History AwesomeButImpractical / RealLife

*** As of 2021, [[UsefulNotes/TheNinthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames 9th generation consoles]] such as the Platform/PlayStation5 and [[Platform/XboxSeriesXAndS Xbox Series X|S]] provide native 4k rendering. Some passive entertainment is also released and broadcast in 4k, especially if you consider TheRuleOfFirstAdopters. It is also nearly impossible to buy new 40"+ [=TVs=] below 4k resolution. And in 2022, it's not uncommon to find 4K monitors on sale for less than US$300. TechnologyMarchesOn, indeed.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcpZ9Z5EBNY&t=210s Kentucky Speedway]] is another venue that was a product of its era, as an attempt to put a track in a large market (in this case Cincinnati, with Louisville about an hour's drive away in normal non-NASCAR traffic). On paper, it was a good way to add a track to the region to satisfy NASCAR fans in the vicinity, and hosted NASCAR events like the Camping World Truck Series, Xfinity Series, as well as [=IndyCar=] races. However, the inaugural 2011 Cup Series opening was haunted by infrastructure issues, such as major highway congestion preventing as many as 20,000 from even ''reaching the track''. The track also got infamy for producing boring cookie-cutter races due to a lack of exciting features in the track design. In 2015, another design flaw surfaced during severe rain, with poor drainage resulting in the track remaining too wet to safely race on, even after the rain passed. Redesigns to the track were not enough to improve spectator satisfaction (in fact, they made the boring races even worse) and the track was dropped from the UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} calendar for the 2021 season, much to everyone’s relief. Its main use since then has been a massive parking lot—during the post-COVID semiconductor shortage in the auto industry in the early 2020s, Ford, which has a huge pickup truck plant in Louisville, rented it out to park trucks that were awaiting the chips that would allow them to be sold.

** Such stadiums have the appeal of choosing either having protection from the elements or playing in the open air when the weather cooperates; however, such stadiums are often more expensive to build and maintain than their open-air or fixed-roof contemporaries. Retractable roofs are prone to leaks in their first years of operation and have problems with the wind. While some retractable roof stadiums can keep their roof open under light percipitation, others are like a convertible car, which can only really be opened when the sun is shining. In some cases, such as NRG Stadium in Houston, grass playing fields have to be replaced with synthetic turf, as the roof would block out the sunlight.

* The handful of domed stadiums used by lower level UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball teams tend to shoehorn the playing field inside the building in odd ways, with the main issue being that, since the stadiums are small, there's no real need for seats behind the end zone, but the peak of the ceiling still needs to be high to allow enough room for punts and kickoffs to go in the air unimpeded (the only on-campus domed stadium at the FBS level, Syracuse's JMA Wireless Dome[[note]]historically Carrier Dome[[/note]] has a 50,000-seat double-decker bowl arrangement and avoids this problem). The first such dome, Idaho State's Holt Arena (originally called the Minidome), was built as a giant Quonset hut, but the arched ceiling spans from end zone to end zone. The roofline at the back of the end zones is very low and steep; there's barely enough room for the goal posts. Idaho's Kibbie Dome uses the same shape, but the ceiling spans the sidelines. This leads to the opposite effect of the top of the ceiling towering over the whole length of the field and dwarfing the bleachers. Idaho dropped down from the FBS level back to the FCS level in part because they couldn't come up with a practical plan to expand the dome's capacity above 16,000 seats; there was no place to put extra seats. Low roofline cramping the end zones (North Dakota's Alerus Center, Northern Arizona's Walkup Skydome, Northern Michigan's Superior Dome) versus huge roof that makes the dome seem cavernous and empty (Northern Iowa's UNI-Dome, South Dakota's [=DakotaDome=]) remained problems for future small domes. North Dakota State's Fargodome has end zone seats and avoids a lot of these problems, but to do so it basically has to not be a dome; it has a flat roof.

* Entirely hand-drawn animation has since become this, though is more of a [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] example as some smaller studios still use it for the love of the medium. While it can capture the fluid motion that cel-shaded and 2D computer animation cannot, it is extremely time-consuming and as such has become obsolete. This is why, since [[UsefulNotes/TheMillenniumAgeOfAnimation the 2000s]], and for some as early as [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation the late '90s]], many studios had since abandoned this technique and instead rely on digital ink and paint, CGI, ToonBoom and/or Flash, with digital ink and paint being the closest comparison to cel animation, as while some of these options may not be as fluid as traditional cel animation, they’re not only cheaper, but they’re also less time consuming and can help production much faster.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxor_Las_Vegas The Luxor Las Vegas]] was designed with the novelty of being able to stay in a hotel shaped like a pyramid. The construction project was one of the most treacherous construction projects in the history of the Los Vegas Strip, it was rushed to the hotel's detriment and not long after opening, the owners learned that the hotel was [[DidntThinkThisThrough sinking into the sand]] and adjustments needed to be made to compensate. The Clark County building division also had to order the Luxor to vacate a section of the basement level when it was discovered that there were two unfinished support columns. Luxor has been subject to thousands of correction notices in total ranging from structural faults to maintainence issues.

