Have we forgotten anything based on computer technology is unreliable ?

[Bachus]

Kaarlo, and others, there is no such thing as 100-percent reliable. Even the human body fails and it is always when we least expect.

Your old, upright piano frequently goes out of tune, particularly with changes in weather.

My guitars had to be tuned between sets when I used them on stage.

My sax player was constantly changing reeds.

My fiddle player tuned his fiddle between sets, and sometimes the bow had broken hairs hanging from it after he performed a hot bluegrass song.

My voice would sometimes crack when I was singing at the top or bottom of my vocal range.

My bicycle needed some tuning and it cost me $65 at the local bike shop to get the derailer fixed, plus some new brake pads.

I went sailing a couple days ago and noticed that the refrigerator circulation fan no longer functioned. Same was true with the solar power exhaust fan in the head, and the engine compartment fan. Tomorrow will be spent fixing that stuff, things that rarely go bad, but then there is this year when they all decided to take a dump.

When it comes to reliability, our arranger keyboards are about the most reliable thing we own. Everything else, including ourselves, will eventually break down. The best advice I have is a song title "Don't Worry - Be Happy."

A lot of folks claim they wish they could go back to the good old days. Well my friends, these are the good old days! Back when I was a young man and fresh out of the US Navy, I considered myself invincible. Hell, I was gonna live forever. Cars were considered incredible if they got 6 miles per gallon, and lasted to 80,000 miles - most, however, never lasted that long. Everything was less expensive, but someone that made $100 a week could support their family and have money left over to put into a savings account. Today, $100 won't buy enough groceries to last more than 4 days for a family of 4, but as a percentage of our income, groceries are a modest expense for someone making $1,000 a week, which is the upper end of average these days.

My only fantasy now is to be shot in the back of the head on my 100th birthday by a jealous husband as I leap from a second story window with my trousers down around my ankles and a 19-year-old fashion model screaming "Don't leave me, Gary - Don't leave me! That's not working out very well, though.

Be happy and play some music  and post it on the forum,

Gary

Well put... nothing is 100% reliable..
and the more advanced the less reliable..
But also the easier it is to cover up some mistakes..

The human body is a perfect example of supremely advanced
Being able to cover up flaws..

[SciNote]

Bob, I wonder if the extreme power, RAM, and storage put into computers today is the result of desire or necessity. The software today often contains so much bloatware that the computer needs to be super-powerful for the user to get the expected results. Any veteran IT person I've talked to, and I've talked with a lot of them in my profession, say that software developers often over-automate everything. This why we need such massive computing power.

Which came first - the chicken or the egg . I guess one could argue that the increased capabilities of computers also necessitates increased hardware function.

Well, I once heard a saying that went, "Computer programs expand to fill all available memory."  I agree with your statement about bloatware.  Sure, a lot of today's programs contain many fantastic features, but many of them are rarely used by most people.  It's like internet connections.  Today, I have a 100 megabit connection, and yes, that allows for streaming audio and video that would not have been possible in the past.  But when visiting many websites, those sites are chock full of so much clickbait and so many animated ads that using those sites is virtually no faster than when I used similar websites back when I had dial-up.

As for self-driving cars, I am very wary.  Yes, if the technology can be perfected, it would be a boon to the disabled who cannot operate a vehicle.  But I think people are kidding themselves thinking that they will be so much safer than human-powered cars.  I've read reports of vehicles in automated-mode slamming into a parked car.  Camera sensors can be compromised by rain water and dirt.  Radar sensors can be jammed, and I think it would not be too difficult for someone with less-than-ethical intentions to cause havoc by interfering with the operation of these vehicles.  It's easy to imagine a self-driving car working on an open highway with clearly marked lanes.  But when I drive through a construction zone, with traffic cones all over the place, roads torn up, and construction workers in the area, I wonder how reliable the automated systems will be on these cars.  I'm fine with auto manufacturers developing this technology, but I would not want it forced as mandatory equipment on any new car I might buy in the future.

[mikf]

.......people are kidding themselves thinking that they will be so much safer than human-powered cars.  I've read reports of vehicles in automated-mode slamming into a parked car. 

And a million human driver cars can slam into parked cars ..... but that's not newsworthy!
Once properly developed of course they will be safer, but just like our keyboards, computers and everything else never zero failure - so does that mean we shouldn't do it?
If our keyboards break down less than 1% of the time, does that mean we should not buy one, or maybe buy and carry two, just in case? Of course not, it's just sensible balance of risk and consequences that matters.
Mike

[andyg]

Yes you are, but we are comparing utterly different things. A DJI Ace One, Wookong and Naza with GPS are a bit more complicated and so are to-day' s  FUTABA transmitters.

The question was actually rhetorical, but as you've answered....

No, I already know that I am not just lucky with my electronics equipment! Things are much better than the complainers would have us believe. But as always in all walks of life, it's the complainers who seem to have the loudest voices.

And the radio transmitter in question is a high end Futaba!

[SciNote]

And a million human driver cars can slam into parked cars ..... but that's not newsworthy!
Once properly developed of course they will be safer, but just like our keyboards, computers and everything else never zero failure - so does that mean we shouldn't do it?
If our keyboards break down less than 1% of the time, does that mean we should not buy one, or maybe buy and carry two, just in case? Of course not, it's just sensible balance of risk and consequences that matters.
Mike

It's not newsworthy because of the large number of vehicles on the road.  When looking at the highway death rate, for example, some people only focus on the approx. 30,000 deaths per year in the US, while ignoring the fact that there are about a quarter of a billion cars on US roads.  There are far fewer autonomous vehicles on the road, and again, with many people expecting them to be "perfect", then yes, it is newsworthy when one slams into something as big and detectable as a parked car.

Like I said, continue to develop the technology and we'll see where it leads, but don't make it a forced, mandatory purchase on all new cars.

[markstyles]

I remember the tremendous technical ground we have covered since the 60's.  And I think most of us now take for granted the amount of power and we have. But I hate when a computer/software/hardware problem throughs me into a 2 day shake down to fix some very exoteric bug - mismatch..  Having owned many different pieces of Yamaha equipment, and the Tyros 2 - 5, Kenos.   I am more than happy to report it has never let me down.  A power reset once in a great while.

[soundphase]

Technical progress, changes, and change resistance... same eternal story

[panos]

Technology,computers,bugs,fixes,bugs,fixes....
Makes me furious!
But then again I can have all the sounds these organs can produce on my personal computer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAqO__En32A

I really hate technology!!
Or maybe not?

[Kaarlo von Freymann]

Kaarlo, and others, there is no such thing as 100-percent reliable. Even the human body fails and it is always when we least expect.

Your old, upright piano frequently goes out of tune, particularly with changes in weather.
My guitars had to be tuned between sets when I used them on stage.
My sax player was constantly changing reeds.
My fiddle player tuned his fiddle between sets, and sometimes the bow had broken hairs hanging from it after he performed a hot bluegrass song.

M
Be happy and play some music  and post it on the forum,

Gary

I love your list!  I have had the problem with my Selmer Tenor sax which was and still is considered the best ever model. I have the problem you describe with my Steinway 1922, so it is not limited to upright pianos. I am going to have  my bi-annual  brain scan to-morrow. So far they never found anything which I believe shows the sanners ain't any good.
As always your postings are to the point and full of humor. and such fun to read.
Cheers

Kaarlo