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.
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.
Holy shit, was never aware of this. Will stay far away from this brand!
Fuck yeah! Enjoy your lunch!
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.
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 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.
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
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.
Whoa.
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.
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.
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?
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.
Do people actually use those to—erm—document the proceedings?
I have the same thing with a drone
Many lemmy users have the same thing with a wife
ha ha women objectification funny
Countless video games.
I’m so happy I stated using the Steam refund system more actively. At this point I refund about 80% of my purchases - simply because a lot of the games do not engage me after the first 40 minutes.
That and playing demos before buying
A gaming chair, one of those that look like racer chairs. It basically destroyed my back, worst purchase of my life
Best advice Ive heard on chairs "Fuck gamer and racer style chairs. Look for something that screams “Im going to fire 3000 people over Zoom in this shit”
Yes! Puffy gloss leather boss chairs ftw! I don’t have one right now only because there’s no space for another proper workplace in our apartmentsm
Yes lol, whenever someone is asking for a computer chair recommendation, no one will recommend a gaming chair.
I could never get into those. They look nice, but Ive read some damning reviews about how uncomfortable they are.
I kinda prefer the plush office chairs that look more like a couch with wheels.
I learned about the companies selling refurbished Aerons on eBay and picked one up a couple years ago for $400. Love it!
Wait what, say more about used aerons for cheap
You can occasionally find sales or liquidation of office chairs for cheap. You can also buy refurbished chairs from places like Crandall and get basically a new chair with used metal bits for half the price of new.
You can get refurbs from places like Crandall’s too, I got a Steelcase Leap V2 with these big ass rollerblade type wheels and it’s been pretty good.
I remember going to the Tokyo Game Show some years ago. They had some to try out. I was so excited. I expected to sit in it and feel “you are home.” Instead I felt “get the fuck off me.”
I had the same experience and ended up donating it to a friend. What I found that was actually comfortable is a $1,400 office chair that I got a good deal on.
Chairs are one of those things that you need to drop serious money on if you sit more than a few hours a day. Focus on chairs for office work and expect to pay over $1k.
Probably because in a real racing seat there’s a harness to keep you from slouching. I used to have terrible lower back issues with a Recaro bucket seat I converted for a desk chair. Never had a problem with it driving for hours when it was in my car (may it rest in pieces). Then it dawned on me that the seatbelt was maintaining my posture. Added a lap belt and the back problems abated.
Not only that. A racing chairs is not intended to be good for your back. It has a very different use, it protects you in the case of a crash. So unless you often get into car accidents while gaming, better to buy a chair that is specialised at ergonomics, not impact protection .
And it holds you against lateral G force with the gussets, which isn’t necessary sitting still.
To be fair, the gaming chair also holds you against lateral GeForce
It’s funny that I hear this a lot but I’ve been using my dx racer since 2017. I am quite skinny though so that might help. I’m wearing through the fake leather now though, looking to get something new by the end of this year. But the damage is mostly my fault for sitting half crossed legged, sometimes while wearing shoes.
My Seat Leon. I had been warned about VW Group’s new platform but holy hell, even the most dire warnings didn’t tell the truth.
The car crashes every day. Nothing works. Even basic functions, like keyless entry on the door handles. If it rains, nope doesn’t work. How about the speakers switching into centre speaker only? How about a reversing beeper stuck until the car is not just turned off, but left turned off for 10 minutes? How about Apple CarPlay which doesn’t work? The list is endless. It’s so so poor. After one update, the car sensors got confused about being in a left hand driving country, so cruise control wouldn’t overtake cars in the slow lane.
And I can’t afford to switch to another one.
New appliances make me genuinely tremble. I haven’t bought a TV in a decade or two, but I might need to buy one soon and the “options available” right now sound nightmarish, similar to your car situation.
I’m all for smart devices, as long as I can flash them. If it needs software I don’t control – no thank you
Don’t let the TV see a network and use a Chromecast. It makes life so much easier than any of the integrated trash
And if you have to go the other way, please only buy pure Android TVs and not those fancy Web OS craps. There are lots of side loaded app freedom on pure Android TVs.
