Modern Technology and times

[Lynx_Arc]

Once upon a time my auto entertainment system was an 8-track or cassette when the radio sucked. Now I have bluetooth fed music from a phone.

Back then a tape was pretty reliable if you cleaned the head from time to time. Bluetooth aint bad but the other day my truck radio forgot my phone mid-song. It just quit reading the signals from the phone.

In the old days if my tape player ate a tape I could rip it out and pop in another……while driving. Yet when the ford sync forgot my phone the safety stuff would not allow me to "delete" the phone and re-pair, nor would it allow me to factory reset the infotainment system while in motion. It warns against ejecting a compact disc or inserting one as well. However it will allow me to manually dial a phone number on the keypad or manually scan radio stations one frequency at a time, which are actually way more distracting than ejecting a cd or paiting a device.

I can't say I miss that 8-track player but I do understand that first world problems can make one truely understand just how far we've come yet while still having the aggrevation of things not working.

When my car stereo/CD player first lost the CD player and then the FM stereo receiver I finally got tired of messing with an old 30G IPod video that had a weak battery I had to run it off a power bank. I ended up finally ordering a Kenwood bluetooth cd player from Best Buy as they didn't stock much but it was only 99 dollars. The thing works like a jewel 99% of the time... every once in awhile I have to turn it completely off to get it fixed but it is rare.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Gone are the days when I would see a wadded-up tangle of 8 track or cassette tape sitting on the ground in a gas station parking lot. I could only imagine the choice words that were spoken immediately prior to depositing that tangled mess on the ground.

 

[raggie33]

ill stick to digital audio id bet i could fit all the music of everyone in this post on 2 0r 3 micro sd cards total weight like 5 grams

 

[bykfixer]

I have a over TB of music on my computer raggie.

The phone I use for music is an unlocked motorola with a micro card slot. It has a 128gb card in it. Those things are cheap now! I think I paid like $20 for it at WalMart. The phone was set up for Verizon but a guy at a geek store hit the "not now" icon like 12 or 20 times or something quickly when it asked if I wanted to start a new account and the phone completely unlocked. Everything is turned off except the mp3 player and a keyboard so I can name playlists.

 

[greenpondmike]

I used to fix those. Just cut out the bad part and super glue two ends together. Had a tape I found that had messed up and someone threw it out. I fixed it and it lasted a year or two till I got rid of it. It got played almost every day for as long as I was in the car and sometimes I brought it in the house and also listened to it.

A little patience and super glue...

This is supposed to be a reply to photowrangler's post, but something went wrong.

 

[bykfixer]

In around 88 or 89 I was issued a police car for a vehicle as an inspector. 83 LTD with all kinds of creature comforts, including an am/fm/8-track.

As a member of Columbia House where the compact disc ruled at that point albums were being phased out. I still had a really nice turn table and cassette player at home and did not own a cd player at that time. Albums were disappearing like chimney smoke but……Columbia House had a huge selection of 8-track tape versions of popular artists. And not just pre-cassette era like Rolling Stones or Fleetwood Mac but modern at the time. The Smiths, The Cars, INXS etc.

It was a Krako stereo system. Remember those?
I don't recall it ever eating an 8-track tape.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Columbia House - I remember those ads. Wasn't there another competing subscription service also?

 

[greenpondmike]

In around 88 or 89 I was issued a police car for a vehicle as an inspector. 83 LTD with all kinds of creature comforts, including an am/fm/8-track.

As a member of Columbia House where the compact disc ruled at that point albums were being phased out. I still had a really nice turn table and cassette player at home and did not own a cd player at that time. Albums were disappearing like chimney smoke but……Columbia House had a huge selection of 8-track tape versions of popular artists. And not just pre-cassette era like Rolling Stones or Fleetwood Mac but modern at the time. The Smiths, The Cars, INXS etc.

It was a Krako stereo system. Remember those?
I don't recall it ever eating an 8-track tape.

