The decline of restaurants and eating out

What about when someone has to dig a paper boarding pass out of their backpack. Now do we hate paper

Remarkably, people with paper usually seem to be ready to hand it in. Waiting on dig outs are extremely rare. Waiting on some fool with a PHOOOOOONNE happens just about every time I'm in line with someone who has one. Like I said, its endemic in the smartphone culture - the phone takes precedence over everything and everybody.
 
No idea how androids work but with an iPhone. Once you have the ticket loaded in your wallet, you tap it from the lock screen without unlocking your phone to open your boarding pass. It’s less than a second to go straight to the ticket.

Yea, and then they tap it and it doesn't work - so they tap it again, and it still doesn't work, so then they have to unlock it, blah, blah, blah. All it is is an inconvenience to everybody else in the fucking line. Like I said, I wish I had a nickel for every time someone's oh-so-wonderful device has been a nuisance to me and everyone else around.
 
Always fun standing in the jetway because people are busy stowing their giant laptops overhead. And then sitting in the wrong seat because reading is hard.

Pet peeve alert! I wish they'd just completely do away with those damn overhead bins. You could load or unload a plane in less than 10 minutes if it weren't for all the overseas bags in the overheads. I have one small carryon that goes under the seat in front of me - for Goddess's sake, CHECK THAT DAMN BAG!
 
Then that's where we differ - I don't want to be subjected to the pain in the ass these things are. I do indeed want everything to be the best that I can afford (at least), and I don't want to be subjected to these broken toys. I call BS on "it searches the WWW in a nanosecond and delivers what I need at the moment I need it as good as my very expensive office computer" - it does nothing of the sort. You can't type it your search without the pain in the ass of a micro-sized touchscreen "keyboard", and when the info is displayed, its on a tiny screen that sucks. I don't think you get that point.

oh but it does, and as an actual owner & regular operator of a smart phone and a 'real' computer built by my IT company, I think I'm in a dramatically better position to understand my own experience with these tools as compared to you, the owner/operator of one-half of that equation, a point I don't think you get.

I think your rage vs. these tools is at least partially misdirected, you see the brain rotting aspect of them that certainly impacts a great many of their users, a point on which I've always agreed, but you then extrapolate from that their total lack of utility in the hands of someone that isn't retarded. You cannot never own and regularly operate a device or tool then declare yourself an expert on their functionality, ease of use and utility for those that do own and operate them on a regular basis.

Reminds me of my friends that never had kids that felt compelled to give me parenting advice.
 
Reminds me of my friends that never had kids that felt compelled to give me parenting advice.

I agree with everything you said, but on that last point...

I won't say I give parenting advice, but I do like to remind folks who have children or are considering that not doing a proper job of raising them means the rest of society has to deal with the blight(s) they've unleashed for the next 50+ years. Sometimes I get the feeling people put as much thought into having and raising kids as they do wiping their ass. And no, I don't have any children.

All of the issues we face in this society are self-created, and most of them boil down to how we grow our people. Just my opinion, but I think we've been doing a pretty shit job of it for quite a while now, and we're now paying for that indiscretion more than ever. And it's likely to get worse before (if) it gets better.
 
I agree with everything you said, but on that last point...

I won't say I give parenting advice, but I do like to remind folks who have children or are considering that not doing a proper job of raising them means the rest of society has to deal with the blight(s) they've unleashed for the next 50+ years. Sometimes I get the feeling people put as much thought into having and raising kids as they do wiping their ass. And no, I don't have any children.

All of the issues we face in this society are self-created, and most of them boil down to how we grow our people. Just my opinion, but I think we've been doing a pretty shit job of it for quite a while now, and we're now paying for that indiscretion more than ever. And it's likely to get worse before (if) it gets better.

I’m not saying there aren’t shitty parents out there that need advice, some desperately, what I’m saying is that in my opinion the people qualified to give that advice are limited to those that have actually successfully done the job they’re opining about.

I’ll offer myself as an example. I own my very own final year millennial born in 1996 & first year Gen-Z’er born in 1997, both of which come from generational cohorts that have become famous for whining around the clock about how life is now impossible because Boomers, because Capitalism, because Trump & on & on. Well somehow both of my kids are happy, healthy, fully employed (one self-employed) successful homeowners and have been such since they were 23 & 24 respectively, without my financial assistance.