* The Taser 10 developed by Axon Enterprise improves upon older models by being able to be loaded with up to ten cartridges at a time as opposed to older tasers only being capable of loading two cartridges at most. This sounds fantastic until you dissect just how tasers work - they create neuromuscular incapacitation (NMI) by striking the target with two wired probes (basically tiny harpoons) fired by the taser which then sends an electrical current to the target and painfully prevents muscle use between where the probes hit. The bigger the probe spread, the less muscles the target can use. Older models such as the Taser X2 and the Taser 7 utilize cartridges that fire two probes at once at different angles, ensuring probe spread, while the individual cartridges for the Taser 10 are loaded into a large magazine and are synonymous with individual probes, meaning that a police or probation officer would need to fire their taser at least twice to have a chance of incapacitating their target. In a life or death situation, an officer may not be fast enough to aim and fire a Taser 10 a second time, and not in an incapacitating area, when an older taser model would be able to create NMI with a single shot.

* * The Taser 10 developed by Axon Enterprise improves upon older models by being able to be loaded with up to ten cartridges at a time as opposed to older tasers only being capable of loading two cartridges at most. This sounds fantastic until you dissect just how tasers work - they create neuromuscular incapacitation (NMI) by striking the target with two wired probes (basically tiny harpoons) fired by the taser which then sends an electrical current to the target and painfully prevents muscle use between where the probes hit. The bigger the probe spread, the less muscles the target can use. Older models such as the Taser X2 and the Taser 7 utilize cartridges that fire two probes at once at different angles, ensuring probe spread, while the individual cartridges for the Taser 10 are loaded into a large magazine and are synonymous with individual probes, meaning that a police or probation officer would need to fire their taser at least twice to have a chance of incapacitating their target. In a life or death situation, an officer may not be fast enough to aim and fire a Taser 10 a second time, and not in an incapacitating area, when an older taser model would be able to create NMI with a single shot.

* Rimless eyeglasses are meant to look sleek and modern, and they have some advantages like being lightweight and not overcrowding the wearer's face, especially if the person isn't happy about needing glasses in the first place. But their popularity took a nosedive once people realized how delicate they are: the bridge and arms have to be drilled directly into the lenses themselves, a specialized process that makes them more expensive ''and'' less durable due to the lenses having to take on all the stress of daily wear. And you can forget about doing any kind of physical activity in them. Some see half-rim glasses as an acceptable middle-ground by giving the bridge and arms something to attach to, or the worst of both worlds since the rim is visible but doesn't provide the durability of a ''full'' rim.

* Rimless eyeglasses are meant to look sleek and modern, and they have some advantages like being lightweight and not overcrowding the wearer's face, especially if the person isn't happy about needing glasses in the first place. But their popularity took a nosedive once people realized how delicate they are: the bridge and arms have to be drilled directly into the lenses themselves, a specialized process that makes them more expensive ''and'' less durable due to the lenses having to take on all the stress of daily wear. And you can forget about doing any kind of physical activity in them. Some see half-rim glasses as an acceptable middle-ground by giving the bridge and arms something to attach to, or the worst of both worlds since the rim is still visible but doesn't provide the durability of a ''full'' rim.

* Rimless eyeglasses are meant to look sleek and modern, and they have some advantages like being lightweight and not overcrowding the wearer's face, especially if the person isn't happy about needing glasses in the first place. But their popularity took a nosedive once people realized how delicate they are: the bridge and arms have to be drilled directly into the lenses themselves, a specialized process that makes them more expensive ''and'' less durable due to the lenses having to take on all the stress of daily wear. And you can forget about doing any kind of physical activity in them. Some see half-rim glasses as an acceptable middle-ground by giving the bridge and arms something to attach to, ''or'' the worst of both worlds since the rim is still visible but doesn't provide the durability of a ''full'' rim.

** Symbian devices were phones and by definition don't have connectivity problems, but vendors have different implementations so app developers can't just write for one and have it run elsewhere without changes. There was no single marketplace to publish because operators insisted on treating apps like yet another mobile service such as ringtones. Users were then reluctant to buy apps without any reviews in a highly fragmented market.

