evil tech trying to think for me

istg arrogantly stupid smart tech is taking years off my life

wireless headphones: clearing my throat DOES NOT mean I want you to turn off the music and turn on ambient sound. I don't even have voice activation turned on ffs

rental car: yes I know I'm veering out of my lane, I'm trying to not kill someone

^ driving a rental car in Italy I was baffled at how I had to fight against the car to change lanes. I finally figured out it would let me do it if I indicated.

no, smart speaker, the people on TV did not just say anything that sounded remotely like "hey google".

My earphones or maybe my phone in cahoots keep automatically turning the music down and saying it's dangerous. Feels like okay, then hardcode the volume and I'll buy the competitor that doesn't, you sold me this phone. Makes me feel old in that I used to now the lawn as a kid with techno playing so loud I could hear it over the mower and then I DJed for a decade, and my hearing is still really sharp for some reason, so many bars I'm in with friends I'll say oh I like this record and they say they can't hear it.

But agree with the idea of this thread, there's some cool detailed UX in personal tech but loads more shit that's just foisted on us.

phone autocorrect, no i do not want to change the proper names of people I am communicating about into other similarly spelled common words

no, smart speaker, the people on TV did not just say anything that sounded remotely like "hey google".

― ledge, Thursday, July 24, 2025 2:41 PM (two hours ago)

oh yeah my partner's name is sort of close to Siri and this is A Problem At Work

autocorrect definitely the classic case here, and the souped-up word anticipation AI version is thought-derailing for me

What if your name is Siri? Do people’s phones and devices just keep going off around you at all times?

I vaguely remember reading something by an Alexa (human) that yes this is a real problem for them

^ driving a rental car in Italy I was baffled at how I had to fight against the car to change lanes. I finally figured out it would let me do it if I indicated.

― ledge, 24 July 2025 18:41 (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

.........

this is good technology

as someone who drives maybe a handful of times a year (and always an unfamiliar car) I actually appreciate driving assistance features, but having it loudly beep at me when I've moving over to avoid hitting a cyclist, beeping at me to "check the back seat" every time I turn off the engine, honking at me because I left the keys in the car along with my partner...idk it's like being micromanaged by an idiot sometimes

There's so much expansion into things people don't need. Like projects expand to their budgets.

My earphones play a four-note melody every time I take them out of the charging case. I remember the first day I got them thinking how annoying that would become.

My dishwasher plays a tune when it finishes and my washing machine beeps out ode to joy several times at the end.

Hard to understand beyond just the general tendency for tech to do things before wondering if they should.

What if your name is Siri? Do people’s phones and devices just keep going off around you at all times?

― Position Position, Thursday, July 24, 2025 2:11 PM (thirty-seven minutes ago)

i have a friend named siri, yes, it's difficult for her

https://i.postimg.cc/NM7VPwpv/56367c55-f94f-4d75-ab15-fdd4f3bbfc0b.jpg

otm

otm

otm!!

we had a similar situation renting a car in Italy, the car would beep at us anytime we went even 1/10th of a km above the speed limit on the autostrada. we eventually figured out how to turn it off but this process had to be repeated every time we parked the car and then turned the engine on again. ironically, the distraction and growing hostility caused by the incessant beeping probably made us drive less safely than we otherwise would’ve!

the degree to which my car beeps drives me absolutely nuts - I have turned off the lane change warnings but sometimes it will beep incessantly when I am reverse parking or trying to turn across a multi-lane highway - as someone who is prone to getting a bit overwhelmed by stimuli when trying to concentrate on a difficult task, I would say that these "safety" features are actually quite dangerous

to be fair, the one where it beeps and soft-pedals the brakes when I am about to drive into another car is probably pretty handy and I have left that one on (although sometimes it will activate on a tight bend, a steep hill or when I am pulling into a parking spot)

also my washing machine, dryer and induction stovetop all beep like crazy for various reasons - and I am on record somewhere else complaining about my ludicrous remote control fan/lights that beep when you turn them on or off

in short, stop it with the fucking beeping, tech designers

I have always wondered if people named Alexa might have a class action lawsuit on their hands

we had a similar situation renting a car in Italy, the car would beep at us anytime we went even 1/10th of a km above the speed limit on the autostrada. we eventually figured out how to turn it off but this process had to be repeated every time we parked the car and then turned the engine on again. ironically, the distraction and growing hostility caused by the incessant beeping probably made us drive less safely than we otherwise would’ve!

― donna rouge, vendredi 25 juillet 2025 01:36 (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Experienced this twice this year. The first time, it took me a while to even understand it was the speed and the rental car didn't have a problem. Wasn't much of an issue given we were in TZ. But that other car back home ? It just relied on the GPS which was probably an old system, so it was getting some speed limits wrong. Speed limits change all the time here (30 at night, 30 all day, 50, 60, 80) and there is a tolerance up to 10% over. When I pointed it out, the guy from the garage told me you could turn it off but it would come back on automatically the next time you start the car. I made a mental note to check that I never buy a car with such a system - and wondered if it was linked to some country (I have China in mind) selling the software.

(You mentioned the system resetting automatically, sorry, short night & early morning)