I hate the direction lab equipment design has gone in recent years.
I don't want touchscreens, I don't want wifi integration, I don't want centrifuges demanding to know what time zone they're in.
I just want reliable instruments - with physical buttons - that do the one task they were made for.
I don't want touchscreens, I don't want wifi integration, I don't want centrifuges demanding to know what time zone they're in.
I just want reliable instruments - with physical buttons - that do the one task they were made for.
Comments
Better than one of our FSE's visiting a lab, that brought a water bottle into the lab and confused it for a lab bottle, and drank the lab bottle. 🥲
"The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain." Scotty, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
But that's all you need - a pump and a thermostat.
"Dear Dr. X. we noticed that your centrifuge is running too many times a day. Do you want a second one?"
Without touchscreens, no one would be able to draw on tablets or phones today. Touchscreens aren't just for fingers any more.
I had a whole pathology lab DEMANDING we install PCs with little touchscreens at the diagnostic stations.
"Why do you need touchscreens?"
WE JUST DO!
"But... you wear gloves..."
WE NEED EM!
"But you never even use them for..."
TOUCHSCREEEEEEENS!!!!
and I hate it too 😔
Bluetooth has enough range for that.
I was like why didn't you just buy one that literally just turns on when you plug it in. Apparently they weren't able to find one that didn't require an app.
I think some of this is driven by what is cheap.
cheap is what China makes in volume.
So if automakers or Apple want wifi in the chips, all the chips come with wifi & it costs more to get a chip without
(obviously, a rough approximation)
Also, I lold when Thermo RnD added Alexa to the new generation. Not a single lab enabled it that I'm aware of. At least on the west.
I just wanna wash dishes,
last year we bought a mid price LG clothes washer/dryer
and there is NO MANUAL !!!!!!!
so not just cheap on parts, cheap on sleazy and lazy on evrything
If you need more instructions than that wash your clothes in the bathtub.
But that machine had about four controls 😊
Why did they start putting electric motors on car tailgates to open them? Really slowly. Gas struts worked fine. Can’t anyone raise their arm now?
… I believe Tesla’s have touchscreen operation of the glove box… I’m not even going there…
Middle aged man getting off his soap box now.
It's also the only way I'll be able to get a pickup that isn't the size of an apartment. Win win.
There are plenty of examples of unnecessary complexity too mind you.
Meet The Tank. My PhD lab had 20 of these beasts. Indestructible. Ran 20 hours a day, 7 days a week for years.
Programmed by using up and down buttons to cycle through the alphabet.
👍🏻
Advancement is not necessarily progress.
Late stage capitalism cannot allow for even simple tools to be sold in a simple one time transaction. Everything must be permanent rent seeking.
Health care provider was indignant about his refusal to 'share his data' while also admitting he could not identify a single benefit to the patient for doing so.
anti-tech clowns over the past decade are just oblivious to how incompetent they are.
if it doesn't NEED a touch screen. don't. Especially cars - talk about distracted driving! Just to change the radio station!
I just quickly looked. Lee Valley sells classic thermometers for composters. They were the first thing I thought of reading your post.
At least on older stuff if you pressed a button, you could just like, let go, or press something else.
( ... as @mrmoknows.bsky.social said elsewhere in the thread.)
Adapt
And your comment about centrifuges wanting to know what time zone they’re in is hilarious.
It's never about ease of use: it's about repair and replacement costs.
Everything else is touch screen 😩.
When my washing machine asks to be connected to wifi, I feel like we've lost the plot here.
I hate elevators with no floor buttons inside. I can’t change my mind where I want the machine I’m INSIDE to go. To the lobby because you committed to it before you got on even though the gym is on the 5th floor for reasons.
I know there are people that are far more skilled than me, but I'm just trying to have fun while I earn some money.
So, I guess crush all those dreams you had. Never meet your "heroes".
Want touch. Constantly moving between my pad and Mac book
And do try to
Touch screen.
Probably we'll soon have Toasters and Washing Machines with unnecessary AI.
IT:
Nearly everyone forgot, some people liked how that went, and they want that option open in the future.
Apparently Hyundai designs will be changed to go back to switches and proper controls that rotate, click and can be operated without looking away from the road!
Back to the future, and that sort of thing...
My biggest complaint with my Honda is the auto-lights feature. Not only is it hairy on the road but even when stationary on my driveway it has an overwhelming urge to turn the lights on at the slightest hint of darkness. My neighbours must wonder what I'm on!
Being asked if your box makes the coffee in the morning during a demonstration or installation is not!
Sarcasm, just to be clear. I'm tired of the constant new versions of tech too that often add little or nothing of benefit.