4 ms·

> It would be like saying today that you can't have a computer without an on/off switch because in the 70s every computer had a physical switch. As aside, that

> It would be like saying today that you can't have a computer without an on/off switch because in the 70s every computer had a physical switch. As aside, that’d be great.

jedberg 5y ago
As soon as I typed that I knew someone would reply with this. :). I agree it would be nice and I sometimes miss physical switches, but imagine how clunky a Raspberry Pi would be with a physical switch. And besides, I almost never used the switch on the computer anyway. I was always told to put it into a power strip and use that, because it was a lot cheaper to replace the power strip than the broken power switch on the PC!
- cameronh90 5y ago
  I recently disconnected the capacitive power button on my desktop thanks to my stupid cat repeatedly turning off my computer. Instead, I've turned on the feature in the BIOS to boot up when power is applied. Now, to turn on my desktop, I just flip the power switch on the back. Feels satisfyingly retro.
  - flancian 5y ago
    As an aside, that sounds like a smart cat, not a stupid one. Perhaps your cat enjoys seeing you react to its shenanigans? :)
    - oblak 5y ago
      That would be my guess. Must be fun watching cameronh90 getting punished for not emitting enough attention particles
  - infogulch 5y ago
    Single use instant off capacitive power buttons is the stupidest design for a power switch I've ever seen. It's on the Xbox One (I think?) as well. A cat walking past or someone messing around with unrelated AV equipment accidentally brushing up against it are NOT valid use modes for a device that is running live with a lot of state that evaporates when you turn it off and takes more than 1s to restart. Dumb.
  - drusepth 5y ago
    If you're on Windows: one habit I've developed is to always keep an unsaved notepad.exe open. When my cat hits the power button (not if), Windows will always stall and ask if I want to save the notepad first; at that point, you can press cancel to cancel the whole shutdown process. :)
polygloty 5y ago
Think about having a switch on a laptop. And if the switch doesn't just kill power (which it shouldn't to safely shut down), then it shouldn't be a switch it might be better as a button.
- octoberfranklin 5y ago
  "Turns off when I tell it to and does not disobey me" is part of "safe".
  - NoSorryCannot 5y ago
    I've never seen a machine disobey the long-press, though it's probably happened before to someone. Anyway, I'd rather avoid accidents.
    - cameronh90 5y ago
      We have some Lenovo ThinkPad X1 laptops that disobey the long-press. They get stuck in a state where they are turned on but appear off and nothing works. The only way to get them out of that state is the reset hole. Supposedly it's a motherboard fault, but they've replaced the motherboards repeatedly and it still happens.
    - _trampeltier 5y ago
      My HP ZBook once crashed also somehow and I had to remove the battery. I was not the only guy in the office with this problem.
- vocram 5y ago
  You want a switch that also kills power without software or firmware. I had a Dell that once got stuck and the usual long press of the power button was not switching it off (probably it was sw/fw controlled). I had to take it apart and disconnect the battery, otherwise I would have lost my working day waiting for it to die.
  - 5y ago
jeffwask 5y ago
Since my cat learned to press the red button to get my attention, it would be fabulous.
NullPrefix 5y ago
Always-ON computer?

> It would be like saying today that you can't have a computer without an on/off switch because in the 70s every computer had a physical switch. As aside, that’d be great.

jedberg 5y ago

As soon as I typed that I knew someone would reply with this. :). I agree it would be nice and I sometimes miss physical switches, but imagine how clunky a Raspberry Pi would be with a physical switch. And besides, I almost never used the switch on the computer anyway. I was always told to put it into a power strip and use that, because it was a lot cheaper to replace the power strip than the broken power switch on the PC!

cameronh90 5y ago
I recently disconnected the capacitive power button on my desktop thanks to my stupid cat repeatedly turning off my computer. Instead, I've turned on the feature in the BIOS to boot up when power is applied. Now, to turn on my desktop, I just flip the power switch on the back. Feels satisfyingly retro.
- flancian 5y ago
  As an aside, that sounds like a smart cat, not a stupid one. Perhaps your cat enjoys seeing you react to its shenanigans? :)
  - oblak 5y ago
    That would be my guess. Must be fun watching cameronh90 getting punished for not emitting enough attention particles
- infogulch 5y ago
  Single use instant off capacitive power buttons is the stupidest design for a power switch I've ever seen. It's on the Xbox One (I think?) as well. A cat walking past or someone messing around with unrelated AV equipment accidentally brushing up against it are NOT valid use modes for a device that is running live with a lot of state that evaporates when you turn it off and takes more than 1s to restart. Dumb.
- drusepth 5y ago
  If you're on Windows: one habit I've developed is to always keep an unsaved notepad.exe open. When my cat hits the power button (not if), Windows will always stall and ask if I want to save the notepad first; at that point, you can press cancel to cancel the whole shutdown process. :)

polygloty 5y ago

Think about having a switch on a laptop. And if the switch doesn't just kill power (which it shouldn't to safely shut down), then it shouldn't be a switch it might be better as a button.

octoberfranklin 5y ago
"Turns off when I tell it to and does not disobey me" is part of "safe".
- NoSorryCannot 5y ago
  I've never seen a machine disobey the long-press, though it's probably happened before to someone. Anyway, I'd rather avoid accidents.
  - cameronh90 5y ago
    We have some Lenovo ThinkPad X1 laptops that disobey the long-press. They get stuck in a state where they are turned on but appear off and nothing works. The only way to get them out of that state is the reset hole. Supposedly it's a motherboard fault, but they've replaced the motherboards repeatedly and it still happens.
  - _trampeltier 5y ago
    My HP ZBook once crashed also somehow and I had to remove the battery. I was not the only guy in the office with this problem.
vocram 5y ago
You want a switch that also kills power without software or firmware. I had a Dell that once got stuck and the usual long press of the power button was not switching it off (probably it was sw/fw controlled). I had to take it apart and disconnect the battery, otherwise I would have lost my working day waiting for it to die.
- 5y ago

jeffwask 5y ago

Since my cat learned to press the red button to get my attention, it would be fabulous.

NullPrefix 5y ago

Always-ON computer?