Side rant, but do you ever call in to support with a serious problem and they just by default treat you like a granny who doesnt know how to type in a wifi password? That whole process is so frustrating, and they never have the expertise to handle more sophisticated problems.
I think the only call I've had with someone who was able to quickly assess my tech-savviness was with an Apple Support manager. He was pretty awesome. My issue ended up being a bug in their OS, now resolved.
As someone who works in Level 2 and 3 Tech, the majority of people who do contact me are actual morons who legitimately think turning off and on their monitor is akin to rebooting their PC. I know that has been memed to death, but it's true. I've legitimately had to make a whole presentation on the various ways to restart a computer and present it to a group of about 20 people.
I have so many stories to the point where, if I don't treat everyone like it's their first time touching a computer, it will lead to the user getting pissed off because I didn't tell them that they had to left click on their mouse because they're so used to their phone being touch screen that they assumed that every screen was.
As a fellow level 3 tech you nailed it. We are constantly exposed to a massive amount of tech illiteracy on a daily basis, and have to clean up the messes these people make while trying to keep a smile on our face and be nice. It sucks even more because we get attitude from people who are complete morons with this stuff, blaming us for their mistakes and getting impatient while we cleanup their mess. We’re also lied to consistently about what they’ve done to cause an issue, so we also have trust issues and have to ask boneheaded questions because so many times the bone headed question is the answer.
Understandable when most people wouldn't have expertise. The real annoying thing is when you use live chat/email support and list everything you've tried and what you think the root of the problem is. Then they start the basic shit again, when you've already told them you have tried it all.
Ngl, most first level support I work with are not the brightest. There is a reason they are first level and on phones, and it's not because they are subject matter experts.
as a former tech support person I think the reason why its usually like that is that most of the people who call in are people don't know how to use a computer at least it was for the company I worked at
True for most doesn't mean true for everyone and not being able to switch once it is clear the person does know how to use the computer is really annoying.
I am not in denial and am fully aware that I don't know everything and can make mistakes. But that is a bit beyond 'knowing how to use a computer'.
But when I call about the squirrels chewing through the line for the third time and I have pictures of the chewed line I don't need to be told to restart my computer to make sure it isn't that first.
Some of that is from management being strict about following the procedures we have to make sure every step is followed or we get in trouble so even if someone seems knowledgable we have to treat them like they aren't
This. I was phone support for dial-up internet for the transition - when I started, we just did our best and frequently worked with customers at their level. I enjoyed that, the customers did too. I got promoted easily.
By the time our jobs were getting shipped overseas and we were all getting fired, they replaced that with a 'knowledge tree' everyone was supposed to follow regardless of our personal experience in order to make sure all customers got the exact same experience. Softened the blow. I never went back to tech support as a job.
(This was like twenty years ago. I imagine it's only gotten more stifling since then.)
I started playing PoE after getting to somewhat endgame in D4. Got to level 60 something and my buddy and I were like....sooo...whatcha wanna do now? Dungeon I guess? Then we just kinda stopped playing. The rubber banding and random lags were super annoying and resulted in many deaths - we had a great time but needs a lot more cookin in the oven.
PoE on the other hand has been super refreshing and non laggy (the joy of 10 yrs of development I guess) and there's soo much to chew on. In a way it feels like a natural extension of D2 (played D2R for the first time last year).
It’s real good man. D2 I found had a great loot feeling, but the general signposting of where to go was shit. But this was mostly because they didn’t update D2 in the remastered version much because I guess they knew people would be pissed if they updated it too much.
D4 was initially epic with the bois, but the slow grind and analysis paralysis of loot was annoying in the end. So much garbage loot with no filters and way too many affixes on weapons, you sit there for ages wondering if that bit of loot is better…or worse?? Or maybe good for that thing, but not the other. Urgh, and the legendary aspect thing was annoying to manage (shit, I found a weapon, but uh oh, I don’t have an aspect in reserve to apply to this cool new weapon, so my build will be fucked??? yay!)
PoE has that D2 loot feeling, power growth and SPEED that D4 simply can’t have due to level scaling. Honestly, why is a group of minions giving me a hard time in D4 when in PoE I can blast a screen worth of little shits in one go? Super fun.
I don’t mind being a shit character when i’m level 10, NOT 70. It was a pain post campaign in D4, I should be a god not some weak maggot after I saved Sanctuary lol.
Give it a shot, it’s free :) I think it’s due an update in August [new league].
I quit everything Blizzard after Starcraft 2, that game had so much down time, and although it did have an offline option, you couldn't get new technologies as rewards in the campaign, when servers were down. Making it kind of redundant to have the offline mode IMO.
You can call it a boycott, but a company gone bad, rarely turns back to good again.
the old razer flip phones were horrible. I went through four of the things in the course of a year because they got so much of a whiff of water they'd crap out. the last time, it was left in the truck while I was fishing and the humidity killed it.
