I see posts talking about good BIFL items but I don’t hear much about the other side of products that are bad or products you bought but don’t even use.
Collected wine. Still have lots of it, don’t really drink anymore, and have no storage space. Don’t ask.
I inherited a blender. I thought I’d absolutely use it. Nope. Food processor on the other hand is amazing and I want a better one someday
Bose Quiet Comfort II true wireless headphones.
I’d been toying with the idea forever. My earbuds are old, a little bulky, have some connectivity issues when one disconnects and it takes a lot of fussing to get them reconnected. So I decided to spend the money.
I get them from B&H. I get home, put them in, one of them has some sound issues—but other than that, the sound and fit were perfect. Like, they were my glass slipper. They fit perfectly, the seal was perfect, they wouldn’t ever hurt my ears after extended use…I was shocked.
But.
Having issues with one, I started messing with them, seeing if could get support or troubleshoot. Of course the first thing in the box is a QR for their app. Now, I never fuck with physical products apps. If I need an app, chances are I won’t use your shit. But I really wanted these to work, so I go to the app, and dig through the privacy policy.
Two addenda later, they’re trying to get me to sign the most obscene privacy policy ever. Listen to/record everything I play, collect a profile on me, listen to any ambient noise around the microphone, and weirdly, “map my head shape and movements?”
I deleted that app as quickly as I could. So I go to their support page on their site. Get into a chat with their customer service bot. It says, “replying to this message is agreement to our privacy policy.” So I open the link, read it…it kinda seems reasonable. Just talking about using my chat responses for training, standard. But then THREE layers of addenda deep I find here trying to get me to sign THE EXACT SAME FUCKIN POLICY.
I ran those fuckers back to the store. But not before trying to get someone on the phone about the legal matters. Yeah, nah. They wouldn’t connect me to someone in their legal dept. In fact, the very request seemed to puzzle them to no end.
FUCK BOSE. READ YOUR PRIVACY POLICIES.
You did not miss much don’t worry. I have them as well, their NC capability sucks, and they run a master slave setup meaning the right unit must be present to operate, you can’t only use the left unit. I regret buying mine
Whoa.
I have some QC25 headphones I bought in 2015 and they’re still working well, other than having to replace the cushions a few times. No “smart” features, just a regular cable to plug them in. Noise canceling works well and I use it whenever I’m flying somewhere. They take AA batteries which is way more convenient than a built-in battery. I use Eneloops, and once the batteries don’t hold a charge well any more, I can just get new ones.
Is it possible to accept to those terms but disconnect the app from internet access completely so that prevents any calling back to the server? I believe you should be able to run it without internet.
Still a shame that there exists such an invasive privacy policy. I use IEMs when I’m on the go and wired akg k371 when I’m at home.
Well, that’s actually what I was trying to find out. I tried getting their legal dept on the phone because I wanted to be 100% sure I could use those earbuds without ever agreeing to the policy. When they wouldn’t or couldn’t give me an answer, I said fuck them.
They were great headphones. But I didn’t even want to chance that kind of invasion. And I doubt there’d be any way I could be sure of a company clearly willing to violate my privacy so hard would not be collecting that data without my consent. Using their fuckin site was a minefield in itself because they were trying really fuckin hard to get me to sign that policy—not even sign it, just tacitly agree to it by responding to one message in order to get help. Too dicey for my liking.
I would try denying it network permissions (if you’re on android) or just simply putting it on airplane mode and disconnecting all network to it.
I tried getting their legal dept on the phone
I don’t know if any company would comply with this request, unless you’re calling a law firm of course. Lawyers’ time is expensive and they don’t spend it speaking to end-users. You could try emailing their legal department - they may have a customer service rep that understands the legal side of things.
Holy shit, was never aware of this. Will stay far away from this brand!
Fuck yeah! Enjoy your lunch!
Well, crap, I love my Bose QC II, but…I didn’t read the PP and now I don’t want to use them…
We live in fucked up times. I don’t have the patience to read through privacy policies, so I basically have to avoid buying anything that has any kind of sensor on it.
I bought a Wii U. Nintendo only made like ten games for it.
Honestly, I got so much fun out of Homebrewing my WiiU. Getting free games, modding them
Interesting, I have one sitting collecting dust, what is this homebrew? What does it do?
If it’s an actual question and not sarcasm: Programs developed at home by hobby developers. Not strictly necessary though.
