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The Ape of Naples posted:That can't be a good thing to do. Why not at least take some time to put a power strip or something that's more accessible? I know that using breakers as switches is not best practice, but “every once in a while” is, I think, thrice to date. Platystemon has a new favorite as of 14:47 on May 5, 2016 |
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May 5, 2016 14:43
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Platystemon posted:Vintage shaving technology: 
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May 5, 2016 14:53
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Platystemon posted:Every once in a while my TV’s software locks up and I have to go to the basement and throw the circuit breaker (easier than unplugging it because of how it’s situated). My 'smart' TV can get confused if you change channels too fast and locks up. Obsolete tech? A loving power button on hardware to allow you to hard reset it.
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May 5, 2016 15:38
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The Ape of Naples posted:That can't be a good thing to do. Why not at least take some time to put a power strip or something that's more accessible? 
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May 5, 2016 15:46
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Our Samsung smart TV doesn't update in the background, so every time we wanted to watch NetFlix upstairs (maybe every couple of weeks) we had to wait up to 5 minutes for the app to update. At one point it decided it needed to do a system upgrade as well. I found an old Roku packed away and managed to plug it in, configure wifi, and start Netflix before the Samsung was ready.
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May 5, 2016 15:51
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At least you can say that they stereotyped EVERY race and nationality they could fit on the package instead of just the dark-skinned guys this time.
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May 5, 2016 16:21
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Here's some obsolete and failed technology: the entire car purchasing process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2LLB9CGfLs Tesla's on the right track with the set prices and simple "apple-like" experience, but the problem with what they're doing is that it's not scaleable - that being, it's easy to have this kind of a model when you're selling a niche product at a premium price. I don't think they're going to have the same success in five years or so once (if) production of the Model 3 scales up to the numbers they're talking about. And the thing you need to remember is that many people can't afford (or don't want) to buy a brand new car - how can Tesla's model cope with the varying condition of used cars? If it's 2020, and you have three 2017 Model 3's - how do you price them if they're all different colors, of different mileages, and say, one's been in a small accident? I don't pretend to have a solution, but I will say this: Whoever cracks this nut is going to be loving loaded. Nobody is happy with the status quo of car sales, except for people in car sales - and even then, only some of them.
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May 5, 2016 16:53
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also: people compare Tesla's retail experience to Apple's.  Imagine this number of people who all want to test drive a car
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May 5, 2016 16:55
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sarcastx posted:Here's some obsolete and failed technology: the entire car purchasing process. Buying cars should be obsolete because no one should be buying cars.
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May 5, 2016 17:00
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sarcastx posted:also:
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May 5, 2016 17:00
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sarcastx posted:also: Then they just need to do what Apple does with the Genius Bar: Have a friendly, smiling twentysomething in a bright-colored polo shirt holding an iPad come up to you and take your name and phone # and give you an appointment time. Then you either hang around and play with the display stuff (in Tesla's case, they can show you all about the Powerwall or whatever) or you head out for a while while you wait for a text that your appointment is almost ready. It's not that hard and Apple's retail experience (even including launch days) has been almost universally praised, so comparing Tesla's experience to that is pretty good. For your point about used cars: that's what math is for. Insurance adjusters calculate value based on variables like that all the time. Now Tesla can (presumably) apply the same kind of math to selling used cars.
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May 5, 2016 17:07
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SLOSifl posted:Bad example - the number of people shopping for a car at any one time is not the same as people browsing phones/laptops/tablets casually in a mall. The Tesla comparison is about a simple shopping experience, not volume of people served. I guess my point is that Tesla's going to show in the next few years that their business model is definitely better for the customer than traditional auto sales up until you're selling a volume product - and then, it's going to fall apart because of time/people/product variations/etc. keyboard vomit posted:Buying cars should be obsolete because no one should be buying cars. 
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May 5, 2016 17:17
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Magnus Praeda posted:Then they just need to do what Apple does with the Genius Bar: Have a friendly, smiling twentysomething in a bright-colored polo shirt holding an iPad come up to you and take your name and phone # and give you an appointment time. Then you either hang around and play with the display stuff (in Tesla's case, they can show you all about the Powerwall or whatever) or you head out for a while while you wait for a text that your appointment is almost ready. It's not that hard and Apple's retail experience (even including launch days) has been almost universally praised, so comparing Tesla's experience to that is pretty good. In the same vein, Apple does have a refurbished section that prey much covers the entire used item being resold fairly efficiently, of course favoring Apple by undervaluing trade ins and overvaluing the resold items; but that's precisely how Tesla is selling their preowned vehicles already.
