Worst software / electronics in the field (1 Viewer)

[jurek]

Thread about mishaps with electronics.

I had once ruined my phone and allelectronics during heavy thunderstorm in Danum, Borneo. But I guess it is not so unusual.

But the most annoying occurrence was with Microsoft laptop on holidays in Ghana. When I had to contact both my family and my employer for important reasons, the Windows laptop said it will update itself. No other option. This being Africa, internet connection was slow. So the laptop was unusable for a day - while I frantically tried to do something on my smartphone, which, thankfully, was not Microsoft.

Typical for Microsoft, there was no improvement of service after this super-important update. Just few useless bells and whistles, and it later frroze to update regularly.

 

[pppppvvvv]

Self inflicted, but I lost my phone in France while photographing wildflowers. It was an awakening, as I realised absolutely everything is on my phone! Maps, money, contacts/phone numbers, waypoints, ferry booking!
I eventually retraced the flowers I had photographed, and found it.
I now take an old spare phone with me on my travels.

I used a faulty usb cable from the hire care WiFi router, on a trip, which fried the battery in my thermal camera. I had a spare, and luckily the battery was removable. The WiFi router didn't work either, and my daughter managed to lose it, so I ended up paying hertz!!

Touch wood, no other calamities, although both the above were in the last 12 months!

 

[THE_FERN]

(I pine for the days when phones had removable batteries. Now I fret about whether my battery will last the birding day. I'm not sure I know how to hold a pen any more...)

 

[THE_FERN]

Worst software...

MS why can't you sort the basic ergonomic and functional deficiencies of MS office which have been there since the beginning:

No regex support: really!

3+ different languages in one XL but still most simple aggregates are difficult to do (hint: just implement SQL: it's horrible but it works...)

Etc.

 

[vergan]

(I pine for the days when phones had removable batteries. Now I fret about whether my battery will last the birding day. I'm not sure I know how to hold a pen any more...)

May I have read somewhere that they may came back at least in EU?

 

[THE_FERN]

May I have read somewhere that they may came back at least in EU?

Interesting. It really ought to be possible to make a photo booth waterproof and with a removable battery...

... So much easier to carry a few phone batteries than a big recharge unit

 

[njlarsen]

Interesting. It really ought to be possible to make a photo booth waterproof and with a removable battery...

... So much easier to carry a few phone batteries than a big recharge unit

My recharge unit is about the same size as my phone and able to charge it a couple of times
Niels

 

[THE_FERN]

My recharge unit is about the same size as my phone and able to charge it a couple of times
Niels

For the same size you'd get at least 4 batteries and they're not in a single wodge like your recharge battery so easier to distribute, carry

 

[pppppvvvv]

For the same size you'd get at least 4 batteries and they're not in a single wodge like your recharge battery so easier to distribute, carry

But in this day and age... you should be able to find a phone with battery that outlasts your time in the field!
Any powerpacks can live with your sleeping bag and charge up while you sleep, eat, drive etc.

I have a Motorola edge, and would expect it to easily do a full day with map, ebird, data, annoying Facebook notifications etc running.

 

[pbjosh]

May I have read somewhere that they may came back at least in EU?

It’s harder to make a very solidly water and dust proof product with any removable / openable bits. Of course I prefer user upgradeable / user serviceable / swappable components and the like (ie, RAM and batteries in laptops these days), but the waterproofing and general durability of modern phones is is absolutely worth the trade off for me. I suspect that at this point not a lot of consumers would want to give up the robust waterproofing of phones for exchangeable batteries.

 

[THE_FERN]

It’s harder to make a very solidly water and dust proof product with any removable / openable bits. Of course I prefer user upgradeable / user serviceable / swappable components and the like (ie, RAM and batteries in laptops these days), but the waterproofing and general durability of modern phones is is absolutely worth the trade off for me. I suspect that at this point not a lot of consumers would want to give up the robust waterproofing of phones for exchangeable batteries.

hmm well there are lots of outdoor products that make do (e.g. the ledlenser I've just bought)—and modern phones have vulnerabilities at the ear phones + charging ports.

[edit: not to mention our "waterproof" cameras]

 

[THE_FERN]

But in this day and age... you should be able to find a phone with battery that outlasts your time in the field!
Any powerpacks can live with your sleeping bag and charge up while you sleep, eat, drive etc.

I have a Motorola edge, and would expect it to easily do a full day with map, ebird, data, annoying Facebook notifications etc running.

I've been using a Motorola G7 power. It's 2019 and I've been careful in using / charging battery. Life is now <=1 day down from initial ~2. I've got a Samsung AP14 5G too now since I feel just G7 is risky. Problem is battery gets hammered when using phone or driving directions etc. Shame as only thing I don't really like about G7 is camera (crap)

 

[pppppvvvv]

I've always struggled with managing and moving GPS waypoints between GPS devices and map software.

Latest issue lies with Google maps takeout, which seems to extract data I can't actually find within Google maps, but doesn't export any of the data I need!

 

[THE_FERN]

I've always struggled with managing and moving GPS waypoints between GPS devices and map software.

Latest issue lies with Google maps takeout, which seems to extract data I can't actually find within Google maps, but doesn't export any of the data I need!

Admit never taken Google maps stuff offline. For that I use open streetmap data

 

[pppppvvvv]

Admit never taken Google maps stuff offline. For that I use open streetmap data

Yes, Open street map seems to be the 1 consistent, where the "Masters" of all my waypoints now exist.
I'm finding Here WeGo maps good for collections of driveable waypoints, and moving between the two is ok (for individual waypoints at least).