Something like Minecraft and Portal ported to 3DS etc or actually original games created for the platform of choice.
And almost all of them were ported to the Switch. Except Xenoblade X, which is the only WiiU exclusive I actually want to play.
Play it on an emulator like Cemu
That’s my plan.
Good plan.
My apple watch. So much on that watch either doesn’t work as it should or I was straight lied to by an apple employee of how it worked. Will never buy one again.
I’m the exact opposite. Didn’t wear a watch for years after getting my first cellphone. Didn’t see the need for a watch when the smart watches started coming out. Can’t remember why I ultimately got an Apple Watch, but I’ve really liked it.
I also, am interested in your expectations of its functionality, as I have been pondering one for some time.
this is for you and @dfyx@lemmy.helios42.de since you both asked the same question.
this is a long comment so bear with me.
When I bought the watch I specifically asked how the step counter works. Not just a cover/generic question. I asked does it count if you are just moving your arms or how does it now if you are actually walking/taking steps? I explained that at my job I stand all day and my arms are moving a lot but I’m not actually walking and I wanted to know if the counter was even close to accurate.
What they told me (at an Apple Store) was that it uses a GPS to figure out if you are moving. (that is a Lie, no it doesn’t). As my hands and arms are going back and forth across the desk. It is counting steps. If i move my hands from right to left (for example) from one pile of papers to another on my left, it might count that as a step. It might count it as a step as my hands go from right to left AND then from left to right(might be counted as a step). It might count the round trip as 1 step, or 2 steps or maybe 5 steps.
It should not be counting it at all.
I can have thousands of extra steps counted. If the step counter is wrong, then the calorie counter is wrong. That also means the apple movement app is worthless. Think of all the health things it can monitor but are tied to the movement/calorie counter/step counter… they are all worthless because the base section isn’t working as I need it to.
I assumed what would happen if you got on a treadmill was you would have to hit something on the watch because it would need to know that you are walking in place, or maybe it counted the bounce/movement of your body as you were actually walking.
Apple music is another thing that doesn’t work as it really should. Now this could be a design choice by the maker or maybe it just doesn’t work as intended… I’m not sure.
I will have my iphone connected via bluetooth to a speaker. My watch is connected to my phone. If I grab my phone and start a playlist everything looks and sounds like it should. The phone will show the song playing and the watch will show the song playing. I can skip to the next song by tapping my watch and hitting skip… so far so good.
Here’s where things go side ways. If I use my watch to go back to the playlists and try to choose a different playlist, the watch will say I’m sorry but your watch isn’t connected to anything(the speaker). to which I say… bull shit. yes it is. The watch is connected to the phone and the phone is connected to the speaker. Everything is connected. I was told the watch would act as a remote control for the phone. So why is it saying the watch isn’t connected to a speaker? It should access the playlists on the phone and let me choose a new playlist and start playing a new playlist. (this is just logical that it would work that way.) I shouldn’t have to walk over to my phone and choose a new playlist.
If I don’t use the phone to start a playlist and just tap the watch and try to start a playlist that won’t work because it will tell me the watch isn’t connected to any devices. Umm yes it is. It’s connected to the phone.
When I purchased the phone I specifically said i think I have a sleeping problem and I need a device that will help to monitor (or at least give me an idea if there is an issue).
Middle of the night it will check one of my vitals (that’s good) but it will vibrate and wake me up. WTF?! Who would design a device that would wake a person up in the middle of the night after checking one of the vitals? The watch should be able to figure out via blood pressure and oxygen levels that “huh this guy is probably asleep” so it shouldn’t vibrate. It should look at what I have set as my normal sleep schedule combine that with my vitals and figure out I am asleep and not vibrate after checking a vital. This is either a broken system or just plain bad design.
Sometimes it will go for days and not check anything. Again what is the point?
Yea, I had a series 3, hated it coming from a galaxy watch. Daily charging, dies on 24h shifts tons of useless features that I never use, looks weird for a watch, no always on display (granted not a problem for newer ones I gather). And the goddamn screen got scratched so fast, even more so when I started bouldering.
I was a actually kinda glad I busted the screen and could justify getting a Garmin Instinct 2 Solar. I was a bit apprehensive about how it would play with an Iphone, but it is pretty damn good.