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May 5, 2016 17:20
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sarcastx posted:Here's some obsolete and failed technology: the entire car purchasing process. Saturn tried the no hassle buying experience thing in the early 90's. The people I knew that bought cars from them had nothing but positive things to say. It didn't hurt that the cars themselves were actually pretty decent too. I'm not sure why the rest of the GM brands didn't adopt that sales strategy. Obviously, Saturn isn't around anymore but I imagine that has more to do with the car lineup becoming a redundant badge engineered mess rather than the buying experience.
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May 6, 2016 02:36
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Car purchasing works the way it does because of price discrimination. You can sell cars at low margins to people who are willing to haggle, but for people who are rich enough they don’t give a gently caress, you get full price.
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May 6, 2016 02:53
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Platystemon posted:Car purchasing works the way it does because of price discrimination. That can be true sometimes. It's also true that most wealthy people didn't become wealthy by spending foolishly and just blindly chucking money around. In my experiences those that have money are more bargain savvy than people who are struggling. For example, a person that can just write a check and buy a car outright has more power to get a dealer to knock a few bucks off than someone who is living from one paycheck to the next. Mr. Megabucks can just say "If you don't either knock a grand off the top or throw in the nav system for free, gently caress you. I'll take my business over to the dealership that will". Mrs. Emptywallet, who had to take the bus over to the 25% interest Shitshow dealer because her decades old Taurus puked it's transmission out, and she has to get to work and pick the kids up from school, well she's gonna sign the papers to get that car no matter what the Shitshow Bros. Hyundai lays in front of her. She has no time or money to bargain with. Aside from that poo poo the no haggle model really would be better for almost everyone concerned but I understand why the system is what it is. I just bought a car six months ago and I was fortunate enough to be able to pay for it outright. It was a pretty painless process in that I was able to just say to the salesman, " I want that one, what is the least amount that you will sell it for"? I got $500 knocked off and drove away happy. I imagine things would have gone a little different if I was trying to finance it.
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May 6, 2016 05:13
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Grumbletron 4000 posted:I imagine things would have gone a little different if I was trying to finance it. From what I understand, you actually would have gotten a lower price since the dealers get a commission from the lenders for setting up loans (or just even more direct profit if it's in-house lending), that's why current advice seems to be to let the dealer believe you're trying to finance, then only mention a full payment (even if it's a loan check from your own bank) once the numbers are settled
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May 6, 2016 05:42
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sarcastx posted:Here's some obsolete and failed technology: the entire car purchasing process. It's going to be a long time before that happens, and a lot of states will need to repeal laws and screw over one of their primary sources of sales tax income. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMWmYJOa-BM
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May 6, 2016 05:55
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I have a cool trick that lets me avoid the problem entirely: I buy used cars from private parties.
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May 6, 2016 06:51
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atomicthumbs posted:I have a cool trick that lets me avoid the problem entirely: I buy used cars from private parties. I like Government auctions myself. The last two cars I bought were previously undercover cars. The high mileage scares the crap out of everyone else bidding, but they have been serviced and overhauled a LOT over their life. Last one I got was under $10k when they were going at dealerships for $20k for similar mileage. Had no problems with latest one at all except for a rear window motor refusing to work all of a sudden.
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May 6, 2016 09:04
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Sentient Data posted:From what I understand, you actually would have gotten a lower price since the dealers get a commission from the lenders for setting up loans (or just even more direct profit if it's in-house lending), that's why current advice seems to be to let the dealer believe you're trying to finance, then only mention a full payment (even if it's a loan check from your own bank) once the numbers are settled Thats what I did. I told the salesman I would be financing with my bank. I'm sure they'd rather I financed through them but in the end I dont think it mattered much. With the interest factored in I would have paid a lot more in the end. In my case, my old car had been paid off for awhile and I knew it's days were numbered so I started banking the equivalent of a normal payment every month when I realized my car was on its way out. I just got lucky that I had enough saved to buy the car I wanted when my old car finally poo poo the bed. I feel like I got more than a fair deal on the car I ended up with.
