What's your biggest pet peeve about gadgets?

[samiznaetekto]

Mine is that they ALL automatically turn on/wake up when plugged / unplugged. God, do I hate this or what! I'm done using the device, turn the screen off. Oh, I need to charge it. BAM!!11 The screen turns on! Thank you, but I don't need it on! I have to turn it off. Ok, I need to go, I unplug it... BOOM!!11 It lights up again. WHY?? Is there some international law out there that if engineers don't make it like this, they'll be shot? What I don't understand most is the universality of this. It's not just some device, some platform. It's ****ing everywhere.

You can run, you can hide from iCloud, Google, even TouchWiz, but you can't escape this madness.

 

[Lloydbm41]

doesn't bother me. Every phone and tablet I own shut off about 5 seconds after I've plugged them in or set them on the Qi wireless charger. Do you know why it temporarily turns on when plugged in? To let you know it is charging.

 

[Heavy Fluid]

The lack of a universal charger. In this day and age, there should be ONE universal charger, and everyone by now should have one. Proprietary should have been done a long time ago!

 

[Lloydbm41]

The lack of a universal charger. In this day and age, there should be ONE universal charger, and everyone by now should have one. Proprietary should have been done a long time ago!

there is. Every phone and tablet now have one standard... except for Apple. BB, WP, Android and even the now defunct Palm have all used micro-USB.

 

[ecrispy]

there is. Every phone and tablet now have one standard... except for Apple. BB, WP, Android and even the now defunct Palm have all used micro-USB.

This is correct. But at least *one* end of the cable is now a standard since pretty much everyone uses USB now and you can charge pretty much any small gadget, phone/bt headsets/speakers etc from a pc or laptop by plugging into usb. I have a $15 USB travel charger which I can use to charge everythgin and not need to carry multiple chargers now.

 

[samiznaetekto]

doesn't bother me. Every phone and tablet I own shut off about 5 seconds after I've plugged them in or set them on the Qi wireless charger. Do you know why it temporarily turns on when plugged in? To let you know it is charging.

My Note 4 is configured to have screen timeout 5 minutes and no lock screen. So, when I plug it in, it'll keep the screen on for 5 minutes. I don't want that! And it has LED to let me know it's charging. The two operations - charging and turning screen on - are logically not connected at all! It's like running lights in the cars - if engine is on, the lights must be on, too. This is as stupid as it is annoying.

 

[bkends35]

The spec race. I don't need a screen with 500+ ppi. I just want a good screen where I can't see the pixels that doesn't hog battery and decrease performance. I don't want screens to keep getting bigger year after year. I want a phone that fits in one hand and can hold it comfortably. I don't want every feature included in the software even though 95% of them won't be used (I'm looking at you samsung). I don't want a phone under 7mm thin that has average battery life (I'm looking at you apple). I want a phone that will legitimately last two days and isn't 10.5mm thick (I'm looking at you motorola). And I don't need a octo core processor that isn't efficient just to say my phone has an octo core processor.

 

[Lloydbm41]

My Note 4 is configured to have screen timeout 5 minutes and no lock screen. So, when I plug it in, it'll keep the screen on for 5 minutes. I don't want that! And it has LED to let me know it's charging. The two operations - charging and turning screen on - are logically not connected at all! It's like running lights in the cars - if engine is on, the lights must be on, too. This is as stupid as it is annoying.

uhh, sounds like you shouldn't have bought a Samsung phone then? The problem you have with Samsung is not common in many other handsets, just so you know.

BTW, there are still cars on the road that 'require' you to manually turn the lights on. in fact, there are still cars on the road that 'require' you to manually pull the choke out to start the engine. You are likely to young to even know what I am referring to though.

 

[samiznaetekto]

uhh, sounds like you shouldn't have bought a Samsung phone then? The problem you have with Samsung is not common in many other handsets, just so you know.

You're correct in that different phones (or differently configured by the user) may differ in how long they keep the screen on after plugging in. But this is only a smaller portion of my pet peeve. The biggest portion is the following, and it's the same for any smartphone and tablet I've owned since 2007. It's evening, and I'm done using my device (and it's unplugged). I turn it off. Because I don't need it. Don't need to receive calls, don't need it to download something while sleeping, don't need it on period. So, I go to bed. Oh, almost forgot, I need to charge it for tomorrow. So, I plug it in and BAM!!11 it turns on and boots. I have to wait for it to boot, then turn it off. WHY???

You seem to fail to see that charging and being on are two different, independent states. One does not have to imply the other. In fact, every device allows you to turn it off even when it's plugged in, and it allows you to charge it while (on many devices like iPhone) you don't have any clue if it's actually charging or not. So, this state - being simultaneously plugged in and NOT being on - *is* allowed by the phone. Then why, if it's off, and I plug it in, it doesn't stay in this state? If I want to turn it on, I'll turn it on. Why every single device turns on automatically if I plug it in?! There's no logic in this whatsoever.

BTW, there are still cars on the road that 'require' you to manually turn the lights on.

That's the only cars I consider owning. I'm infuriated by rental cars that have running lights! My car does not. God forbid, that's just stupid! But my car has another annoying "we think you must use it the way we think for you" "feature": if I have both low beam and fog lights on and switch to high beam, it turns off the fog lights. WHY??? If I turn on high beam, obviously, I want to see the road far. But I also want to see it clearly close. One does not logically connected to the other. Yet, I'm forced to only have high beam and have a long dark gap where I can miss something lying on the road. Stupid, just stupid!

in fact, there are still cars on the road that 'require' you to manually pull the choke out to start the engine. You are likely to young to even know what I am referring to though.

