Commodity shortages

#776
#776
NorthDallas40 said:
Oh the theory has been around on sigma delta modulation since the 60’s. The cost for a sigma delta converter for the masses wasn’t ready for prime time until much later. Audiophiles with more money than common sense sure. Most people that buy home electronics no. My first high end CD player was a Denon with their 21-but ASLC converter (advanced super linear converter) was in 1991. It was the shiz in 1991 but yes players had been around for over a decade before that just not at the 21-bit performance level. I’ve still got it today. My next one is a Sony 24-bit multibit modulator around 2015 which is pedestrian now and cost a fraction of the Denon. Most people can’t tell the difference in listening. Dogs might🤷‍♂️
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I want to know what happened to DVRs. High capacity versions could be bought at Walmart just a few years ago for under $200 or $300. Now you have to rent them from video providers for more than that every year. I guess you can get great setups with video servers and streaming services, but those things aren’t so simple for many whose VCRs always flashed 12:00.
 
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#777
#777
NorthDallas40 said:
Sony’s beta was a far superior technology yes but from what I remember Sony took the proprietary hardware approach that turned off many OEMs. VHS took the Intel approach and it took off just like the PC. The Apple Mac was a superior hardware architecture to the PC also but they took the proprietary approach that limited OEMs.
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When my kids were little I made a choice between a Sony 8mm camcorder and a behemoth VHS shoulder carried monster. Soon after the VHS-C format came out and the wars continued until the Sony 8mm was dead. Transfer to the DVD rescued my kids movies.
Today I own a MacBook Pro and won't own anything else because it just works. No more Windows error messages, no more crappy updates that consume the computer and slow it down to crawl for 12 hours, in general no more problems. Good hardware and software is good hardware and software. Windows and unknown hardware is a recipe for disaster.
 
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#778
#778
Thunder Good-Oil said:
I want to know what happened to DVRs. High capacity versions could be bought at Walmart just a few years ago for under $200 or $300. Now you have to rent them from video providers for more than that every year. I guess you can get great setups with video servers and streaming services, but those things aren’t so simple for many whose VCRs always flashed 12:00.
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CDRW technology destroyed the market for the same reason CD destroyed the cassette and 8-track. Once LASER writable media was cost effective the DVR was living on borrowed time.

We used to have an old Sony 16-channel DVR data recorder that was great but big and bulky. It got replaced by a box one third the size that dumped data to the laptop hard drive which we then copied to CD/DVD for archiving.
 
#779
#779
VolStrom said:
When my kids were little I made a choice between a Sony 8mm camcorder and a behemoth VHS shoulder carried monster. Soon after the VHS-C format came out and the wars continued until the Sony 8mm was dead. Transfer to the DVD rescued my kids movies.
Today I own a MacBook Pro and won't own anything else because it just works. No more Windows error messages, no more crappy updates that consume the computer and slow it down to crawl for 12 hours, in general no more problems. Good hardware and software is good hardware and software. Windows and unknown hardware is a recipe for disaster.
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Yep. Apple stuff is mostly on autopilot. For those that like to tinker the PC route is more … “enjoyable”… for them? 🤷‍♂️
 
#780
#780
Since we're talking old technology, I constantly nag my kids to put some of their pictures of friends and family on photographic paper. It's dirt cheap and they will have it for decades as opposed to digital forms which die away when the person or device does.
 
#781
#781
NorthDallas40 said:
Yep. Apple stuff is mostly on autopilot. For those that like to tinker the PC route is more … “enjoyable”… for them? 🤷‍♂️
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Yeah, I spent decades "tinkering" with the windows/DOS OS of various versions going back to the early 80's and they all sucked. I've only had a Mac for 3 years or so, but I don't have to deal with things like drivers or error messages that pop up. Life if good.
 
#782
#782
VolStrom said:
Yeah, I spent decades "tinkering" with the windows/DOS OS of various versions going back to the early 80's and they all sucked. I've only had a Mac for 3 years or so, but I don't have to deal with things like drivers or error messages that pop up. Life if good.
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We have an iPad that drives all the house automation. Easy peasy and the wife can do her own tech support. Life is indeed good.
 
#786
#786
VolStrom said:
Good thing I'm a "semi prepper" otherwise I might be worried about the Biden economy.
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Man, same here, but my wife is freaking out endlessly about things getting weird. I think it's due to all the morons on TikTok throwing around whatever nonsense they can.

America has been in this kind of position before, even in the lifetimes of a lot of the people in this country. Everything will end up alright.
 
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#787
#787
BreatheUT said:
Business group warns of mass layoffs and 'catastrophic' supply chain disruptions from Biden's vaccine mandate



Business group warns of mass layoffs and 'catastrophic' supply chain disruptions from Biden's vaccine mandate - CNN
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BreatheUT said:
Gas prices are at a 7-year high, with one California town reaching a whopping $7.59 per gallon


Gas prices are at a 7-year high, with one California town reaching a whopping $7.59 per gallon
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Yeah, but we got the minority lady veep. So we got woke going for us. Which is nice.
 