Another model... got done in at a pool, it was left on a table and kids happened.
it's not that people are klutzes and drop their phones. It's that shit happens. Yeah, it was a trade off, but, sealing it against stuff... is a lot easier when it's sealed
Yeah, if you keep a phone for 5-6 years, you usually only have to change the battery once. I reckon the dust hasn’t settled on this though - I think there will be compromise where battery replacements are cheaper, but still need to be done by a professional
I don't need swappable batteries because they wear out. I need them cuz I'm ADD and constantly forget to charge my phone. Having a spare fully charged battery when I have to head to work on my 60-90 minute commute is invaluable.
You can have a swappable battery and water resistance. Samsung galaxy s5 had a removable plastic cover and IP67 water resistance, so if the manufacturers tried they could easily have them both.
Also, if you do any repairs on a new phone you lose water resistance (unless you replace the silicone), while on the s5 you could just replace the battery and would just need to press the cover back on. After the repair the phone would still be water resistant, unlike the new phones with glass backs.
The only weakness with the S5 was the charging port having a cover that could easily break off, but modern ports these days are waterproofed, so they could just make one of those.
Personally, if they remade the S5, with a modern board and charging port (rather than the Micro-USB 3.0 monstrosity), I'd be very tempted to buy it. The IR blaster and everything else was just nice to have.
I prefer non swappable phone batteries. If I need to charge my phone while out I use USB power bank, which is infinitely more useful than a naked phone battery that can only be used in the phone. Non swappable batteries also allow for phone casing to be much more resilient to impacts and the elements, and can help reduce the phones size.
A phone battery is not to going to reach end of life for 2-3 years in normal use, so it doesn’t seem too much of hardship to get the toolbox out or go to a service centre when it does eventually need replacing.
Maybe require manufactures to not use such incredibly strong glues that some use to secure the batteries, but mandating they be swappable seems the wrong approach to me.
I held onto my older GalaxyNote for this very reason. During the good times of PokeGo it was like having a super power to just switch out my battery and be back to 100%.
The question is will this new system work like it used to be, as in can you just buy a battery from some seller in china or is it going to be similar to what we have now where the batteries are paired to the device.
The article never said a company like Apple couldn’t pair the battery to the device and charge €100 for it.
The article goes into it a bit but the downside to user replaceable batteries is that they are bigger while not giving more charge, you have to include the plastic casings to ensure that they aren’t damaged when being pulled out or dropped or thrown in bags so you do end up with a thicker device and while some devices may allow a hotswap if the phone is plugged into a charger that’s not guaranteed.
I also question the viability of it leaving the EU market, take Apple for example, they already make a different model for the US market and a different model for the china market and a different model for the international market for the 12,13, and 14 lines, they could just make it a Europe only model as it will likely effect the design of the phone in some ways. USB-C I can see coming to all models as it’s something that doesn’t affect the design as much and it’s already on their other devices. But we’ll have to see.
At this point I’d say for any skilled repair person replacing a phone battery shouldn’t be too hard but I guess this can make it easier. For the iPhone 14 lineup you heat up then remove the display, pull the battery pull tabs, life the battery and put in the new one then reseal the display and your good.
While having easy to swap user replaceable batteries seems nice on paper I worry it will lead to chunkier devices. I’m more in favor of right to repair, or basically requiring the parts such as batteries and displays have to be available to everyone including third parties at a reasonable price and ensuring that third parties can actually do the repairs without having to say call up a customer support line to recalibrate the battery(ie pair it to the device); cough couch, apple self service repair.
*disclosure; I’m a certified Apple partner repair technician and as such my view point may be skewed.
After skimming parts of the actual adopted text (its a 537 [albeit wastefully formatted] pdf, dont blame me), which is mostly an update to the old directive, I think I might be able to address some of these concerns. (Not an expert though)
The article never said a company like Apple couldn’t pair the battery to the device and charge €100 for it.
The important part to remember is that this isn't just about consumer rights. Even the first few pages make it very clear that sustainability and battery recycling play a huge goal, ultimately aiming for a "circular economy". While we should for now not debate what that actually means, one part of that is ensuring less waste. Hence the second part of the adopted text, "waste batteries". If companies would simply start making it unfeasible to actually replace a phones batter, we will probably see an update of the directive.
you have to include the plastic casings to ensure that they aren’t damaged when being pulled out or dropped or thrown in bags so you do end up with a thicker device
Fair point, theres probably no objective argument to put against this. My subjective argument would be that the thinness phones have reached is a bit absurd anyways and one or two mm more wont hurt them. I mean, we all put them in cases anyways. If you absolutely need a thinner phone, buy a thinner case.
I also question the viability of it leaving the EU market
Its absolutely not going to happen. Its more likely that we might see a sort of California effect, where manufacturers that have no reason to produce several versions simply start producing only the EU version and market it as sustainable and environmentally conscious in markets where legislation is more lax.
I’m more in favor of right to repair, or basically requiring the parts such as batteries and displays have to be available to everyone
Completely agree. But this wont be the last we see of this, since batteries will continue to be a topic in EU politics. For now, battery collection and recycling are relatively low in the EU, but is supposed to rise in the coming years/decades. To reach that target, more action will be necessary.