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May 6, 2016 10:12
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atomicthumbs posted:I have a cool trick that lets me avoid the problem entirely: I buy used cars from private parties. I'm looking at this from a continent away, but is Craigslist as annoying to use as it looks?
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May 6, 2016 10:52
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Computer viking posted:I'm looking at this from a continent away, but is Craigslist as annoying to use as it looks? Yes. And it's full of weirdos who either never show up or try to extreme low ball you
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May 6, 2016 12:00
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Shillary posted:It's going to be a long time before that happens, and a lot of states will need to repeal laws and screw over one of their primary sources of sales tax income. Here at least, sales tax on automobile purchases is collected by the title bureau when you transfer the title of a car, not by the dealer themselves, mainly so they can collect taxes on used car purchases too. Direct sales of cars would have no effect on sales tax revenue since you would still have to pay the taxes in your local municipality when you register it.
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May 6, 2016 13:22
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chitoryu12 posted:At least you can say that they stereotyped EVERY race and nationality they could fit on the package instead of just the dark-skinned guys this time. To be honest, I'm surprised (and, in a hosed up way, pleased) that they have Japan and China as different stereotypes.
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May 6, 2016 15:29
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Sentient Data posted:From what I understand, you actually would have gotten a lower price since the dealers get a commission from the lenders for setting up loans (or just even more direct profit if it's in-house lending), that's why current advice seems to be to let the dealer believe you're trying to finance, then only mention a full payment (even if it's a loan check from your own bank) once the numbers are settled Yeah, this is what I did, got a base price with dealership financing and let them run my credit...etc. then said 'great, price looks good, I'm gunna go to my credit union and get a check be back in like an hour' the salesman wasn't too happy, and was like 'let us set you up for financing then you just pay it off the first month with your credit union check, same difference'...nope.
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May 7, 2016 03:48
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Grumbletron 4000 posted:Thats what I did. I told the salesman I would be financing with my bank. I'm sure they'd rather I financed through them but in the end I dont think it mattered much. With the interest factored in I would have paid a lot more in the end. In my case, my old car had been paid off for awhile and I knew it's days were numbered so I started banking the equivalent of a normal payment every month when I realized my car was on its way out. If you have good credit, it's likely that the dealer can get you a better interest rate than your bank or credit union, since the dealer not only has access to more banks but also the manufacturer's own lending arm. No bank's going to give you a zero-interest loan, since they won't make money, but manufacturers want to move cars. Yeah, you do want to negotiate the price first and then talk about financing, and you also want to get pre-approved though your lender so you can use that as leverage against the dealer's rate, but just going with what your bank is going to loan you money at and not getting the dealer's offer is probably more expensive. If, again, you have good credit.
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May 7, 2016 05:07
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Though really, the entire conversation about how opaque and convoluted the process is should just serve to show how outdated and lovely the entire thing is
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May 7, 2016 06:29
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Humphreys posted:I like Government auctions myself. The last two cars I bought were previously undercover cars. The high mileage scares the crap out of everyone else bidding, but they have been serviced and overhauled a LOT over their life. Last one I got was under $10k when they were going at dealerships for $20k for similar mileage. Had no problems with latest one at all except for a rear window motor refusing to work all of a sudden. Probably a brick of coke hidden in the side panel. I am so old that I think convertibles with automatic roofs are still magic. I remember my dad making me get out and help him put the roof down on our old Rabbit. I also recently came across someone who wanted a car with manual windows because he felt that was more "authentic'. Dude is only 22, there is no way he ever was in a car with manual windows unless his parents had an old beater around. Every so often I hear about HUDs in cars, so they driver can see all the information they need while looking ahead, but they always find out that drivers become distracted by all the info on the HUD and actually end up driving worse than they would with a standard console. Also a similar thing with soldiers having tons of info pumped into their headsets, it causes them to get distracted and become less effective. Who keeps thinking that everyone needs every bit of into pumped into them constantly?
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May 7, 2016 17:36
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twistedmentat posted:I also recently came across someone who wanted a car with manual windows because he felt that was more "authentic'. Dude is only 22, there is no way he ever was in a car with manual windows unless his parents had an old beater around. 