I remember krako and columbia house

 

[Lynx_Arc]

I remember krako and columbia house

That's Kraco

 

[greenpondmike]

That's Kraco

Close enough for google to correct me and bykfixer if we looked it up. I thought it had a "c" in it though.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Close enough for google to correct me and bykfixer if we looked it up. I thought it had a "c" in it though.

I remember the brand plus "CO" I believe is likely abbreviation for company. I had a Jensen car stereo that gave up on me finally that was essentially similar quality at the time my dad bought it. I now have a Kenwood in my car and it is a jewel compared to cheapy brands. I did once have a Sanyo high power cassette stereo long ago in my car that was 18Wpc RMS to the woofers and 4Wpc RMS to the tweeters and back then most car stereos were lucky to be 10W RMS. The Cassette drive wore out on it but the receiver kept working. Todays car stereos are mostly bluetooth many without a CD player also.

 

[bykfixer]

We called 'em krack-o.

 

[raggie33]

i had a audiovox mom bought for me i had it in my 75 nova a car i bought my self at 16 or so ugly as hell but ran like a top. i was so sad when it dies a few years latter but was worth the 2 hundred i payed for it . god now im missing my mom

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

Here's a little something for raggie -

 

[bykfixer]

I'm reviving this one to rant a bit.

My company made it so when using a flash drive it has to be encrypted to add files. Sounds harmless, right? It is until you try to plug it into something that does not have the software such as a remote printer or another computer.

I work remotely. So often a flash drive is a portable hard drive. The company says "just use the cloud", or "bluetooth it"…… basically that security feature knee cap'd a bunch of us who do not always set behind a desk and at times work where there is not internet or have access to a bluetooth capable printer.

I decided I'll just send a runner to go print something like the military did in the Revolutionary War since apparently I can't be trusted to handle a PDF document on a flash drive that may fall into the hands of our competitors.

I told Mrs Fixer I hate to think I'd leave the company after 20+ years over a flash drive but it definitely has me looking at other options as a pattern has developed where stupid executives create rules that hand cuffs the people who bring in the revenue that pays their bloated salaries.

And TEAM meetings? Good greif!! They act like all I have to do all day is attend those things. Once a month I get a report that indicates how much % free time I have because my e-calendar isn't packed or because I don't attend their meetings. "last month you had 94% free time and only attended 18% of your scheduled events"……

Ridiculous. If an EMP hits these people would spontaniously combust in about 12 minutes.

 

[Poppy]

I recently bought a "Hot Spot" device for my grandson to use when he needs internet access but only has cell service.

Our cell plan does not allow us to create and share a hot spot, but some plans do.

@bykfixer I appreciate your frustration. Yet when I hear of cyber warfare, it seems more and more, encryption is a necessary evil.

 

[raggie33]

Anyone know what happened to geep?

 

[chip100t]

I have an 18 year old nissan terrano 2 I bought 12 years ago and do not want to part with it. Because it has served me well and can't afford to replace it even if I wanted to. But the mayor of london wants to include my neighbourhood in the ultra low emission zone in the next two years that would mean I would have to pay £12 every time I drove it. That's on top of the road tax and fuel duty I already pay the government. When he does this my motoring days may be over.

If I won the lottery I would love a new land rover defender. I used to do a lot of target shooting, mountainbiking and metal detecting that took me on to farmland regularly which was why originally bought my 4WD.

I just need a car to get me from a to b reliably with a radio and heater, no more.

I see cars advertised as having cameras instead of mirrors, which seems crazy to me. Replacing something that works perfectly with technology that adds expense and the possibility of malfunction.

 

[Poppy]

I see cars advertised as having cameras instead of mirrors, which seems crazy to me. Replacing something that works perfectly with technology that adds expense and the possibility of malfunction.

My daughter is in an office without a window. I told her she should get a camera to the outside piped to a monitor and make it look like a window.

I've considered that it might be an improvement to have a digital front windshield, instead of a real one. It's brightness and intensity could be adjusted in varying lighting conditions, and it could be programmed to reduce the sharpness and intensity of headlight glare from oncoming traffic.

 

[raggie33]

I've heard them land rovers are garbage so be careful