Minor things that bother you

[kkt]

Table knives in a stainless steel tableware set with blades that stain easily.  I know, the higher grade of steel holds a sharp edge better.  But it's a tableknife.  Mainly it's spreading butter or jam, not slicing gristle.  If I need to get out the steak knives, I know where they are.  I want tableknives that continue to look nice for the life of the other tableware in the set and don't have to be hand washed.

[Bruce]

Found a Microcenter ad from 1993 with these two laptops:



A whopping 80MB hard drive on a laptop? And for only $1600? What a deal.

[Dirt Roads]

Found a Microcenter ad from 1993 with these two laptops:



A whopping 80MB hard drive on a laptop? And for only $1600? What a deal.

I remember looking at those prices (in the store at Microcenter) and throwing my hands up.  I was moving from a Tandy Dual luggable 8086 with twin 3-1/2" floppy drives (and no hard drive) to something with a decent hard drive and CD-Rom reader.  I gave up on a laptop because of price.  I ended up buying a 33Mhz Microcenter-branded Turbo 8086 desktop combo with 80MB hard drive.  I'm not sure, but I believe that this computer was the only 8086 machine to have ever been strapped up to a CD-Rom reader.  Since it came without Windows, it was blazing fast for it's time.  I had to jury-rig the DOS games because they assumed that a clock speed of 3KHz.  Nowadays, you can strap to the higher clock speeds with a special DOS command.

It was the most expensive computer that I ever purchased prior to 2007, coming in at a whopping price of $299.  Inflation adjusted, it is still my most expensive one.

[jakeroot]

When you take the seatbelt off and it doesn't retract, so when you close the car door it just clangs off the seatbelt buckle and bounces back open.

I think this may be related to the seatbelt having gunk built-up on it. I think you can clean it and improve the retraction.

Found a Microcenter ad from 1993 with these two laptops:
...

A whopping 80MB hard drive on a laptop? And for only $1600? What a deal.

I remember looking at those prices (in the store at Microcenter) and throwing my hands up.  I was moving from a Tandy Dual luggable 8086 with twin 3-1/2" floppy drives (and no hard drive) to something with a decent hard drive and CD-Rom reader.  I gave up on a laptop because of price.  I ended up buying a 33Mhz Microcenter-branded Turbo 8086 desktop combo with 80MB hard drive.  I'm not sure, but I believe that this computer was the only 8086 machine to have ever been strapped up to a CD-Rom reader.  Since it came without Windows, it was blazing fast for it's time.  I had to jury-rig the DOS games because they assumed that a clock speed of 3KHz.  Nowadays, you can strap to the higher clock speeds with a special DOS command.

It was the most expensive computer that I ever purchased prior to 2007, coming in at a whopping price of $299.  Inflation adjusted, it is still my most expensive one.

Technology, particular computers, have dropped in price dramatically the last twenty years. It's almost unbelievable what some things, like computers, used to cost, adjusted for inflation.

[hbelkins]

^^^^

About 30 years ago I worked at Micro Center in Fairfax, Virginia, and someone paid $4600 cash for a laptop. That was a pain in the arse counting out all those $100 bills on the checkout counter and then getting a "cash pull" ASAP so all that money wouldn't be in the register, given that other customers had seen the money being counted.

Every time I think that spending $1500-2000 on a computer is a little too much, I fall back on those times when it was at least twice as much for double the physical space and a mere fragment of the overall abilities of today's computer.

When I changed newspaper jobs in 1987, I went from a paper that was still doing phototypesetting using Compugraphic equipment to one of the pioneers of desktop publishing, using Macintosh computers and a laser printer to output copy on plain paper for pasteup.

Most of the computers used for writing or maintaining circulation, classified ads, and accounting, were Mac 512s. As the editor, I got to use a Mac Plus with 1 MB of RAM and a 20 MB external SCSI hard drive. The Mac Plus used for ad composition was upgraded to 2 MB of RAM and it sat atop a 40 MB external hard drive. I don't remember exactly how much those Mac Plus machines cost, but they were upwards of 2 grand each, I think.

[mgk920]

And of course $4600 was a lot more money in 1992 than it is today. (The Minneapolis Fed says $4600 in 1992 = $9651.77 today.)

IMHO, those 'official' numbers are absurdly low.  $4.6K in 1960 money now has the equivalent buying power of at least $20K, perhaps $25K  or more today.

