The internet when it wasn't overtaken by a few major corporations.
this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2024
340 points (98.6% liked)
Ask Lemmy
26560 readers
2072 users here now
A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions
Rules: (interactive)
1) Be nice and; have fun
Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them
2) All posts must end with a '?'
This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?
3) No spam
Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.
4) NSFW is okay, within reason
Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected].
NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].
5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions.
If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.
Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.
Partnered Communities:
Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
Video game consoles.
I guess, in a very liberal definition of the term, "cloud gaming". Specifically the old LodgeNet systems in hotels where you could rent Nintendo games by the hour to be streamed to your room from a physical console somewhere behind the front desk. Every room had a special controller with oodles of extra buttons on it hardwired to the television that also functioned as television remotes.
The service was objectively awful, of course, when factoring in how much the hotel charged compared to what little you got for it. But I've always found it fascinating.
The phones with the internal hidden camera, I was sure it would be the future
https://www.91mobiles.com/list-of-phones/pop-up-camera-phones
My previous had this & I liked the privacy of it.
I want this so I can be sure my phone isn't sneaking a peek at my pooping face
Yes! And full screen with no bs punch-hole or pricey under-screen camera
Toasters. Specifically the Sunbeam Radiant Control toaster, with the tag line "Automatic Beyond Belief!". There is a fan site (https://automaticbeyondbelief.org/, excellent url). Like, what other appliance line has a fan site? Surely no modern day toaster!
But of course I first heard about it from Technology Connections video.
I think a lot of old school products worked better than modern equivalents. Take toasters - when I was a kid our toaster consistently made toast with the same degree of doneness. I've had modern ones that said "microprocessor controlled" on them that couldn't make consecutive pieces the same. Also flashlights. Simple metal flashlights just worked. My new sophisticated one cycles through multiple levels of brightness and then strobing (so I can what, have my own rave?) but sudden motions make it spontaneously turn off. I mean how hard is an ON/OFF switch?
And what's the deal with airline food? I'm thinkin' hey!
load more comments
(1 replies)
The original tv remote didn't use batteries. It used sound. Giant clunky devices with large tactile buttons. Never runs out of batteries and still works if your kid tries to block the screen to keep you from turning it off
lmao I vaguely remember these, wow that’s nostalgia
Those remotes used little spring-loaded mechanical chimes that emitted ultrasonic notes. As a kid I discovered my parents' big Magnavox console stereo would change channels if I clinked a handful of coins.
Our first TV remote was on a cable! This would have been in the early 80s I think.
Even the replacement and most modern remotes (with an LED at the tip that you have to point at the device) use pretty cool tech.
Usually to send data you want a data channel and a clock channel. When the clock changes say from high to low you read the next bit in the data channel. With one LED to send info you need to combine them.
For transmission that's easy. You make the low to high change at a fixed frequency. For the high to low change if it's a zero you make the high to low change 1/3 the way through the cycle. For a 1 you make the change 2/3 the way through the cycle.
On the receiver you you sync up a signal at the same frequency rising with the start of the transmission at a 1/2 on 1/2 off. You look at the data when the reference falls 1/2 the way through the cycle.
If a zero was sent the line had fallen at the 1/3 and it is a zero. If a one was sent the line doesn't drop until 2/3 and it's a one.
The trick is how do you get a signal at the same frequency and in synch. You compare the transmission frequency revived to the frequency of a voltage controlled oscillator. If it's slower you up the voltage and increase the frequency if it's faster you lower the voltage and lower the frequency.
You similarly use a phase detector to determine if they are in phase slightly boosting the frequency until they are in sync.
This system is called a phased lock loop (pll). All this so you don't have to getup to change the channel. The same sort of system is used for reading data from the magnetic disk on a hard drive.
load more comments
(6 replies)
Ice. As time has gone by, it has become less cool.
Not sure if joke, but hells yeah, they used to being a huge fucking block to your door.
MODS BAN THIS 1 RITE FUCKIN NOW plskthxbai
Hi dad
The force is strong with this one.
load more comments
(2 replies)
Before transistors there were vacuum tubes which did the same thing but using very different principles (and were also way bigger, even than traditional transistors and billions of times more than the transistors in the most modern ICs)
Before electric milling or even steam milling, flour used to be milled using watermills and windmills which, IMHO, are way cooler.
Steam millers sound way cooler than windmills
load more comments
(6 replies)
LED panel, which really is just a bajillion very tiny lightbulbs.
It is not, but for the sake of the argument it's ok.
It is. Not to be confused with LCD.
Well, they're not bulbs, they're diodes... but yeah.
Haha, true on the nerdy side
The internet
Replying to this just so people are less likely to accidentally scroll past.
Completely agree, of course. I do miss Web 1.0, when you had to go to IRC, usenet, etc, for the "social" part.
That and when you joined an IRC channel that had 20 people in it, it had 20 active people in it. You wouldn't leave your client connected 24/7 on dial-up; you were getting your money's worth
view more: next ›