Nope. Been there, done that.

 

[Heavy Fluid]

there is. Every phone and tablet now have one standard... except for Apple. BB, WP, Android and even the now defunct Palm have all used micro-USB.

Correct, and when Apple decided to change their charger, they could have joined in and this point would be worthless. Nope, they went with the Lightning charger, still not a universal charger. So now not only are there the old Apple chargers, there are new ones as well, and some don't work with this device, and this doesn't work, and this....stop already. ONE universal charger. Micro USB and be done already.

 

[Heavy Fluid]

if I have both low beam and fog lights on and switch to high beam, it turns off the fog lights. WHY??? If I turn on high beam, obviously, I want to see the road far. But I also want to see it clearly close. One does not logically connected to the other. Yet, I'm forced to only have high beam and have a long dark gap where I can miss something lying on the road. Stupid, just stupid!



Nope. Been there, done that.

I have searched the internet but cannot find a solid concrete statement or rule as to why this happens. I thought that it had to do with the vehicle code within the US but I am not sure. There are kits and ways to bypass this inconvenience set by the manufacturers.

 

[JaySoul]

Planned Obsolescence + planned price rises.

 

[Oohara]

Non-international releases with radio bands that only work in one region. Damn you Sharp for making the Aquos Crystal unusable in Europe (and seemingly un-rootable too)

 

[Mildredop]

The lack of a universal charger. In this day and age, there should be ONE universal charger, and everyone by now should have one. Proprietary should have been done a long time ago!

Every gadget I own uses the same micro USB charger: phone, tablet, digital camera, TomTom etc.

The only one that doesn't is my MacBook. Which isn't compatible with my partner's MacBook charger. And my partner's iPhone 4 charger doesn't work with his iPhone 5S. And his iPhone 5S charger won't fit into his iPad. But his iPhone 4 charger will, except the iPad won't charge from it. I see a pattern here...!

 

[spinedoc77]

The led lights on the chargers, I cover them all up with tape otherwise it would be like sleeping next to a Christmas tree.

Mini USB sucks, I can't wait for reversible mini USB to be mandatory. I miss my lightning cable.

Thing I hate most is the upgrade cycle, holding out on features until the next model to sell more phones.

 

[srkmish]

Still there are phones that have back speakers . I dont have cash to afford front facing speaker smartphones.

 

[Tinmania]

But my car has another annoying "we think you must use it the way we think for you" "feature": if I have both low beam and fog lights on and switch to high beam, it turns off the fog lights. WHY???

Fog lights, as the name should indicate, were designed to make it easier to see in the fog--by aiming below the fog. Turning on high-beams, which aim high to see further down the highway, in fog will often just light up the fog right in front of you making it harder, not easier, to see.

There are many locations in the US where it is illegal to drive with both high beams and fog lights on at the same time. Indeed there are states where the vehicle will not pass inspection if the fog lights are not turned off when high beams are switched on. That said I doubt there are many citations written for this nowadays.


Michael

 

[AppleRobert]

Still there are phones that have back speakers . I dont have cash to afford front facing speaker smartphones.

An option on the cheap is the 2nd gen Moto G. Not the greatest but affordable.

 

[Vegastouch]

My pet peeve is exclusives. Like Verizon getting the excusive to the Nokia 930. Another pet peeve is they make a phone that is a size screen you want but then make the battery too damn small, or they make the screen too damn big for a phone you have been looking forward to.

 

[Chodite]

Going back to the micro USB cable - why is the cable non-reversible?! Always seems like my cable is upside down when trying to plug into my device. C'mon now

 

[mi7chy]

My biggest pet peeve is LCD backlight bleed, gray as black, uniformity issues, yellowing, bad pixel, etc. Too bad there aren't OLED hybrids and laptops.

 

[sickducker]

Planned Obsolescence + planned price rises.

Generally I don't really believe in planned obsolescence. The problem is that many people expect premium quality for products that er made as cheap as possible. For example, In case of kitchen gadgets ( probably a bit off topic, I know), there are companies who make high quality products, like Kitchenaid and Vitamix. Many people don't realise that you can't make a high quality blender for $60. If you want a workhorse that is truly build to last you have to look in the range of $600. You can't expect overengineering in a $60 dollar blender. All parts have to be ridiculously cheap, and everything is made to just barely hit the minimum quality requirements.

 

[ozaz]

Pushing 'features' like ridiculously high screen resolutions and thinness instead of majorly improving battery life.

 

[snorkelman]

Folks who make them not finishing what they started

"Heres our new release, we're absolutely stoked and we know you will be too! Just look at all the new features"

Gee those are interesting, early days but they sure do show some promise

"heres our new release look at all the new features!"

Great but have you fleshed out the ones that you stuck in the last time?

"No time! no time! Those are sooo last year, they're old features now and we've been far too busy making new features! Have you seen them yet? We're absolutely stoked and we're sure you will be too!!"

I swear to whatever diety, it's like sitting in on some demented mad hatters tea party

 

[Ccrew]

there is. Every phone and tablet now have one standard... except for Apple. BB, WP, Android and even the now defunct Palm have all used micro-USB.

But even then there are devices that have to roll things on their own. Note 3 comes to mind.