5 ms·

Damn, your guess sounds quite plausible. Also, everything is awful.

reaperducer 5y ago
Also, everything is awful. Not so much awful as "Star Trek." Star Trek was always upheld as a model of the future. But instead of transporters and replicators and space travel, we got all the bad stuff from Star Trek. Everything breaks all the time. Technology doesn't do what we expect it to do. The latest, greatest inventions are held together with gum and bailing wire. Computers let us down when we need them the most. We are living Star Trek.
- netizen-936824 5y ago
  Computers only do what they're told to, I don't think it was them that did the letting down.
- khuey 5y ago
  Somehow in Star Trek the video conferencing always works on the first try which is definitely not how things work in our reality.
  - seoulmetro 5y ago
    Actually I can guarantee you that our defence force vehicles, aircrafts, ships, etc. all have communication that works every first time. Big difference. One is a purpose built machine, the other is an app on your multi-purpose computer.
    - quanticle 5y ago
      That isn't true at all. If you read the postmortems on the USS McCain and USS Fitzgerald collisions, you'll find that one of the contributing factors was the fact that both ships had lots of issues with the computers and software controlling their sensors and communications. This post (https://fixvms.com/ https://fixvms.com/) on the mapping software for the US submarine fleet doesn't raise confidence either.
      - bombcar 5y ago
        The military works because everyone expects everything to be eternally broken at all times. And is pleased when it isn’t.
      - seoulmetro 5y ago
        Issues with software controlling communications isn't the same as issues sending communications. If you're telling me there are ships running in the defence force that can't actually communicate with other people at the drop of a hat, at all times, then how is that even possible? That requires some serious negligence. In a lot of instances, if the system fails, the plane falls out of the sky, so I am pretty sure we're doing that well.
        quanticle 5y ago
        If you're telling me there are ships running in the defence force that can't actually communicate with other people at the drop of a hat, at all times, then how is that even possible? That requires some serious negligence. Indeed it does, but unfortunately ships have to be designed to constraints other than, "Works perfectly all the time, even in combat." For example, one of the reasons that the British lost HMS Sheffield during the Falklands War is because, due to issues with her antenna layout, she was unable to use her radar and satellite communications at the same time. When the Argentine planes launched an Exocet at her, she was in the middle of using the satellite antenna, and thus missed the incoming missile. Why was the antenna layout so boneheaded? Budget cuts during the shipbuilding program, which forced a reduction in size and consolidation of antennas. In a lot of instances, if the system fails, the plane falls out of the sky, so I am pretty sure we're doing that well. The numerous issues we've had with communication and sensor fusion on the F-35 indicate that we aren't. Now, the military absolutely assures us that those issues have been resolved and the F-35 is great now, but I think I can be forgiven for not taking their word 100% at face value.
  - onion2k 5y ago
    I've been using video conferencing software, and hardware in a few cases, for about 20 years, and I don't remember the last time it failed to connect first time. It definitely used to but that hasn't been a problem for a very long time.
    - RHSeeger 5y ago
      I run into problems with video conferencing applications on a semi-weekly basis. The most common is when the dialin number (I use a desk phone for the sound quality) connects to one of their "bad" lines and [doesn't connect, is delayed, can't hear anyone, nobody can hear me, etc... pick your failure of the day]. But there's many times where it fails in other, purely software ways.
    - bobthepanda 5y ago
      maybe not the connection, but definitely audio and video not working the first time you connect isn't uncommon.
- sergiotapia 5y ago
  It seems like we're heading towards Lexx more than Star Trek.
ncmncm 5y ago
Everything is Microsoft. Microsoft made a special point of getting people used to the idea that nothing can be expected to work right. Before Microsoft, if something didn't work, you sent it back for a refund, angrily. Since, it is "Have you tried rebooting it?" No refunds, ever. Everybody else relaxed into a Microsoft level of expectation. Anybody who doesn't, spends money their competitors don't. (If you are too young to remember: this is literally true.)
- jcoq 5y ago
  This is unfair. The requirements for consumer software have become exponentially more complex during Microsoft's tenure as leader. Hardly anything worked quite right in the 90s or 00s.
  - ncmncm 5y ago
    Microsoft dominated the '90s and '00s. QED.
- wk_end 5y ago
  I take it you haven't used an old Macintosh or Amiga recently.
  - ncmncm 5y ago
    Microsoft long predated those. Apple ][ did not crash.
    - wk_end 5y ago
      Microsoft predated the Apple ][ too, but it's moot either way. Was MS-DOS so buggy and so profoundly influential that it dramatically lowered Apple's standards - and everyone else's - over the course of the two and a half years between the launch of the IBM PC and the launch of the Macintosh?
      - ncmncm 5y ago