Its also important to mention that the adopted text specifically mentions that end-users should be able to replace their batteries without specialised tools, contrasting it later on with "independent professionals" that should replace batteries in unsafe environments:
"A portable battery should be considered to be removable by the end-user when it can be removed with the use of commercially available tools and without requiring the use of specialised tools, unless they are provided free of charge, or proprietary tools, thermal energy or solvents to disassemble it"
And that is why I support the move. When Apple was flexing its green credentials a few years ago, I honestly thought that they might adopt repairability as their next big thing.
Apple saying that ‘yes we are going to deliberately make out devices a millimetre thicker, flaunting small screws on the back of the case as a bade of environmental honour would haven great. And probably would have driven a cross-industry trend.
It'll definitely lead to chunkier devices, I just don't really care. Like, smartphones are insanely thin rn, I'd much rather have one that's more capable and built to last that's a few mm thicker
I hope it will encourage a design akin to the old Nokias where the battery assembly was basically half the phone, and if you WANT a 15000 mAh battery, you can get one that just makes the phone thicker, but still preserves the basic shape.
Conversely, they used to sell aftermarket batteries back in the Galaxy S II days that came with a replacement back with a weird bump that didn't lie flat. Clumsy. Maybe the camera makes it harder. OTOH a three-layer sandwich could work where the camera and screen segments both snap around a delicious, battery-y filling.
Its not really as easy for non apple repair techs to change the battery. If anyone but a certified person does I bet that would void any water resistance part of the warranty, possibly if anyone but apple specifically does it?
Easily changeable batteries that don't compromise water resistance would be really great, but that will definitely make them bigger.
For iPhones when sealing them back up we replace the water resistant adhesive around the side to ensure the water resistance is up to spec. iFixit actually does sell replacement adhesive if your looking for a trusted parts source or you can find the replacement adhesive from other parts venders, it is technically different from apple’s adhesive but even an Apple technician would struggle to notice the differences unless they had a lot of experience and knew what to look for(which I don’t), what a technician would look for instead is if the internal water indicator sticker had activated which indicates water damage.
I should also note that all water resistance materials do lose the resistance over time so while a user replaceable battery is possible while having water resistance the worry is both how do you make completely sure that the back(or bottom depending on how you make the release location) is not only completely secure but also that the user knows it’s secure and if not can fix it but also that the user can tell when the water resistant material has worn down(for user replaceable it’d likely be a rubber gasket) as if your often opening and closing the back, say to replace the battery mid day, you’d be applying extra force against the gasket that can wear it down quicker.
For companies there’s a real worry on if the user will blame themselves or the company, Apple for example generally under reports it’s water resistance to prevent customer from being able to come in and say “hey you said my phone was waterproof(*note many customers can get confused between resistant and waterproof) but now it isn’t working”. As an example with the Apple Watch ultra, Apple rates it (and the dive app) for the water pressure down 40M(about 130ft) but it’s shown it can go way past 40M and the dive app will record the data bellow 40M but they’re trying to avoid an unsatisfied customer so by under reporting they’re less likely to have a customer coming in with water problems. Another example, the iPhone 6S was actually water resistant, it had the adhesive and everything however it wasn’t until the iPhone 7 that they advertised it as water resistant because they didn’t want to have any negative customer interactions if the adhesive layer wasn’t good enough and as such they got a whole years of real world data(such as a drop in AppleCare tickets for water damage) before they said anything.
And fortunately the Euros are choosing sustainability over convenience, which is the ethical and smart move. The whiners can STFU as far as I'm concerned.
If people won't choose to do the right thing I have no problem with limiting a tiny bit of consumer choice.
I was put off when looking at a Fairphone and checking what spares they sold to find almost all of them sold out.. think it was the FP2 or maybe 3 at that point..
FP really needed to have their house in order way sooner. FP4 looks ok, but their “we’ll try our best” update schedule isn’t.. great..
I think they’re learning though and expect they’ll get it nailed. Just a shame they didn’t come out with such a solid proposition as Framework in the laptop world!
To be fair, framework is an oddity when it comes to tech startups, they must have some sort of business magician over there making sure releases are timely and everything is mostly kept in stock
A small o-ring and something to clamp the battery/battery case down would be more than enough to make these phones as water resistant as current phones. If they lose water resistance, it's because the company's trying to be shitty
Jack and charger ports can be controlled by the phone to turn off if there is low resistance (ie water) between contacts.
A battery is harder, as it's what provides the power to the thing that decides whether to turn off the port. Not that it's impossible to put some smarts into a battery, to decide when to power the output. But it's going to add a lot of complexity and bulk to do it (switching circuit, logic circuits, etc)
I wonder if the ability to easily unscrew a backplate with regular screws (like PH00) and replace the battery underneath would still be enough for the regulation.
The Galaxy S5 from almost a decade ago had little issues with waterproofing IIRC, and it had a replaceable battery
I'm pretty confident the manufacturers can hit the ground running with a sleek waterproof device with a replaceable battery - they can even do what LG did and make the battery slide out the bottom, if they want to keep a solid glass back.
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