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Lots of throwback tech is in vogue with younger people, wired headphones being the most obvious. Not sure about dumb phones. r/dumbphones does have 17k subs. I

by npunt 4y ago

Lots of throwback tech is in vogue with younger people, wired headphones being the most obvious. Not sure about dumb phones. r/dumbphones does have 17k subs. I think the desire is there for a less connected life experience, but some of the utility of smartphones is undeniable, as is the collective action problem around disconnecting from social media, which unless everyone in your social circle does it is tantamount to voluntary social isolation for teens.

cryptoz 4y ago
Re: wired headphones: I am so sick of wireless controllers on consoles. The switch controllers are a nightmare - constantly disconnecting, nearly impossible to reconnect. I got my first-ever xbox last month and the wireless controllers are also a pain. I would play both consoles much more if I had wired controllers - and probably also buy more games. (edit: I'm mid-30s)
- scld 4y ago
  you can just buy a very long usb-c cable and wire up your wireless controllers for xbox, btw
- vlunkr 4y ago
  I've had problems with bluetooth, but never wireless controllers. I don't miss the tangle of cords in front of my GameCube one bit.
- yamtaddle 4y ago
  I grew up on wired controllers—my only wireless controller before I got a PS3 some time in my mid-20s was the wireless version of the NES Four Score (which is, technically, a wireless adapter) and I rarely used it. IR-based, just like a TV remote, LOL. Nonetheless, despite repeatedly setting them up, my ("hacked" to have a ton more games, so the content available is extensive and excellent) NES and SNES classics have seen perhaps twenty hours of play between them in (IIRC) about four years, purely because corded controllers are so annoying that every time I think of playing them, I change my mind when I think about untangling the cords and having to adjust where I sit in the room and all that. I've had nearly zero problems with any 1st-party wireless controllers since they became standard; they've been nothing but an improvement—but, I've lived in detached houses that whole time, so maybe it's just because I've been in relatively low-EM-noise environments. I do recall friends complaining about reliability on e.g. the Wavebird and other non-standard wireless controllers, on earlier consoles, but I only ever used wired controllers for those generations.
dylan604 4y ago
I'll never give up my wired studio headphones. I've only started using wireless ear buds for sporty type things, but for everything else, I want my wired connection without whatever it takes to get it to me wirelessly.
DyslexicAtheist 4y ago
switching to a dumb phone does not equal voluntary social isolation. It's perfectly possible to have a dumb phone and with it time-box your screen time to when you are in front of a laptop (that doesn't fit into your pocket). For me it's still 2 hours a day after a long day at work. But that's a lot better than looking at life through the screen nearly every waking hour of a normal day. I've been doing it for years. And it saved my life metaphorically and also literally.
xboxnolifes 4y ago
When did wireless headphones become the default? While I have planned to eventually move to wireless, a decent pair without much latency is relatively new, no?
- npunt 4y ago
  These days there's lots of gen z influencer types who could very easily afford airpods or beats or pixel buds or whatever and choose to use the basic white wired headphones. Airpods have been around since 2016, so some kind of low latency earbuds have been around nearly 7 years

by npunt 4y ago

cryptoz 4y ago

Re: wired headphones: I am so sick of wireless controllers on consoles. The switch controllers are a nightmare - constantly disconnecting, nearly impossible to reconnect. I got my first-ever xbox last month and the wireless controllers are also a pain. I would play both consoles much more if I had wired controllers - and probably also buy more games. (edit: I'm mid-30s)

scld 4y ago
you can just buy a very long usb-c cable and wire up your wireless controllers for xbox, btw
vlunkr 4y ago
I've had problems with bluetooth, but never wireless controllers. I don't miss the tangle of cords in front of my GameCube one bit.
yamtaddle 4y ago
I grew up on wired controllers—my only wireless controller before I got a PS3 some time in my mid-20s was the wireless version of the NES Four Score (which is, technically, a wireless adapter) and I rarely used it. IR-based, just like a TV remote, LOL. Nonetheless, despite repeatedly setting them up, my ("hacked" to have a ton more games, so the content available is extensive and excellent) NES and SNES classics have seen perhaps twenty hours of play between them in (IIRC) about four years, purely because corded controllers are so annoying that every time I think of playing them, I change my mind when I think about untangling the cords and having to adjust where I sit in the room and all that. I've had nearly zero problems with any 1st-party wireless controllers since they became standard; they've been nothing but an improvement—but, I've lived in detached houses that whole time, so maybe it's just because I've been in relatively low-EM-noise environments. I do recall friends complaining about reliability on e.g. the Wavebird and other non-standard wireless controllers, on earlier consoles, but I only ever used wired controllers for those generations.

dylan604 4y ago

I'll never give up my wired studio headphones. I've only started using wireless ear buds for sporty type things, but for everything else, I want my wired connection without whatever it takes to get it to me wirelessly.

DyslexicAtheist 4y ago

switching to a dumb phone does not equal voluntary social isolation. It's perfectly possible to have a dumb phone and with it time-box your screen time to when you are in front of a laptop (that doesn't fit into your pocket). For me it's still 2 hours a day after a long day at work. But that's a lot better than looking at life through the screen nearly every waking hour of a normal day. I've been doing it for years. And it saved my life metaphorically and also literally.

xboxnolifes 4y ago

When did wireless headphones become the default? While I have planned to eventually move to wireless, a decent pair without much latency is relatively new, no?

npunt 4y ago
These days there's lots of gen z influencer types who could very easily afford airpods or beats or pixel buds or whatever and choose to use the basic white wired headphones. Airpods have been around since 2016, so some kind of low latency earbuds have been around nearly 7 years