Also, everything is awful. Not so much awful as "Star Trek." Star Trek was always upheld as a model of the future. But instead of transporters and replicators and space travel, we got all the bad stuff from Star Trek. Everything breaks all the time. Technology doesn't do what we expect it to do. The latest, greatest inventions are held together with gum and bailing wire. Computers let us down when we need them the most. We are living Star Trek.

netizen-936824 5y ago
Computers only do what they're told to, I don't think it was them that did the letting down.
khuey 5y ago
Somehow in Star Trek the video conferencing always works on the first try which is definitely not how things work in our reality.
- seoulmetro 5y ago
  Actually I can guarantee you that our defence force vehicles, aircrafts, ships, etc. all have communication that works every first time. Big difference. One is a purpose built machine, the other is an app on your multi-purpose computer.
  - quanticle 5y ago
    That isn't true at all. If you read the postmortems on the USS McCain and USS Fitzgerald collisions, you'll find that one of the contributing factors was the fact that both ships had lots of issues with the computers and software controlling their sensors and communications. This post (https://fixvms.com/ https://fixvms.com/) on the mapping software for the US submarine fleet doesn't raise confidence either.
    - bombcar 5y ago
      The military works because everyone expects everything to be eternally broken at all times. And is pleased when it isn’t.
    - seoulmetro 5y ago
      Issues with software controlling communications isn't the same as issues sending communications. If you're telling me there are ships running in the defence force that can't actually communicate with other people at the drop of a hat, at all times, then how is that even possible? That requires some serious negligence. In a lot of instances, if the system fails, the plane falls out of the sky, so I am pretty sure we're doing that well.
      - quanticle 5y ago
        If you're telling me there are ships running in the defence force that can't actually communicate with other people at the drop of a hat, at all times, then how is that even possible? That requires some serious negligence. Indeed it does, but unfortunately ships have to be designed to constraints other than, "Works perfectly all the time, even in combat." For example, one of the reasons that the British lost HMS Sheffield during the Falklands War is because, due to issues with her antenna layout, she was unable to use her radar and satellite communications at the same time. When the Argentine planes launched an Exocet at her, she was in the middle of using the satellite antenna, and thus missed the incoming missile. Why was the antenna layout so boneheaded? Budget cuts during the shipbuilding program, which forced a reduction in size and consolidation of antennas. In a lot of instances, if the system fails, the plane falls out of the sky, so I am pretty sure we're doing that well. The numerous issues we've had with communication and sensor fusion on the F-35 indicate that we aren't. Now, the military absolutely assures us that those issues have been resolved and the F-35 is great now, but I think I can be forgiven for not taking their word 100% at face value.
- onion2k 5y ago
  I've been using video conferencing software, and hardware in a few cases, for about 20 years, and I don't remember the last time it failed to connect first time. It definitely used to but that hasn't been a problem for a very long time.
  - RHSeeger 5y ago
    I run into problems with video conferencing applications on a semi-weekly basis. The most common is when the dialin number (I use a desk phone for the sound quality) connects to one of their "bad" lines and [doesn't connect, is delayed, can't hear anyone, nobody can hear me, etc... pick your failure of the day]. But there's many times where it fails in other, purely software ways.
  - bobthepanda 5y ago
    maybe not the connection, but definitely audio and video not working the first time you connect isn't uncommon.
sergiotapia 5y ago
It seems like we're heading towards Lexx more than Star Trek.

ncmncm 5y ago

Everything is Microsoft. Microsoft made a special point of getting people used to the idea that nothing can be expected to work right. Before Microsoft, if something didn't work, you sent it back for a refund, angrily. Since, it is "Have you tried rebooting it?" No refunds, ever. Everybody else relaxed into a Microsoft level of expectation. Anybody who doesn't, spends money their competitors don't. (If you are too young to remember: this is literally true.)

jcoq 5y ago
This is unfair. The requirements for consumer software have become exponentially more complex during Microsoft's tenure as leader. Hardly anything worked quite right in the 90s or 00s.
- ncmncm 5y ago
  Microsoft dominated the '90s and '00s. QED.
wk_end 5y ago
I take it you haven't used an old Macintosh or Amiga recently.
- ncmncm 5y ago
  Microsoft long predated those. Apple ][ did not crash.
  - wk_end 5y ago
    Microsoft predated the Apple ][ too, but it's moot either way. Was MS-DOS so buggy and so profoundly influential that it dramatically lowered Apple's standards - and everyone else's - over the course of the two and a half years between the launch of the IBM PC and the launch of the Macintosh?
    - ncmncm 5y ago