Best watch I have owned, even the galaxy watch pales in comparison. I can actually track sleep because the battery lasts 2 weeks with nightly pulseox (should be 3 without), potentially a lot longer but the sun is a foreign concept this time of year. It gives me what I need and nothing more (although it is a bit off the mark on a few things. The fitness tracking is great, it is actually a lot better for bouldering. No annoying touch stuff, actual physical buttons, that while take a bit of adjusting to, are perfectly adequate for reaching all the functions quickly. Seems sturdy as hell too.
The only feature I miss a little is answering calls on it. Was useful 3 times a year or so when I used it while I was busy but could have a conversation on loudspeaker. Besides this I cant get it to track additional sleep episodes properly (say on my 24h shifts when I get multiple short bursts of sleep or just general naps). The sleep tracking is semi auto - you set a sleep time, the watch only tracks sleep in sleep mode. Theres no automatic workout tracking (I guess there is a weird half tracking thing), although I hated auto tracking on the galaxy watch, I was fine with apple but never used it. Now granted all of the above is a mild annoyance at best, for me.
Well, what do you expect it to do?
Mine is five years old and I haven’t missed wearing it for a day. There are so many little features that I like (controlling my HomeKit home, finding my phone, playing my music with AirPods on a run, heart rate alerts, taking calls) and I’ll replace it when it’s gone, but I have a hard time recommending to anyone at that price point. I can’t get over that I need to buy a third party app to see my step count and it doesn’t even sync regularly.
Built-in step count is in the activity app! Just keep scrolling, it’s after the stand hours. Noticed it the other day, I think it’s easy to overlook.
Thank you for the response, but that’s the thing, I don’t want to scroll. Steps are a basic function and they should be available on the watch face.
I was straight lied to by an apple employee
If you live in an area with good consumer rights, this is usually a valid reason to return a product. Statements made by an employee are treated the same as statements made in an ad, and it’s not legal for either to misrepresent a product.
The USA does not have good consumer rights.
I’ve bought every single generation of an Apple Watch, and I returned it every time.
I wanted to love it so much, but I couldn’t.
It’s just a glorified notification system.
Anytime I got a notification on it, or wanted to use it for something, it was faster and far more convenient to just pull out my phone and do whatever I needed to.
The only thing I found it good for was controlling music from a distance, but that’s not an important use case for me and definitely not worth the price tag, plus the recurring data plan. It’s a money and attention hog, just like any other smartphone.
Those potato spaghettifiers. Fuckers break when you try to push potatoes though. Waste of money.
You need to cook the potatoes first.
I usually stop cooking the potatoes whenever a fork can split them. Apparently that is not enough?
What? Are you talking about a potato ricer?
I like my name better.
PSVR - fun for a week but otherwise useless.
I think the story of VR in general. Fun for a few weeks, then great dust collectors
Great for sport though, !beatsaber@lemmy.ml
I heard the psvr2 is getting pc compatibility. I might get it then because the price is lower than the index and supposedly has good enough outside-in tracking vs outside-in tracking and the features sure do look nice.
FYI - it might get PC support
The PSVR2, not the first.
Console VR is useless, Sony’s first party stuff is not better than any indie.
Love mine, but a few hundred hours into GT7 and I’m kinda bored. But I think that has a lot to do with the terrible UI more than the gameplay.
My smartwatch purchase partially. It’s a Galaxy Watch4 Classic, it does stuff like track my workouts, heartrate, etc., run WearOS-optimized apps that I basically never use like Spotify, and I have to charge it every 2 days. I noticed that the only real feature I need is to get my phone’s notifications on my wrist. Not really worth the € 200-300 purchase imo, but it works okay-ish.
I bought an Instant Pot back in 2017. I’ve never used it.
I read somewhere that GoPros and other action cameras are one of the least used purchases, so I figured “that should mean there’s plenty on eBay”. So grabbed up second hand bargain, played around with it for a couple of weeks, bought some extra batteries and other accessories, and since then it’s sat in the cupboard except for a single occasion.
Turns out you don’t need an action cam if you’re not getting any action.
The good thing is GoPros are still good years later. Most of the action my GoPro 4 has seen was in the last 2-3 years after sitting for a really long time.