Mike

[ZLoth]

The worst part of 1992 computer technology is that what was considered "start of the art" in 1992 would be considered low-end just five years later. One example is a hard drive. In 1992, a 2,000 MB (2GB) hard drive would have set you back $2,799. Five years later, that same size drive would be just $276. Nowadays, you can get a 240GB SSD for less than $20. In September 2014, I build my computer with a i7-4790k processor which was one of the best at the time I assembled my computer. Even today, it's still a very capable processor for web browsing, viewing videos, and utilizing Microsoft office, but not if you want to use virtual backgrounds in a online meeting or play modern games. Even that processor will be completely obsolete when Windows 10 goes end-of-life in favor of Windows 11. At that point, it would still have Linux uses.

[zachary_amaryllis]

^^^^

About 30 years ago I worked at Micro Center in Fairfax, Virginia, and someone paid $4600 cash for a laptop. That was a pain in the arse counting out all those $100 bills on the checkout counter and then getting a "cash pull" ASAP so all that money wouldn't be in the register, given that other customers had seen the money being counted.

Every time I think that spending $1500-2000 on a computer is a little too much, I fall back on those times when it was at least twice as much for double the physical space and a mere fragment of the overall abilities of today's computer.

I still have my father's Radio Shack Pocket Computer PC-1, with an earth-shattering 1424 bytes of memory. Course, I also remember at the time getting a LOT of miles out of that thing. That's where I started learning programming.

[1995hoo]

The discussion of technology evolving and how much it used to cost makes me remember how in the late 1980s a ten-pack of 3.5-inch floppy disks used to cost something like $25—$30 for the 720 KB variety and even more for the "high capacity" 1.44 MB variety.

My mother was a teacher and she continued to use 1.44 MB floppy disks to store her data until around 2005. I think what made her realize they were outdated was when I explained that to store just one photo taken on my then-new Canon DSLR would require at least four of her floppy disks.

[hotdogPi]

My first computer was a MacBook Pro given to me for Christmas in 2010. The price was $1000. (No tax because it was bought in New Hampshire.)

I've been wondering why prices for the same product have matched inflation (i.e. what all other products do) rather than going down like they used to. My current (2019) computer is almost identical to the 2010 one in terms of what it can do except it has 250 GB memory instead of 128 GB.

[mgk920]

The same thing with detachable USB Flash drives, The biggest, most expensive ones that were available 10-12 years ago are not even available now, except in the most bargainy of the bargain bins as novelty gifts.  The 256 Gb USB Flash thumb drive that I currently use on my key ring as a back up for my files is now pushing that lower limit (yet it is still most certainly big enough in storage capacity for the needs that I have now).

Mike

[skluth]

Back in the day when I started at DMA (now NGA) I bought my first PC, a generic 286 with 1 MB of RAM and a 40 MB hard drive (partitioned in 2 because DOS 3 couldn't handle more than 32 MB on one drive) that cost about $1400. After training, I was assigned to ADRG. It was a new office where we were scanning and digitizing military charts to save on CDs so they could be stored and reproduced more easily. The drum scanner (for scanning large maps) and its image processor had a mind-blowing 96 MB RAM. The biggest charts like JNCs would need to be processed overnight.

We found out after the war that our CDs were used by tanks invading Iraq during the First Gulf War because tank personnel only had a few paper charts as they expected more resistance. The tanks all contained a small library of ADRG CDs for much of the battlespace. After the tanks went beyond their paper charts, drivers learned to use the ADRG CDs on the fly as they advanced on Baghdad. They were also pleasantly surprised that not only the map showed up on their display but also the positions of all tanks using their displays (though with a slight delay).

To get back to the topic, the reason it's a minor thing that bothered me was that while I was happy to have a good paying job, I was bothered that I wasn't using my geography skills/degree much - especially compared to those I went through training with. My ADRG job was mostly administrative and typing ability was more useful than anything map related. Right after the First Gulf War I requested and got a move to another office where I could use my photo interpretation skills to map charts of my own. It meant shift work but I was much happier.

[hbelkins]

That "PA Turnpike doesn't deserve to be a toll road" thread. 

[abefroman329]

Not on purpose, because chips are essentially a bearer instrument backed by each individual casino. So accepting chips from "Casino R" would mess up the books at "Casino N", even though they were both owned by "Tribe C". (And it would mess things up even more if they were to accept chips from "Casino F" that was run by "Tribe P".)

Right - I'm pretty sure that, once upon a time, in Vegas, you could cash in chips from the Desert Inn at the Stardust, and the two casinos would just work things out on your behalf.

