JT's Weblog

11/28 The Worst Design Decisions Ever Made Into A Product

TLDR;

• Earphones should never include a low-quality microphone
  • it is acceptable only once the quality meets the built-in microphone of an average desktop or smartphone
  • before that, I would rather choose earphones without a microphone
• Earphones should never be able to hang up a call
• Earphones should never connect automatically before being put into users’ ears
• Earphones should never force ANC activation during a call

I like my earbuds. They are the first active noise cancellation (ANC) earphones I’ve ever had.

I still remember the first impression of ANC—it’s like diving underwater, where sound and noise get blurred as if something were covering your ears.

However, I seldom turn on that feature for the sake of power saving.

Now for the parts where the earbuds strongly disturb me:

The low-quality microphone: it is criminal to include such a low-quality microphone in earphones.

I don’t see any use cases for such a low-quality microphone—laptops and phones have better built-in microphones, mostly.

Desktop users nowadays are mostly gamers, and they definitely have battle-tested quality microphones already.

It should not be a problem if you can switch the input device during a phone call.

However, the most disturbing thing is that NOT every communication app lets you switch input devices during a call.

For these reasons, I seldom have a chance to use earphones during a call.

And the disturbance doesn’t simply stop there.

If I accidentally open the earphone case during a call, the phone automatically connects to the device.

The audio just cuts out and I lose the other side for a few seconds.

Furthermore, if I manage to actually communicate with someone using the earphones, the power consumption is extraordinary.

It is probably caused by the low-quality microphone or the fact that the firmware activates ANC automatically during a call.

I tried calling my friends using the earbuds a few times, and the high power consumption forced me to use only one earbud at a time while keeping the other one charging in the case.

This brings me to the last disturbance: the manufacturer makes “hang up a call” a built-in feature.

This criminal feature caused me to hang up the call inevitably multiple times because I MUST switch charging earbuds frequently due to the devastating high energy consumption during a call.

I cannot tell if it is a budget issue. My earbuds were purchased around April 2024 (the product had just been released).

The price was around 2000 NTD and the manufacturer looked decent enough. I didn’t find any issues while testing them in the store.

I feel that it was mostly bad design decisions made and then built into the product.

It’s funny to think that all these troublesome features are unique to wireless earbuds.

Wired earphones don’t have any of these issues. I’m glad I’m old enough to remember the difference. 👴

11/27 Talk About Randomness

What is randomness and how can we measure it?
I have no idea. However, the topic might be defined in several aspects:

• Did you plan the incident or did it occur from nowhere?
• Can you keep reproducing a similar outcome per request?
• Can you attribute the incident to a statistical probability?

Answering these questions may help you realize how “random” something is when you perceive it

I started this blog with the concept of not repeating myself too much

Three challenges with repetition:

• Perseverance: I struggle to maintain the discipline to write consistently
  • Hats off to all the participants who complete the ITHome 30-day streak writing challenge 🎩
• Knowledge: I hit my limits quickly if I keep writing technical articles on the same topic (I’m mostly a generalist rather than an expert)
• Boredom: People get bored with the same thing easily (and I also get bored repeating the same concepts)

In short, I aimed to write random short stories from the beginning

However, things got a bit out of control as the content length kept growing for every new post 😓

The reason is that part of me is a strong believer in “文以載道” (an old saying in Sinology) which means “writing carries moral truth”

For now, it seems a bit impractical for me to keep writing in this way due to the fact that:

• instead of writing, I can also spend my time on building something useful
• there’s not much audience currently and I have no plan to reach out to a bigger audience
  • I am focusing on improving my writing skills and see if I enjoy writing during the process
• there are more important things to do in my current life situation (i.e., earning income)

I need to stop right here. There is a strong sense that I am off the trail of “short story” again 🫠

The last story I would like to share is that I used to worry about not being persistent enough with my side projects

Most of them were never sustained to the point of public use; it’s quite frustrating to think about those incomplete projects

However, I then realized that I fulfill the randomness I pursue by not completing these projects

Each newly created project or newly started hobby is in fact a blessing from all the abandoned projects

It’s not merely a failure but rather spending my precious attention and time on something that matters at the moment

First attempt at writing a short story. Hope the next one will be ACTUALLY short 🤣