I had one that must’ve fallen out of my pocket when I got out of the car, because a few days later I found it half embedded in the dirt driveway after getting ran over. It was scuffed and scratched, but still worked! I don’t think the battery holds a charge anymore, but it is like 10 years old now
I have the same thing with a drone
I use my GoPro a ton and thought I could add a drone into my videos but I haven’t really been able to try it yet. I did get my drone license though and might have some paid work coming up which is nice.
Many lemmy users have the same thing with a wife
ha ha women objectification funny
Do people actually use those to—erm—document the proceedings?
I’ve seen it done!
I won one at an office Christmas party, took a time lapse of my chia pet, put it in a drawer for a year and felt guilty, then sold it to a ski instructor. It’s kind of like taking a video of fireworks or a concert. Unless you’re doing some wild extreme sports, who’s editing and rewatching that kind of video?
Oh damn I totally forgot about that one. My dad bought a go pro and I could’ve used it to film my scuba diving event but we couldn’t figure out where to mount it.
Dick mount.
There are three things, off the top of my head, that I can recall buying but either not using very much or not for it’s intended purpose. The first item is a portable bluetooth keyboard, I got it for the purpose of playing games on my android devices with it but the problem is that I haven’t found many games that actually even have keyboard support. The second item is a portable bluetooth mouse, it’s the same as the keyboard but with the additional issue of not working with my tablet for some reason. The third item is a DS flashcart, I forgot what it’s called but it’s the one from Datel and I had so many problems with it that I’ve been using it’s “Gigapack” for transferring small files between my two computers.
I feel you on the keyboard, bought an Android controller years ago, but only ever used to play emulators on it since no game besides Megaman X Dive had controller support, to this day Genshin only has controller support over on iphone, fuck them. Silver lining is that it works fine on PC so it became the second player anytime a friend is over.
My Steam library
Have I got some good news for you then.
One cannot buy digital content with DRM, only rent it.
It’s impossible to regret acquisitions you’ve never made.
Point in case. You can sell on your physical games. Not so much the digital ones.
All that said, I too use Steam, just not mainly anymore.
Edit: Holy smokes did this blow up! I’m happy to drive engagement here on the fediverse, albeit I do believe I struck a nerve. Either that, or some people have poor reading capabilities - I see the comments refuting something I haven’t said.
You know, indie devs want to eat and be rewarded for their work
Where in my comment does it state that I don’t pay indie devs?
I spend money on Steam, but I have no illusions* that I’m not owning the things I get there.
I’d much rather have a title on GOG than Steam. At least there I get to keep it.
Than sell an actual product DRM free or something, I’m not renting shit anymore.
Then buy on gog.com
I do.
This used to be true, but not anymore (if you live in the EU)! https://www.eurogamer.net/eu-rules-publishers-cannot-stop-you-reselling-your-downloaded-games
That said I know what you’re saying and this change doesn’t make it so you own the games, they’re just allowing you to resell the right to download and play on Steam, blabla. But it’s better than it used to be.
That’s amazing. How do I sell my steam games ? is there a way ?
Have you tried selling physical PC games lately?
DRM has nothing to do with how you buy your content (DVDs and Blurays also have DRM, for example).Also some Steam games have no DRM.
Or buying them, for that matter?
I was thinking of sites like GOG when I wrote my comment.
I have never heard of a Steam game you could run without having Steam installed
A few dozen boards games, some crazy expensive. The most recent one was the Witcher which was a Kickstarter campaign. I bought a label maker, small zip lock bags, spent a few hours punching out paper tokens and and sorting everything. Haven’t played a single game.
It is actually a pretty fun game if you do get a chance to play it!
I made a habit of checking out Goodwill for boardgames. Best one yet was King of Tokyo for maybe $10. Like new condition.
Hotdogger. Doesn’t work as advertised.
I bought a tech wood infrared double burner hot plate. It just doesn’t boil. I’m dying over here trying to boil water and it just won’t. So, I dumped everything into the insta-pot beside it in the office break room… set it to sauté* and that shit boiled right away.
I’m about to return this POS and buy a single burner hot plate, but then I start all over again researching.
Get an induction plate.
Maybe need to get induction instead of radiant? Induction is much more efficient.
I bought a cheap induction element after my landlord replaced my cooktop with one that I hate because the elements are tiny. It is so much better than a standard cooktop that I pretty much use it exclusively.
It killed me when Charlie responds to “boilerplate language” with “Yep, we’ll all be getting back to our hotplates soon enuff!”
Filibuster.