#789
#789
VolStrom said:
When my kids were little I made a choice between a Sony 8mm camcorder and a behemoth VHS shoulder carried monster. Soon after the VHS-C format came out and the wars continued until the Sony 8mm was dead. Transfer to the DVD rescued my kids movies.
Today I own a MacBook Pro and won't own anything else because it just works. No more Windows error messages, no more crappy updates that consume the computer and slow it down to crawl for 12 hours, in general no more problems. Good hardware and software is good hardware and software. Windows and unknown hardware is a recipe for disaster.
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Dumb question but can you use Firefox and Chrome with MacBooks?

What about Adobe pro?
 
#790
#790
NorthDallas40 said:
Eh the players on compact disks weren’t financially available for prime time. Basic CD audio is 16-bit serial data. Every decent CD player uses a 21+ multi-bit sigma-delta converter oversampled on the basic 16-bit audio stream which is a monolithic single chip now costing pennies but would have been an entire box costing hundreds of dollars just to build, not retail, in 1978. The format may have been defined but the commercially viable players lagged.
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Nerd.

Funny I used to have a customer, Cinram Mfg in Hunstville that made DVD's. They were a good customer, lots of clean rooms and oil-free compressed air. They actually had QC stations were employees would watch movies all day. Now that fits my intellect and style.

Wonder if they went way of the dodo bird.
 
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#792
#792
Orangeburst said:
Nerd.

Funny I used to have a customer, Cinram Mfg in Hunstville that made DVD's. They were a good customer, lots of clean rooms and oil-free compressed air. They actually had QC stations were employees would watch movies all day. Now that fits my intellect and style.

Wonder if they went way of the dodo bird.
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I’ve always wanted to be able to justify using a sigma delta converter in one of my designs. They are cool little parts but just like everything else they have their baggage. The transport delay (the time to get thru the part’s processing) is excessive in these chips and that kills the phase response which limits achievable bandwidth.

Nerd indeed 🤓
 
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#794
#794
Thunder Good-Oil said:
No. You’ve missed your target, Chief. I was the guy that was pulling back-to-back-to-back 20 hour days to get the financial systems closed every month and not getting one extra dime for the effort since I was classified as “exempt”. Then I’d lose my job after the company was sold or down sized while not being in a union or a protected class of race or gender or bizarre sexual preference categories.
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Hmmm what job title was it that made you “ exempt “ chief ?
 
#795
#795
0nelilreb said:
Wait are you saying that automation won’t be as impactful to the labor force as the tractor/ engine was to people ? Automation does not create an environment for unskilled labor . I know I know all you highly educated people love to think that the world moves on the backs of college grads .. but it does not . I can also tell you that automated industries that replace people with robots to do the same jobs do not lower their product costs .. it simply means more profit for shareholders .
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Growing disparity of wealth is a real issue.

While cost-wise, it's great that 50 people can run a factory that once required 500, and I think there will still be jobs for many of unneeded factory workers elsewhere, they might be lower wage jobs. Meanwhile, the owners of the factory have a more efficient cash-generating machine.

I think the economic system is going to have to figure out how to be more re-distributional.
 
#797
#797
Velo Vol said:
Growing disparity of wealth is a real issue.

While cost-wise, it's great that 50 people can run a factory that once required 500, and I think there will still be jobs for many of unneeded factory workers elsewhere, they might be lower wage jobs. Meanwhile, the owners of the factory have a more efficient cash-generating machine.

I think the economic system is going to have to figure out how to be more re-distributional.
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That’s an interesting phrase you chose “ more re-distributional “
 
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#798
#798
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Overlord of the Robots.

“Exempt” employees are “exempt” from receiving overtime pay, Bubba.
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Been there myself . I know what job titles are exempt from hourly pay and the amount of hours they can require you to put in , I also know those come with big bonuses in a thriving business. “ Bubba”
 
#799
#799
0nelilreb said:
Been there myself . I know what job titles are exempt from hourly pay and the amount of hours they can require you to put in , I also know those come with big bonuses in a thriving business. “ Bubba”
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Where were my big bonuses, Chief? I sure saw a lot of them buried in financial statements, journals, and ledgers when I spent countless hours analyzing variances to budgets for ultra wealthy owners.
 
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#800
#800
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Where were my big bonuses, Chief? I sure saw a lot of them buried in financial statements, journals, and ledgers when I spent countless hours analyzing variances to budgets for ultra wealthy owners.
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Well maybe when they replace you with an Ai , you’ll benefit from the shares you have , Then you can learn how to operate one of those new AL truck monitoring systems Amazon starts up ..chief
 
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