On 10/29/2013 8:59 PM, Joakim wrote:> Heh, this reminded me of my
current ultrabook, the Zenbook Prime UX31A,
> which is an absolutely fantastic machine, the best I've ever owned, but
> whose designers made the unfortunate decision to make the power button
> just another key on the keyboard, as opposed to hard-wiring it directly
> to the battery. Combine that with the fact that the keyboard connector
> doesn't hold its place well and is actually held in place by masking
tape:
>
> http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Unresponsive+Keyboard+Keys/11932
>
> Cut to me late last year, unable to turn my ultrabook on because the
> keyboard connector had completely slipped out, a month after I had
> accidentally dropped it. I had to find the linked instructions after a
> bunch of googling, go pick up a Torx T5, and fix it myself, as Asus
> support kept insisting to everyone that it was a software issue and that
> they should either reinstall the drivers or the OS! I followed those
> simple instructions instead and no problems till a week ago, when I had
> to repeat the procedure again. :)
I'm still irritated that laptop manufacturers have gone the cheap route
of replacing physical "disconnect the wireless antennas" switch with
software-based keyboard combinations.
Actually, much more than that, I'm *really* annoyed at the elimination
of physical, hardware-based speaker volume controls in favor of
purely-software volume controls that do whatever the hell they want,
whenever they feel like it, and don't even work *at all* under many
basic circumstances (A hardware volume works *even when the device is
off*. Try writing an app to do THAT!):
http://semitwist.com/articles/article/view/it-takes-a-special-kind-of-stupid-to-screw-up-volume-controls
Another example of the worthlessness of software volumes is the stereo
in my mom's 2010 Hyundai Elantra: Every time the car is turned on the
radio comes on, and at a factory-determined volume, *regardless* of how
you left the volume and on/off state when you last turned the car off.
And then if you immediately turn the radio back off, it will
*automatically turn it back on AGAIN*. Stupid motherfuckers actually
claimed this was a "convenience feature". Idiocy at its finest.
Hardware controls *CAN'T* fuck things up that freaking badly. But
software opens the door to all manner of colossally bad design blunders.
By contrast, I *love* my Prizm's stereo. EVerything always does exactly
what I tell it. I don't have to turn the car on and let some OS boot
before I can turn the volume down. I can *feel* all the buttons and use
them without taking my eyes off the road. And unlike the Elantra's
stereo, it's never crashed back to a Windows CE desktop.