[Scott5114]

Not on purpose, because chips are essentially a bearer instrument backed by each individual casino. So accepting chips from "Casino R" would mess up the books at "Casino N", even though they were both owned by "Tribe C". (And it would mess things up even more if they were to accept chips from "Casino F" that was run by "Tribe P".)

Right - I'm pretty sure that, once upon a time, in Vegas, you could cash in chips from the Desert Inn at the Stardust, and the two casinos would just work things out on your behalf.

Sure. That's a totally different market, though. Most of the patrons are tourists who need to leave town with zero chips, because they are not going to be back in Las Vegas for a long time. If you're the Desert Inn and you cash a Stardust chip, a patron might spend that money on your property instead of going back to the Stardust to cash it there (and they'll be grateful you saved them the trip).

Most of the Oklahoma casinos cater primarily to locals. All of the OKC casinos are within easy driving distance of the patron's home, so if you decline a foreign chip the customer just kind of grumbles and hangs on to it until the next time they end up at that property anyway. And since most of the casinos in a given area will be owned by the same tribe, it's not like it really makes a difference to the higher-ups one way or another if the tribe takes in that $100 or whatever at Casino R or Casino N.

[ethanhopkin14]

Not on purpose, because chips are essentially a bearer instrument backed by each individual casino. So accepting chips from "Casino R" would mess up the books at "Casino N", even though they were both owned by "Tribe C". (And it would mess things up even more if they were to accept chips from "Casino F" that was run by "Tribe P".)

Right - I'm pretty sure that, once upon a time, in Vegas, you could cash in chips from the Desert Inn at the Stardust, and the two casinos would just work things out on your behalf.

Sure. That's a totally different market, though. Most of the patrons are tourists who need to leave town with zero chips, because they are not going to be back in Las Vegas for a long time. If you're the Desert Inn and you cash a Stardust chip, a patron might spend that money on your property instead of going back to the Stardust to cash it there (and they'll be grateful you saved them the trip).

Most of the Oklahoma casinos cater primarily to locals. All of the OKC casinos are within easy driving distance of the patron's home, so if you decline a foreign chip the customer just kind of grumbles and hangs on to it until the next time they end up at that property anyway. And since most of the casinos in a given area will be owned by the same tribe, it's not like it really makes a difference to the higher-ups one way or another if the tribe takes in that $100 or whatever at Casino R or Casino N.

I thought the ones on the Oklahoma/Texas state line catered more to Texans.

[abefroman329]

Not on purpose, because chips are essentially a bearer instrument backed by each individual casino. So accepting chips from "Casino R" would mess up the books at "Casino N", even though they were both owned by "Tribe C". (And it would mess things up even more if they were to accept chips from "Casino F" that was run by "Tribe P".)

Right - I'm pretty sure that, once upon a time, in Vegas, you could cash in chips from the Desert Inn at the Stardust, and the two casinos would just work things out on your behalf.

Sure. That's a totally different market, though. Most of the patrons are tourists who need to leave town with zero chips, because they are not going to be back in Las Vegas for a long time. If you're the Desert Inn and you cash a Stardust chip, a patron might spend that money on your property instead of going back to the Stardust to cash it there (and they'll be grateful you saved them the trip).

Most of the Oklahoma casinos cater primarily to locals. All of the OKC casinos are within easy driving distance of the patron's home, so if you decline a foreign chip the customer just kind of grumbles and hangs on to it until the next time they end up at that property anyway. And since most of the casinos in a given area will be owned by the same tribe, it's not like it really makes a difference to the higher-ups one way or another if the tribe takes in that $100 or whatever at Casino R or Casino N.

Makes sense.  I think the situation I was describing is no more, what with it being a massive AML concern and all.

[vdeane]

When a box of honey nut cheerios is missing the honey and is just normal cheerios.  This happens surprisingly often - about once every month or two, in fact!

[ZLoth]

Not on purpose, because chips are essentially a bearer instrument backed by each individual casino. So accepting chips from "Casino R" would mess up the books at "Casino N", even though they were both owned by "Tribe C". (And it would mess things up even more if they were to accept chips from "Casino F" that was run by "Tribe P".)

Right - I'm pretty sure that, once upon a time, in Vegas, you could cash in chips from the Desert Inn at the Stardust, and the two casinos would just work things out on your behalf.

Sure. That's a totally different market, though. Most of the patrons are tourists who need to leave town with zero chips, because they are not going to be back in Las Vegas for a long time. If you're the Desert Inn and you cash a Stardust chip, a patron might spend that money on your property instead of going back to the Stardust to cash it there (and they'll be grateful you saved them the trip).