My headphone pads on a pair of Sony MD7506 were fraying apart, so I bought a pair of $3 replacement pads online. While I was buying those, I noticed a nice looking $30 pair made of sheepskin leather. I bought those, too and figured I’d just use the $3 pair until they inevitably wore out, and then switch to the nice ones. Well, it’s been some time now and the $3 pair are apparently far more robust than their forebears. The sheepskin remain in their packaging untouched. One day…
Just switch out to the sheep. Can always switch back later. You deserve it.
Seriously. Don’t let the sunken cost fallacy keep you from enjoying something premium that you bought
this never happens to me because I’m poor
I’ve done it with paying for dental insurance but not going to the dentist because I can’t afford it.
nice
A Nintendo Switch. A Steam Deck would probably be a better purchase.
I brought a drain snake for 3x the price of liquid drain unblocker and it got stuck in the drain and won’t come out.
You need to get a drain snake snake
Or a drain mongoose
a drainaconda
I had a drain coming from my HVAC get clogged. Figuring I could fix it myself and save a few hundred dollars by not call the HVAC repair, I stuck a pipe snake down there. As soon as it got to the u-bend, it got stuck. A couple of tugs later the head broke off.
This pipe goes from the HVAC in the attic into the upstairs bathroom, then down and out of the house. I knew if the head went down it could result in needing to punch a hole in a wall or ceiling if it got stuck again. So, I cut the pipe on either side of the bend. Sure enough the head of the snake was lodged at the bottom of the U.
No matter what I did I could not dislodge it from the bottom of the u-bend. This is around 7-8 PM on a Saturday. So I race out to the big-box hardware store, because they normally close around 9 PM. And they did not have a single piece of PVC with a u-bend that is the size I needed. And nothing even close. I go to the other big-box store across the street they don’t have it either. But I did find the wise old man that works there, I explain to him what happened and what I need. He tells me I need to go to this specialty plumbing store a ways down the highway.
I looked up this plumbing store. They are closed for the day. They are also not open on Sundays. Okay I live in one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the US. There has to be a plumbing store open before Monday. Well there might be, but I couldn’t find it.
Now this is Texas in August. There is no way my wife and kids should suffer for two days because of my dumb ass mistake. So I called the HVAC guy. They send some out at like 2 AM and the guy replaces the U-bend and installs a cleanable filter before it, so I can prevent that from happening again. In all a 30 second job that should have cost me nothing, cost me 7 hours of anxiety and $500.
Thank you for sharing this, it didn’t disappoint. The die hard efforts we take to save a buck or exercise ingenuity mostly work out but when it comes to the wife and kids I usually throw in the towel.
I’ll give you a short story in return in that same vain: woke up to a raccoon on our deck, he was obviously in a pretty bad way. Pacing, frothing, sparse hair, lice. We figured it was rabid and I just wanted to try dropping a brick on it from above or smashing it, but I knew it would’ve been messy. Went out and bought an $80 trap, set it, but the dang thing just wouldn’t go in. Well she wanted her deck space back so ultimately we called someone to remove it, $200. Turns out it had distemper. Now I would’ve waited until it died and then bagged it up - would’ve been cheaper but I guess at least we ended its suffering.
I’m about to try un screw the ubend under my sink with 0 plumbing knowledge hoping I can somehow get the snake unstuck.
If it makes you feel better all the u-bends at the big box store were specifically for under the sink, so at least you’ll have that going for you.
Oh that’s unfortunate. Something made to get things unstuck in the pipes gets itself stuck there…
Classic porn plot
Something wrong mitt deine kable?
You can guess what happens next
I bought an Instant Pot back in 2017. I’ve never used it.
Lol me too. Only because it uses just enough wattage to blow the fuse in my tiny apartment.
Most recently, Little Debbie oatmeal cream pies. I used to love the things and they were a nostalgic part of growing up, so I randomly decided to buy a box a few weeks back.
Took two bits of one and threw the whole box away. They were nasty. Chemically tasting, dry, full of little hard bits from poorly milled oats, etc. pure garbage. And this is not a matter of my tastes changing. I remember exactly how those are supposed to be, and the modern version is crap.
Just like Cadbury cream eggs. Back in the day, every now and then you’d get one where the chocolate didn’t form a seal properly and it ruined the interior because the goo dried out. Today, that’s just how they make them.