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May 7, 2016 17:42
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twistedmentat posted:Dude is only 22, there is no way he ever was in a car with manual windows unless his parents had an old beater around. Rentals! No idea why, but it seems in the USA they keep those features out of base models specifically so that rental car places can buy cars without them. Then again he's too young to rent a car at most places
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May 7, 2016 17:58
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twistedmentat posted:I also recently came across someone who wanted a car with manual windows because he felt that was more "authentic'. Dude is only 22, there is no way he ever was in a car with manual windows unless his parents had an old beater around. There are still a few cheap-o econoboxes where crank windows are standard (the Chevrolet Spark for instance). This guy was born in 93/94 when power windows were still an optional extra in non-luxury cars more often than not, so he's not too old to have seen crank windows. He is still a hipster retard because crank windows were never 'authentic', just a huge pain in the rear end, particularly if you were driving by yourself, and left the rear windows in sedans useless unless someone was sitting in the back. I once drove a Pontiac with one of those HUDs that projected your speed and the tachometer onto the windshield. It became really annoying really quickly as my eyes kept wanting to focus on that instead of the road. There is a reason why nobody uses it anymore.
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May 7, 2016 19:11
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twistedmentat posted:I am so old that I think convertibles with automatic roofs are still magic. I remember my dad making me get out and help him put the roof down on our old Rabbit. I also recently came across someone who wanted a car with manual windows because he felt that was more "authentic'. Dude is only 22, there is no way he ever was in a car with manual windows unless his parents had an old beater around. I'm only 27 and I'm pretty sure my parents still had cars with manual windows up 'til I was at least 10. 
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May 7, 2016 20:05
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The_White_Crane posted:I'm only 27 and I'm pretty sure my parents still had cars with manual windows up 'til I was at least 10. I'm 28 and my high school/college car was a 2001 Hyundai Accent with manual windows. A 22 definitely will have encountered manual windows.
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May 7, 2016 22:14
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hackbunny posted:Rentals! No idea why, but it seems in the USA they keep those features out of base models specifically so that rental car places can buy cars without them. Then again he's too young to rent a car at most places I travel for work about once a month, and I have never gotten a rental with crank windows.
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May 7, 2016 22:38
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Man, I wish my car had crank windows. The passenger side motor has been broken for years, so I never get to open it anyway, and now anybody that rides with me can't roll it down either. Replacing the motor somehow requires cutting into the metal interior panel - great design there - or paying someone to do pretty much the same work. A crank is way less breakable.
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May 7, 2016 23:16
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Lemniscate Blue posted:Man, I wish my car had crank windows. The passenger side motor has been broken for years, so I never get to open it anyway, and now anybody that rides with me can't roll it down either. Replacing the motor somehow requires cutting into the metal interior panel - great design there - or paying someone to do pretty much the same work. I've never driven a Ford Crown Victoria where all four electric windows worked properly. Edit: and I've driven at least 4
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May 7, 2016 23:29
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The_White_Crane posted:I'm only 27 and I'm pretty sure my parents still had cars with manual windows up 'til I was at least 10. I had cars with crank up windows until about 2005. The last car was a cheap mid '90s Dodge Neon that didn't even have power steering or a radio. Or a functioning dash cluster now that I think of it. The guy I bought it from said it had "a good back seat". It wasn't a euphemism for anything. He just thought that was the best selling point. The back seat was actually broken but I didn't have the heart to tell him. You could just lift it right off. All the bolts had snapped. The thing was great in the winter, with no power steering and a manual transmission, you could really feel the road. It also weighed nothing so it was quicker than you would think.
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May 7, 2016 23:30
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FWIW, my 2000 Toyota Tacoma has crank Windows. They still work flawlessly too.
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May 8, 2016 01:46
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hackbunny posted:Rentals! No idea why, but it seems in the USA they keep those features out of base models specifically so that rental car places can buy cars without them. Then again he's too young to rent a car at most places It's less for rental places and more for dealerships. They keep around some "basic" models without things like power windows or a stereo system so that the dealer can use it as a foot in the door to start upselling you on other stuff.
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May 8, 2016 01:51
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