handing it to the real person behind the counter and getting a receipt. If I've taken the time to schlep down to an actual bank, I want human interaction thank you, and the security of saying "I handed my cash to Mary on Tuesday, she counted it, and here's the proof" rather than risking "computer said no".

Oh yes! This! The Air fryer gets more and more distressed I haven’t opened the door to consume the food it has dried out for me within seconds of it finishing. The washing machine sings a fucking song when it’s done. The dishwasher bleeps incessantly. The electric car has a meltdown when I have 25 km left ( I travel no further than 5kg from home I. It) and shouts at me in Japanese every km.
the touchscreen hob is also my enemy. “Agggh!! You moved a pan!!”

Appliances with personality disorders is an apt description. Sometimes they are all yelling at me in unison.

we have touch lamps in the guest bedroom. They don’t turn on with an insistent finger but do turn on and brighten when you walk past or turn over in bed.

And they all seem to use different apps so you end up with 3 or 4 different apps on the phone but then you get to a new car park and find you still don't have the right one, so you have to sit there for 10 minutes waiting for yet another app to download. Or, you've got a new bank card and sit faffing about trying to put in new bank details. Even worse if you've forgotten your unique password which you made up in a hurry and promptly forgot.

I hate those apps that supermarkets encourage customers to use - standing in a queue, in a hurry (why am I always in a hurry) while someone pithers about trying to open it and remember their password and scan it. Even worse if they've had shopping that won't scan so you've been stuck there while a poor assistant rushes ragged between half a dozen people with "unexpected items in the baggage area".

@VickyEadieofThigh someone may have already suggested this but you can get buds that sit on your earlobe and don't go into the ear holes.
I use
these.
I like them because they are very easy to switch off when someone talks to you . One simple press on the bud, no tapping and faffing .
I think you can search bone conduction ear buds.

We bought a Tesla last year (before the whole Musk/Trump lunacy) and it’s a brilliant car but it came with no indicator stem or buttons for temp control etc. instead it’s all done via screen or steering wheel. We gave it a good try. We really did, thinking we’d get used to it eventually, but we’ve finally caved and bought the gadgets from a company that makes them. Driving is so much more relaxing now that the mild panic of navigating a roundabout has gone.

Wide leg trousers promoted as so much more flattering for women. Nope. Look shit on everyone including the models advertising them.

My induction hob has a magnetic dial you put on a special area to switch on and control the rings. I get a childish pleasure from twirling it as it makes a farting noise. However the hob has a complete meltdown should the tiniest drop of water get on it. Shuts down and sulks for five minutes..

Oh yes the App based ordering. Totally shit.

Thought if another: subscription purchasing.

Amazon, Holland & Barrett and Pets at Home do this. You can buy an item for a one-off purchase for say, £20, or if I subscribe it will be sent to me monthly for £18, plus they've got my data.

Fudge, Off!

Cordless appliances that have a battery life of about 15 minutes and utterly shite motors, like hoovers. Struggling to find a cheapish lawnmower at the minute that still has a corded power supply.

I miss CDs in cars

@garlicstyle
/My washer isn't 'smart' but it still needs three different button presses in the correct order to get going - and has secret functions that you access with secret button sequences, which you have to go online to find out about/

I'm sorry, your washing machine has a cheat code?!!!

🤣🤣🤣

Our burglar alarm!

Recently compulsorily updated because of digital phone line.

So instead of a simple, very clear panel where you just entered 4 digits to turn on/off, we now have a much smaller one where it’s a lot harder to see the numbers, plus a big screen which helpfully tells us that today is Monday 24th, 13 deg and cloudy, plus a bloody annoying loud American woman’s voice telling us the system is now ARMED/DISARMED!
If that’s progress you can stuff it up your arse!

I never understand why ‘improvements’ seem to mean more effing complicated. At some point I shall have to replace my now rarely used old tumble drier - just 2 settings, hot and less hot, absolutely fine. But any replacement will almost certainly have 11 settings that I’ll never need.

And god forbid you change your car! I spent half an hour on the phone with the customer service department of a parking app after I got a different car last year, while trying to buy a train ticket and get on the train and all the time worried I was going to get a massive fine for parking without paying. I never minded buying a ticket from a machine!!

Parking apps are so shit. And all different. And not always good network coverage

Airfryers

Oh I hate that armed/disarmed thing. It’s an alarm not a bomb for god’s sake.

Brioche burger buns. Every bloody where. And sourdough.