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This is the way. I use printed maps when on vacation. Then I laugh at tourists who are hysterical because their smartphones ran out of power.

I print my boarding cards and then I laugh at hysterical people who's smartphonse do not work.

When I walk around on town, I do not take my phone with me, so anyone looking for me has to leave a message on my answering machine or send me an email, and I'll get back to them when I feel like it.

Have I ever, for many decades, missed anything important because someone just had to get hold of me this second? Never. Magically, everything always sorted itself out.

The idea that we must be available 24/7 is a mind virus that needs to be eradicated.

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maybe give comaps a go. it uses openStreetMap for its map data. i dont know what routing algorithm it uses or how it compares to google/apple but i do like how easy it is to start routes with this app. and if it goes off course is fairly easy to just tap another road and the click "add stop" to have it re-route

another plus is being able to download as many map areas as you would like, and unlike google its actually giving you the full map data (although i havnt used google maps in over a decade now but i remember downloading a map once but then certain POIs would only show up when i had data/cell turned on)

https://www.comaps.app

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> Urgency, expectations… too high these days.

Hear hear.

I was amused to watch the trajectory of all my older relatives, from "I don't understand why you spend all your time on that computer" to "I texted you some idle shower thought ten minutes ago, and it's frankly rude that you haven't replied yet".

Lots of people seem to have lost all sense of perspective.

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>> Cassettes are the worst way to listen to music ever invented.

>Except for creating portable playlists, sure.

I think it was the frontman for Phish that said something like “metal sounds great on cassette”, referring to 80’s thrash, and I have to agree. I’m sure part of it is nostalgia, but I feel like 70’s rock/prog sounds perfect on vinyl, and 80’s thrash sounds great on cassette.

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This is more of a Analog vs Digital debate?

There are people who spend A LOT of money on audio systems keeping them 100% analog (no DACs).

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I have been converting old tapes to digital and they do sound both different and better.

I think there's an aspect of this format having been a target for professional mixing. But there's also the background hiss and the warping of rolling tape and the low fidelity of the heads... It all mixes together nicely for a dirtier sound.

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Unfulfilled desire: a reel-to-reel machine.
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Google and Apple maps are terrible at showing you back roads which actually go through. So I carry Delorme Atlas books. On the other hand, I'm glad I no longer need a Thomas Guide (or whatever your local urban mapbook was called.)
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I've stopped submitting quality reports to Apple Maps because they're all met with "while we couldn't make the change you suggested, we hope you continue to waste your time reporting these".

The issues are egregious too, like blatantly incorrect lane guidance that would send you in the wrong direction, or diverting me off a highway onto an unmarked, narrow country road that no one with any knowledge of the local roads would take ever.

Though I'm confident whatever BPO slaves they have processing reports 5000 miles away have a better understanding of the roads than I, as they are wholly incapable of even using Google Street View to confirm details (probably by policy) so they always demand I provide a photo or video a month after the fact. Because when you're lost in the middle of nowhere your first thought should be "Let's backtrack so I can grab some pictures for Apple".

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Google Maps isn’t much better. Outside of major population centres, you have to fight with it to keep you on major highway.

Google and Apple both prefer “efficient” routes with unsealed roads that are 4WD only, impassible when wet, have no services, no mobile coverage, and where if you need medical help it literally comes by aeroplane.[1]

[1] https://www.flyingdoctor.org.au/

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Google maps has a spelling mistake on a major road in Calgary which is amusing to me but probably confusing to newcombers

The road is called Macleod Trail

Parts of it are in the Google Maps api as "Macleod Trial"

It's very obvious when the voice directions read it out, too

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I stopped contributing to big tech platforms. Better to contribute to Open Street Map instead.
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