The Technology Vent and Rant Thread

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by John F

Pick an icon and stick with it. This is the third time (at least) that the "settings" icon has changed on the Alexa app. First it was a cog, then a "hamburger", and now it is some diminishing horizontal lines.

All those UI designers must justify their existence with something, I guess...

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by Graham44

I've come to the firm conclusion that as technology progresses and new 'innovations' come out the technology is actually becoming less user friendly and usually less useful.*

Anyone remember the times when you could just buy a CD-ROM (or disks if you go back far enough!) install a program and it just worked forever more?- no system breaking auto updates, no adding new features you didn't ask for just the program as originally installed doing what you installed it to do

*Or maybe I'm becoming dumber

I remember the feeling. At worst there was one update from one version of a program to another, such as Wordperfect 5.0 to Wordperfect 5.1 which was in use for years.

[ownedbycats]

difficult-to-find changelogs...

[John F]

Apple/IOS: Why the fixed layout in the control center? I don't plan on using airdrop. Hotspot, VPN, and satellite I will use so seldom that I don't need them in the control center. Why can't I rearrange things within a group?

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by John F

Apple/IOS: Why the fixed layout in the control center? I don't plan on using airdrop. Hotspot, VPN, and satellite I will use so seldom that I don't need them in the control center. Why can't I rearrange things within a group?

I might be misunderstanding what you mean, but can you create a custom controls group with just the controls you need?

[John F]

Originally Posted by ratinox

I might be misunderstanding what you mean, but can you create a custom controls group with just the controls you need?

Sorry, by "Group" I meant "Folder". I can't create a folder, or remove controls from the main folder.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by John F

Sorry, by "Group" I meant "Folder". I can't create a folder, or remove controls from the main folder.

Okay, I think I get it now. A thing is that controls function similaly to widgets (they might be widgets underneath): that group of connectivity controls is actually a single control, not a folder like you get with home screen applications. But you can remove controls and controls groups from the... panels? Whatever they're called.

I think a workaround for what you want is to tap the + button near the top, remove the connectivity controls group (tap the - button at the top right corner of the group), then add the controls you want in that space.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

difficult-to-find changelogs...

Changelogs that don't tell you anything other then bug fixes and performance enhancement.

[JSWolf]

Incorrectly calling a directory a folder.

[ratinox]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Incorrectly calling a directory a folder.

Well... if we're going to vent and rant about computer terminology: A folder is an organizing structure. A directory is an organizing structure on a filesystem. Therfore a directory is a folder. It's a specific kind of folder, but it's still a folder.

The reverse is not always true: a folder structure which exists within an application but not on the filesystem, such as the folders on the iOS home screen, is not a directory.

Clear like mud? Good. Let's move on....

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by ratinox

Well... if we're going to vent and rant about computer terminology: A folder is an organizing structure. A directory is an organizing structure on a filesystem. Therfore a directory is a folder. It's a specific kind of folder, but it's still a folder.

The reverse is not always true: a folder structure which exists within an application but not on the filesystem, such as the folders on the iOS home screen, is not a directory.

Clear like mud? Good. Let's move on....

To me, it's like calling a Rook a Castle in Chess. It's wrong, but I'm not too worried about it.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by ratinox

Clear like mud? Good. Let's move on....

If you want to really hurt your brain, look into the different types of links - symlinks, hardlinks, directory junctions, mount points etc etc.

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

If you want to really hurt your brain, look into the different types of links - symlinks, hardlinks, directory junctions, mount points etc etc.

Hmmm.. none of them include the word Folder...

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ratinox

Well... if we're going to vent and rant about computer terminology: A folder is an organizing structure. A directory is an organizing structure on a filesystem. Therfore a directory is a folder. It's a specific kind of folder, but it's still a folder.

The reverse is not always true: a folder structure which exists within an application but not on the filesystem, such as the folders on the iOS home screen, is not a directory.

Clear like mud? Good. Let's move on....

A folder is what's used in your email program. It's an organizing structure that's not part of the file system. A directory is part of the filesystem. That's the difference.

It's because someone designed the icon for a directory to look like a manila folder is why the name folder is being incorrectly used.

A directory is not a folder. It never has been.

[JSWolf]

The cloud is nothing but a server accessible on the Internet. That's all it is. It's not a cloud. Even if you call it the cloud, you aren't correct. You don't ever store anything in a real cloud.