General > General Technical Chat
modern tech is better or is it?
eti:
--- Quote from: Halcyon on October 26, 2022, 10:27:49 pm ---Define "better".
If you mean overall durability, the answer is both yes and no. I think there is a greater variation of products these days, compared for say, 30 years ago. Everything from the cheapest, nastiest Chinese garbage through to premium high quality products.
If you mean in terms of performance and capabilities, then the answer is a resounding "yes". Technology has come a long way and is only getting better.
I'll take a 4K OLED over "not being able to play football inside the house" any day.
--- End quote ---
There's no such thing as "premium" these days, only when it is ENFORCED by law for industrial-grade stuff that has VERY rigid laws about how it HAS to stand up to X abuse for X years/decades ... and then they'd not even bother trying that marketing baloney, as it's made to order for engineers who know better, and the companies making it KNOW this, and wouldn't bother trying it on, and in industry you don't get to "market to" the customer in this same manner [shortform: consumer grade customers are ignorant and believe what they're told]. The *IMAGE* of "premium" is marketed to death, I feel, but the reality is different. Your 4K TV which is SOLD as "premium" (and no matter WHICH brand) is carefully calculated to go out of warranty, and then... "oh look, it died!"
You say "Technology has come a long way" - I beg to differ. The dots on the TV are packed closer together, some chips have got faster the thing is thinner to RIDICULOUS levels (not sure why we NEED a TV as thin as paper - not like ya gonna carry it round the house) and the "apps" have multiplied like bacteria, most of which are useless, spammy noise. The junk coming through the cable is EXPONENTIALLY WORSE than the quality programmes we used to have (at least here in England, and we are condescended to on EVERY level of TV programming).
How is this "Better"? It's DEMONSTRABLY WORSE.
When words like "premium", "Pro model" etc are bandied to death, they lose all meaning. Companies ONLY care about the NEXT sale, not taking care of the current thing they sold ya.
Halcyon:
--- Quote from: eti on October 26, 2022, 10:41:37 pm ---
--- Quote from: Halcyon on October 26, 2022, 10:27:49 pm ---Define "better".
If you mean overall durability, the answer is both yes and no. I think there is a greater variation of products these days, compared for say, 30 years ago. Everything from the cheapest, nastiest Chinese garbage through to premium high quality products.
If you mean in terms of performance and capabilities, then the answer is a resounding "yes". Technology has come a long way and is only getting better.
I'll take a 4K OLED over "not being able to play football inside the house" any day.
--- End quote ---
There's no such thing as "premium" these days, only when it is ENFORCED by law for industrial-grade stuff that has VERY rigid laws about how it HAS to stand up to X abuse for X years/decades ... and then they'd not even bother trying that marketing baloney, as it's made to order for engineers who know better, and the companies making it KNOW this, and wouldn't bother trying it on, and in industry you don't get to "market to" the customer in this same manner [shortform: consumer grade customers are ignorant and believe what they're told]. The *IMAGE* of "premium" is marketed to death, I feel, but the reality is different. Your 4K TV which is SOLD as "premium" (and no matter WHICH brand) is carefully calculated to go out of warranty, and then... "oh look, it died!"
You say "Technology has come a long way" - I beg to differ. The dots on the TV are packed closer together, some chips have got faster the thing is thinner to RIDICULOUS levels (not sure why we NEED a TV as thin as paper - not like ya gonna carry it round the house) and the "apps" have multiplied like bacteria, most of which are useless, spammy noise. The junk coming through the cable is EXPONENTIALLY WORSE than the quality programmes we used to have (at least here in England, and we are condescended to on EVERY level of TV programming).
How is this "Better"? It's DEMONSTRABLY WORSE.
When words like "premium", "Pro model" etc are bandied to death, they lose all meaning. Companies ONLY care about the NEXT sale, not taking care of the current thing they sold ya.
--- End quote ---
I guess that depends on how you define "premium". For me a premium laptop would be something like a Lenovo ThinkPad or a hard drive such as the Hitachi/WD Ultrastar's. I certainly wouldn't put them in the "industrial" market. The same goes for "prosumer" equipment like cameras and audio gear. Those would be classed as premium products in my books.
As for TV's, I have to disagree. The image quality is getting better and better all the time. I just replaced my TV earlier in the year and it's orders of magnitude better compared to my 6-year old Phillips unit. Not only does Google TV run faster than the proprietary stuff that Philips implemented, but the contrast, brightness, resolution, image quality and digital corrective features are in completely different leagues. That being said, this is why I went for a premium brand like Sony, as opposed to the cheap crap you buy from Kogan that has questionable hardware specifications. As for what is actually broadcast on TV/internet, yeah, you could argue it's garbage, but I don't subscribe or watch any of that stuff. 95% of my content I watch comes from my self-hosted Plex server. I honestly don't recall the last time I actually saw an ad on TV.
In terms of the all the "apps", well, that comes down to the unit you decide to purchase. I bought a Google TV so I can specifically uninstall the crap that I don't need (and more importantly, install the applications I do need, like the native Plex client). It makes for a very clean experience.