Now I ask you, if you’re a young parent in need of some guidance are you coming to someone like me, or your asshole buddy that doesn’t even have a girlfriend much less kids, much less kids that aren’t retards?
 
Sysco has completed 36 acquisitions of other companies.

Four companies process almost all of our beef, over 109,000 animals PER DAY. Top 4 control 85% of U.S. beef/poultry slaughter.

Top players control 80% of U.S. beverage market.

Top 5 firms hold 60%+ global share of snack market.

Four firms process 85% of U.S. milk.

Three companies produce almost all of our bread.

Enshitification comes from being too damn big.
 
Enshitification comes from being too damn big.

The commie Gen z kids say it's the natural result of capitalism.

The libertarians say it's the result of crony capitalism and that real capitalism has "never been tried", which while true is ironically is the same thing the commies say about communism.

I don't think we have enough data be certain which is true, but this is one area where my libertarianism softens....maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing for the government to lower their threshold for how big a corporation can be. The problem is that if the rest of the world doesn't play along, we'll soon be left behind technologically because size is what brings the capital for R&D.
 
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Then there's YooToob which is free.

The data mining part of " free" is a place I can't go. However, I'm not an I.T. guy , there very well could be a way around this , so maybe one of you fine fellers could help out a mountain car guy sometime !
 
oh but it does, and as an actual owner & regular operator of a smart phone and a 'real' computer built by my IT company, I think I'm in a dramatically better position to understand my own experience with these tools as compared to you, the owner/operator of one-half of that equation, a point I don't think you get.

I think your rage vs. these tools is at least partially misdirected, you see the brain rotting aspect of them that certainly impacts a great many of their users, a point on which I've always agreed, but you then extrapolate from that their total lack of utility in the hands of someone that isn't retarded. You cannot never own and regularly operate a device or tool then declare yourself an expert on their functionality, ease of use and utility for those that do own and operate them on a regular basis.

Reminds me of my friends that never had kids that felt compelled to give me parenting advice.

Dude, I've forgotten more about computers than you'll ever know - not buying your argument. And the brain rotting aspect is the LEAST of my objections to them - they're an overpriced TOY that doesn't do very much particularly well, of the many things that they can do. And as I've said, I purposely bought an Android tablet to see what this was all about - again: a crippled toy. The tablet had the advantage in that it was somewhat bigger than any PHOOOOOONNE, which helped a bit - but the rest of it was the same brain dead experience.

So I'm supposed to believe that you know all about it - how much software have you written? How many computers have you designed? Hell, have you ever even bought a board set and plugged them together to "build" your own system? How many user interfaces have you designed? Right - here's your argument right back at you. You haven't, so you haven't a clue.
 
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Dude, I've forgotten more about computers than you'll ever know - not buying your argument. And the brain rotting aspect is the LEAST of my objections to them - they're an overpriced TOY that doesn't do very much particularly well, of the many things that they can do. And as I've said, I purposely bought an Android tablet to see what this was all about - again: a crippled toy.

So, you can't accept that someone who has a phone might know more about them and their users then someone who refuses to accept any other viewpoint then their own?
 
So I'm supposed to believe that you know all about it - how much software have you written? How many computers have you designed? Hell, have you ever even bought a board set and plugged them together to "build" your own system? How many user interfaces have you designed? Right - here's your argument right back at you. You haven't, so you haven't a clue.

:ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: dude I don't need to write software to buy & use a cutting edge computer that was designed & programed by people that know more than you'll ever know, to then be able to compare its everyday usefulness in my own experience to a smartphone, of which I also own and use.

Do I need to be an automotive engineer in order to tell you my Honda Accord was just as reliable & useful to me as my Subaru Crosstrek, or that both of them were better & more useful to me than my old Chevy Chevette?

Your seething rage over smartphones has clouded your judgment on this topic so exquisitely it's amusing.

phooonnee.jpg
 
So, you can't accept that someone who has a phone might know more about them and their users then someone who refuses to accept any other viewpoint then their own?

You too: I've messed with them plenty enough to know what they are - and more importantly, what they are not. Its just bad design. Most of the bad design is a simple matter of physics - you can't get around that tiny form factor, limited battery space, and no keyboard. Some of it is probably on purpose. There is no reason their operating system has to be quite so brain dead - not that I'm a fan of Windows, but "Windows Phone" made a lot more sense as it was a lot less brain dead. I'd also rant about the quality of the "apps" (most of which could be replaced with a simple webpage), but the sad fact is software quality is going down across the board. Partially because of the smartphone-ization of the PC ecosphere, mostly because most of these code monkeys didn't ever take or pass a CS-101 class. Low quality crap. We won't even bother discussing the data mining and spyware - that alone is reason enough to run far far away.