For anyone younger than like 25, who never got a chance to try the good version, it used to be a goo that would run, like you could use your teeth to open up the top of the egg and then drink some of the goo from there (it was very thick, so it would stick to the sides instead of all coming out).
Oh my God, right?! They are sooo dry now! I can look past big oats but so dry and some kind of metallic taste even in the cream.
I don’t know what happened.
I swear hot pockets used to taste better when I was a kid too, but I’m not convinced that it isn’t just my changing tastes. Does anyone know? Did they actually change their recipe?
I agree, along with pizza rolls. They all have a chemical taste to them nowadays.
Wow! My sister got me a pack at Christmas 2 years ago since she remembered me loving them as a kid, and they were just as I remembered. I wonder what changed in 2 years, or if you just got a bad batch.
That sounds awful!
I bought a Steam Deck so I can play games while on the go. I just kind of forgot I’m never actually on the go, so 90% of the time it’s just gathering dust on my nightstand, because I’d rather play on my proper gaming PC when I’m at home.
I had the opposite happen. I thought a steam deck may help me be more on the go as well, however it just helped me be even lazier in bed…
This is the same reason I’ve never bought one. I love the concept, they are so cool. I use Linux on my desktop at home and at work. The thought of a powerful handheld Linux gaming PC for gaming on the go is so enticing, and I want to support Valve and the development of proton and gaming on Linux. But in reality I’m rarely “on the go”. I read articles on my phone when I’m on the train on my way to work. I watch videos on my android tablet when I’m flying on a plane for work. I have a Nintendo 3DS and an ODroid Go Ultra ARM emulation handheld gathering dust on my nightstand. I’d hate the thought of adding a steamdeck to the pile.
I think you’re making the right call. I bought a used Steam Deck and I love it and don’t regret it at all, but I think I’m more of the target demographic than you are. I built a PC 15 years ago when Windows 7 was launching and then upgraded it a few years later, and then replaced that with a gaming laptop that’s now very outdated. I’m sorta kinda tech savvy; a fucking doofus compared to somebody like you but a goddamn genius compared to most people I meet.
The Steam Deck proved to me that if/when I build a desktop, (and I want that to be soon but I keep getting surprise expenses lol,) then I’m ready to jump over to Linux as my OS. I was thinking Chimera for something that could effectively be a powerful modern Steam Machine with UI similar to Steam Deck, but Nobara looks more versatile for being a full PC instead of being a console that has PC capability. I have more faith in Nobara to be able to run a big project in a DAW like Reaper, plus I want the ability to stream on Twitch or do some basic video editing too, and it seems to be pretty accessible to a long-time medium-level Windows user like me.
Right now, most of my Steam Deck use is on the couch. My wife never really tried Skyrim, so she’s playing a file on the PS5 and I lay my head in her lap on the couch and play a different Skyrim file on the Deck. But I also play it on a train or take it with me when I go somewhere overnight. It can’t keep up with a modern PC or PS5, but it blows me away that it’s a handheld PC that’s about as powerful as a PS4. People bitch about the battery, but tweaking a few simple sliders can double or even triple battery life with relatively little compromise. It’s amazing but it’s a waste of your time and money lol.
I just got one and deciding to get one is very situational. I’ll sit outside with my dog for hours and I can’t bring my desktop outside. For me it’s been great. I wouldn’t recommend one to someone unless they know when they’ll use it.
I thought I’d use it commuting too, but I don’t. It’s just a little too awkward to bring on my commute.
I got a switch to play games in bed but it pisses off my girlfriend.
So many untouched videogames.
My ab roller.
The 1kg bag of brown rice I bought to be healthier.
Amazon Prime.
A fake olive tree that sits in my living room.
i bought some tortillas a month ago, but never got the craving for burritos. I should probably throw them out now…
You can roll any chicken, fish, beef with it. Put some tomatoes and onions in there. Good lunch
Not with month-old tortillas, unless they’ve been frozen!
Just an anecdote, but I’ve definitely eaten those bad boys after several months. I’ve never been led astray by just checking for mold and giving it a sniff.
If you keep them in the fridge then they should be good. Did you leave them out?
I just left em in the cupboard, rip
A switch. There are a handful of good games but I prefer to play on my computer
It exists entirely for Mario Kart or to keep nieces and nephews busy.