Most of the Oklahoma casinos cater primarily to locals. All of the OKC casinos are within easy driving distance of the patron's home, so if you decline a foreign chip the customer just kind of grumbles and hangs on to it until the next time they end up at that property anyway. And since most of the casinos in a given area will be owned by the same tribe, it's not like it really makes a difference to the higher-ups one way or another if the tribe takes in that $100 or whatever at Casino R or Casino N.

I thought the ones on the Oklahoma/Texas state line catered more to Texans.

Winstar in Thackerville and Choctaw in Durant most certainly cater to Texans, especially since they are about an 75-90 minute drive from North Texas. Also, Winstar is the second largest casino in the world and largest in the United States in terms of casino square feet (519,000 square feet). Otherwise, you have a three hour drive to Shreveport, Louisiana, and the casinos there aren't that great in my opinion..

[Scott5114]

Not on purpose, because chips are essentially a bearer instrument backed by each individual casino. So accepting chips from "Casino R" would mess up the books at "Casino N", even though they were both owned by "Tribe C". (And it would mess things up even more if they were to accept chips from "Casino F" that was run by "Tribe P".)

Right - I'm pretty sure that, once upon a time, in Vegas, you could cash in chips from the Desert Inn at the Stardust, and the two casinos would just work things out on your behalf.

Sure. That's a totally different market, though. Most of the patrons are tourists who need to leave town with zero chips, because they are not going to be back in Las Vegas for a long time. If you're the Desert Inn and you cash a Stardust chip, a patron might spend that money on your property instead of going back to the Stardust to cash it there (and they'll be grateful you saved them the trip).

Most of the Oklahoma casinos cater primarily to locals. All of the OKC casinos are within easy driving distance of the patron's home, so if you decline a foreign chip the customer just kind of grumbles and hangs on to it until the next time they end up at that property anyway. And since most of the casinos in a given area will be owned by the same tribe, it's not like it really makes a difference to the higher-ups one way or another if the tribe takes in that $100 or whatever at Casino R or Casino N.

I thought the ones on the Oklahoma/Texas state line catered more to Texans.

Those two casinos are the exception. All of my casino experience has been in the OKC area. (Although, I was privy to the policies in place at one of the state line casinos, since I worked for the same tribe and theoretically they used the same policy book. Though I also heard from transfer employees that whenever upper management came down from HQ to try the nonsense they pulled with us, they were politely told to go back to HQ and stop meddling with the tribe's biggest source of income.)

[kphoger]

Table knives in a stainless steel tableware set with blades that stain easily.  I know, the higher grade of steel holds a sharp edge better.  But it's a tableknife.  Mainly it's spreading butter or jam, not slicing gristle.  If I need to get out the steak knives, I know where they are.  I want tableknives that continue to look nice for the life of the other tableware in the set and don't have to be hand washed.

I hear you, man.  You're not alone.

Also, when a fork decides one day that its tines no longer need to line up with each other.

[thenetwork]

When a box of honey nut cheerios is missing the honey and is just normal cheerios.  This happens surprisingly often - about once every month or two, in fact!

A few weeks ago, I bit into a pure chocolate Kit-Kat with no wafer cookie bars inside.

[zachary_amaryllis]

When a box of honey nut cheerios is missing the honey and is just normal cheerios.  This happens surprisingly often - about once every month or two, in fact!

A few weeks ago, I bit into a pure chocolate Kit-Kat with no wafer cookie bars inside.

Bag of Flamin' Hot cheetos, with the correct cheetos, and a large semisolid ball of obscene-red powdery stuff.

[Hunty2022]

When a box of honey nut cheerios is missing the honey and is just normal cheerios.  This happens surprisingly often - about once every month or two, in fact!

A few weeks ago, I bit into a pure chocolate Kit-Kat with no wafer cookie bars inside.

Bag of Flamin' Hot cheetos, with the correct cheetos, and a large semisolid ball of obscene-red powdery stuff.

Seeing those make me want to just puke myself to bed.

[GaryV]

When a box of honey nut cheerios is missing the honey and is just normal cheerios.  This happens surprisingly often - about once every month or two, in fact!

A few weeks ago, I bit into a pure chocolate Kit-Kat with no wafer cookie bars inside.

That's a good thing, right? More chocolate and caramel. I always thought the cookies in KitKat (and the rice in Crunch bars) was just for filler.