But again, I don't care what others do - AS LONG AS IT DOESN'T IMPACT ME. People want to sacrifice their first born child on the alter of this latter day false God "Convenience" can have at it. Unfortunately, the cost to society is MASSIVE. "Enshittification"? I won't say it started with the smartphone, but it sure was exacerbated and accelerated by it. The web has suffered greatly: eBay, Etsy, and Goddess only knows who else all have converted their PM system to a pseudo smartphone texting screen, which is horrid. Most of these are even sized and shaped like a smartphone, sometimes complete with rounded corners. The smartphone has ruined photography, example A1 are the fools who post portrait mode photos in the ROTM every single month because they're so addled by their toy that they can't even read the directions. Videography is being destroyed, blah, blah, blah.

Just about every time I "go out", I end up being annoyed and/or inconvenienced by somebody else's phucking phone. Other than the very few who actually have their act together, it always takes LONGER for the smartphone people to accomplish the same task that I'm waiting in line behind these idiots. Have to dodge phone zombies on a daily basis - never mind the fools who insist on using them while driving. FUCK THAT. Yet, the expectation is that EVERYONE has one of these things and is a second class citizen if they do not. FUCK THAT TOO - I have no problem throwing that back into anyone's face that makes the mistake of trying to force that bullshit on me. I'm not going to go to the hassle and expense of dealing with one of these things for someone else's "convenience".

I don't write much about the evils of the thing - there's plenty out there on that subject. This is one area that I'm in complete agreement with fundamentalist Christians - they've written a number of articles about these soul sucking devices. I don't agree with their theology, and their "Bible-Speak" gets on my nerves, but they're not wrong.

So here's the bottom line: I'm not willing to pay the monetary, mental, "nuisance factor", and yes - spiritual - costs of these things, and I don NOT want to be subjected to them at any time for any reason. Others want to deal with the hassle - that's fine, just DO NOT subject me to it. I had some idiot once tell me that I was a "hyper alert driver" because I told him he had no business using his smartphone while driving - hands free or otherwise. I've been hit at least twice by idjits with smartphones, and a couple of other occasions that I can't prove.

:ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: dude I don't need to write software to buy & use a cutting edge computer that was designed & programed by people that know more than you'll ever know, to then be able to compare its everyday usefulness in my own experience to a smartphone, of which I also own and use.

Do I need to be an automotive engineer in order to tell you my Honda Accord was just as reliable & useful to me as my Subaru Crosstrek, or that both of them were better & more useful to me than my old Chevy Chevette?

Your seething rage over smartphones has clouded your judgment on this topic so exquisitely it's amusing.

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Whatever dude, just keep that damn thing away from me. Its bad enough that I have to deal with the smartphone addled on a daily basis. You keep on fiddling with that damn thing, make sure its charged up, and I'll keep on doing things faster and easier without the expense and hassle.
 
Whatever dude, just keep that damn thing away from me. Its bad enough that I have to deal with the smartphone addled on a daily basis. You keep on fiddling with that damn thing, make sure its charged up, and I'll keep on doing things faster and easier without the expense and hassle.

Fair enough, when I open Westtown Willy's Smartphone Store I promise I won't try to sell you one!
 
I've messed with them plenty enough to know what they are - and more importantly, what they are not. Its just bad design. Most of the bad design is a simple matter of physics - you can't get around that tiny form factor, limited battery space, and no keyboard. Some of it is probably on purpose. There is no reason their operating system has to be quite so brain dead - not that I'm a fan of Windows, but "Windows Phone" made a lot more sense as it was a lot less brain dead. I'd also rant about the quality of the "apps" (most of which could be replaced with a simple webpage), but the sad fact is software quality is going down across the board.

Well, if they're such a bad design, then what were they designed for, and the design failed?
 
Have to dodge phone zombies on a daily basis - never mind the fools who insist on using them while driving. FUCK THAT.

That may be one of the worst parts about it. The phone zombies thing is real and it's nearly ubiquitous. Everywhere I go all I see is people starting at the screens of their phones. Fortunately it's not that common out here in rural Wyoming. But in Arizona it was everywhere!

The driving part really scares me the most. One of the reasons I gave up riding motorcycles actually.