Ultimately, the "quality" of the TV comes down to robustness/longevity, its ability to perform functions as one would expect (without lag, glitching) and its ability to display images and audio to an acceptable quality. Everything else is beyond the scope.
eti:
--- Quote from: Halcyon on October 26, 2022, 11:01:14 pm ---
--- Quote from: eti on October 26, 2022, 10:41:37 pm ---
--- Quote from: Halcyon on October 26, 2022, 10:27:49 pm ---Define "better".
If you mean overall durability, the answer is both yes and no. I think there is a greater variation of products these days, compared for say, 30 years ago. Everything from the cheapest, nastiest Chinese garbage through to premium high quality products.
If you mean in terms of performance and capabilities, then the answer is a resounding "yes". Technology has come a long way and is only getting better.
I'll take a 4K OLED over "not being able to play football inside the house" any day.
--- End quote ---
There's no such thing as "premium" these days, only when it is ENFORCED by law for industrial-grade stuff that has VERY rigid laws about how it HAS to stand up to X abuse for X years/decades ... and then they'd not even bother trying that marketing baloney, as it's made to order for engineers who know better, and the companies making it KNOW this, and wouldn't bother trying it on, and in industry you don't get to "market to" the customer in this same manner [shortform: consumer grade customers are ignorant and believe what they're told]. The *IMAGE* of "premium" is marketed to death, I feel, but the reality is different. Your 4K TV which is SOLD as "premium" (and no matter WHICH brand) is carefully calculated to go out of warranty, and then... "oh look, it died!"
You say "Technology has come a long way" - I beg to differ. The dots on the TV are packed closer together, some chips have got faster the thing is thinner to RIDICULOUS levels (not sure why we NEED a TV as thin as paper - not like ya gonna carry it round the house) and the "apps" have multiplied like bacteria, most of which are useless, spammy noise. The junk coming through the cable is EXPONENTIALLY WORSE than the quality programmes we used to have (at least here in England, and we are condescended to on EVERY level of TV programming).
How is this "Better"? It's DEMONSTRABLY WORSE.
When words like "premium", "Pro model" etc are bandied to death, they lose all meaning. Companies ONLY care about the NEXT sale, not taking care of the current thing they sold ya.
--- End quote ---
I guess that depends on how you define "premium". For me a premium laptop would be something like a Lenovo ThinkPad or a hard drive such as the Hitachi/WD Ultrastar's. I certainly wouldn't put them in the "industrial" market. The same goes for "prosumer" equipment like cameras and audio gear. Those would be classed as premium products in my books.
As for TV's, I have to disagree. The image quality is getting better and better all the time. I just replaced my TV earlier in the year and it's orders of magnitude better compared to my 6-year old Phillips unit. Not only does Google TV run faster than the proprietary stuff that Philips implemented, but the contrast, brightness, resolution, image quality and digital corrective features are in completely different leagues. That being said, this is why I went for a premium brand like Sony, as opposed to the cheap crap you buy from Kogan that has questionable hardware specifications. As for what is actually broadcast on TV/internet, yeah, you could argue it's garbage, but I don't subscribe or watch any of that stuff. 95% of my content I watch comes from my self-hosted Plex server. I honestly don't recall the last time I actually saw an ad on TV.
In terms of the all the "apps", well, that comes down to the unit you decide to purchase. I bought a Google TV so I can specifically uninstall the crap that I don't need (and more importantly, install the applications I do need, like the native Plex client). It makes for a very clean experience.
Ultimately, the "quality" of the TV comes down to robustness/longevity, its ability to perform functions as one would expect (without lag, glitching) and its ability to display images and audio to an acceptable quality. Everything else is beyond the scope.
--- End quote ---
I wouldn't class the "ThinkPad" range as consumer grade laptops. Consumers may buy them, but I can count on two FINGERS the people I know with these NASA certified tanks; me, and my Uncle. The fact that they are, afaik, the ONLY laptops NASA has certified and used for decades, says a lot to me. "IdeaPad" range, if they still exist, I am told are utter landfill fodder. I still have an R500, and its been bashed, smacked, dropped, and not a single war wound, and it STILL works. I am not one for thin, fly-away paper laptops, and I like the chunky doorstep profile :D
I don't recall EVER having seen a TV ad for ThinkPad; that would be considered VERY tacky and low-brow, considering who they are aimed at. Whenever I see one on TV, in a business or someone's home, I say aloud "Look, SOMEONE with a brain!". Consumers LOVE to be led along like sheep with this "New! Better! Better than last year's 'best EVERRR' " BS.
The amount of people who ask me "Which is the best brand of computer?" only serves to confirm this.
james_s:
Thinkpads are everywhere, I probably have 5 or so of them including the one I'm using now, my daily driver is a X250. I know loads of people that have them, yes they're not really targeted at consumers but quite a lot of tech oriented people have them.
SiliconWizard:
I have one.
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