I have in a box a 100 cd cd player, it will even play cassette tapes. It's about 22 years old. Just moved it all the way to florida. Now I'm glad I kept it.
I have a 100 CD player that came from a restaurant. The owner had a ton of oldies that I'd burned onto CD for him. He retired from the restaurant and gave me the player. It works fine, but it's stored away, as I can play almost anything you can name from my extensive MP3 collection, perhaps as many as a half million files.
I have been digitizing all the tapes into FLAC files. I'm also digitizing all the old VHS video. I'm also digitizing reels of audio tape and 8-tracks as well. I have equipment to play almost everything, including 78s and cylinders.
For those of use who are even slightly technically inclined, there are plenty of ways of getting the advantages of smart devices without the dystopian nightmares.
The key is to locally host everything and prevent the devices themselves from even being able to see the internet. And the server you host is open source. Google "Home Assistant."
It's what I do and it works fantastic. Sure, it may make me slightly more lazy, but it's great, and I built it.
Still have the old one that won't adjust temperature from our phones/multiple Temps during the day & night. It just senses the temp & turns on. If we ever get a problem with the smart device, we will be changing back quick.
I have a 1st generation nest that has no ties to the electric company. I also have my old thermostat control. If it becomes a problem, I will just revert to the old one.
Since I can control mine from the cloud with a 3rd party app, it would be easy enough with anyone on the server/has account access to mess with my controls.
Time to dust off the old boom box and find the tapes and CDs!
I have in a box a 100 cd cd player, it will even play cassette tapes. It's about 22 years old. Just moved it all the way to florida. Now I'm glad I kept it.
I have a 100 CD player that came from a restaurant. The owner had a ton of oldies that I'd burned onto CD for him. He retired from the restaurant and gave me the player. It works fine, but it's stored away, as I can play almost anything you can name from my extensive MP3 collection, perhaps as many as a half million files.
I have been digitizing all the tapes into FLAC files. I'm also digitizing all the old VHS video. I'm also digitizing reels of audio tape and 8-tracks as well. I have equipment to play almost everything, including 78s and cylinders.
For those of use who are even slightly technically inclined, there are plenty of ways of getting the advantages of smart devices without the dystopian nightmares.
The key is to locally host everything and prevent the devices themselves from even being able to see the internet. And the server you host is open source. Google "Home Assistant."
It's what I do and it works fantastic. Sure, it may make me slightly more lazy, but it's great, and I built it.
I have upgraded mine to one I picked up online.
Still have the old one that won't adjust temperature from our phones/multiple Temps during the day & night. It just senses the temp & turns on. If we ever get a problem with the smart device, we will be changing back quick.
I have two portable cooling units no house AC. heh.
I have a 1st generation nest that has no ties to the electric company. I also have my old thermostat control. If it becomes a problem, I will just revert to the old one.
I have window units 👀
It is a really good idea to keep that backup.
Since I can control mine from the cloud with a 3rd party app, it would be easy enough with anyone on the server/has account access to mess with my controls.