** However, with the availability of single board computers, small enough to fit on your palm such as the UsefulNotes/RaspberryPi, you can have the best of both worlds. Wire one up to the controllers of an old arcade cabinet and a replacement screen, install an emulator, and you can play practically ''every'' arcade game via that single cabinet. There are a number of companies marketing such setups, ranging from kits you assemble yourself to fully-assembled cabinets.

* Programming on assembly language. It is basically the "mother tongue" of the computer, and it is the way to make computers to run the fastest way possible, but it is ''so incredibly tedious and user-hostile'' that it has fallen out of vogue already in the 1990s. Today's compilers, especially C and C++ compilers, are so good and produce so optimized code there is no point on programming on assembler any more - unless you are doing it on a vintage CPU architecture, such as the MOS 6502 (e.g., Platform/Commodore64, Platform/AppleII, Platform/Atari8BitComputers) or Zilog Z80 (e.g., Platform/ZXSpectrum, Platform/TRS80, Platform/AmstradCPC).

''A "cool" tool with severe drawbacks.''

* Dubai seems to be the epitome of the high-tech, ultra-modern city with its numerous flashy skyscrapers and ambitious building projects. However, the city itself lacks a centralized sewer system. Though the city has adequate treatment facilities to process all of the waste it generates, said lack of sewers means that most of the city's waste has to be carried by tanker truck, which can lead to long queues that can force a driver to wait at least 24 hours. It isn't rare for tanker truck drivers to simply dump their waste wherever they can rather than wait.
* Various skyscrapers, such as the Burj Khalifa and the Abraj Al-Bait, were built in the Middle East between 2002-2008 without considering cost and practicality. The result was a property bubble that helped puncture the world economy, depressed growth rates in those countries, and may have indirectly sparked the Arab Spring. This hasn't stopped attempts to build the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeddah_Tower Jeddah Tower]], a [[StarScraper kilometer-tall tower]] that has had its construction set back by various ecopolitical issues.

* Various skyscrapers, such as the Burj Khalifa and the Abraj Al-Bait, were built in the Middle East between 2002-2008 without considering cost and practicality. The result was a property bubble that helped puncture the world economy, depressed growth rates in those countries, and may have indirectly sparked the Arab Spring.

* Roaming mode on cellphones allows you to use your phone over a cellular connection even when you're somewhere where your specific carrier doesn't have coverage, such as in said carrier's domestic blindspots but where another carrier does have coverage, or in another country entirely. This seems like a neat idea, but carriers will charge you ''out the nose'' for racking up roaming data use. For this reason, frequent international travelers are instead advised to either get destination-specific SIM cards (to swap into their phones or as part of a portable wi-fi hotspot) or local fixed wi-fi hotspots if possible.

* Programming on assembly language. It is basically the "mother tongue" of the computer, and it is the way to make computers to run the fastest way possible, but it is ''so incredibly tedious and user-hostile'' that it has fallen out of vogue already in the 1990s. Today's compilers, especially C and C++ compilers, are so good and produce so optimized code there is no point on programming on assembler any more - unless you are doing it on a vintage CPU architecture, such as the MOS 6502 (e.g., Platform/Commodore64, Platform/AppleII, UsefulNotes/Atari8BitComputers) or Zilog Z80 (e.g., Platform/ZXSpectrum, UsefulNotes/TRS80, Platform/AmstradCPC).

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microkernel Microkernel]]-based operating systems have advantages from a security standpoint over [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolithic_kernel monolithic kernels.]] In layman's terms, an operating system set up in this manner gives maximum privileges to fewer components than a monolithic kernel, such as excluding device drivers from the core of the operating system, which can make it much more difficult to exploit security holes in programs and seize full control of the entire system or parts of it. It also makes the system more robust as it's almost impossible to crash the machine. The drawback is that this tends to limit fast access to system resources as user-level programs are not usually allowed to just directly access the necessary resources on the system. This is one reason some operating systems such as the [[UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows Microsoft Windows NT]] and Apple's [=macOS=] family use a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_kernel hybrid kernel]] to [[TakeAThirdOption strike a balance between the quicker monolithic and more secure microkernel paradigm]]. Similarly, the Linux kernel can load and unload modules during runtime to make things more manageable. Device drivers are usually implemented as modules because there are so many components on the market that it would be impossible for kernel developers to include them all in one binary. As with [=GUIs=] and interpreted programming languages, performance improvements have led to a reassessment of microkernels. With processor power increasing along with the urgency for higher data security, the microkernel became more attractive for its potentially stronger security, and skilled programming helped reduce the performance hit anticipated with the paradigm.

* Programming on assembly language. It is basically the "mother tongue" of the computer, and it is the way to make computers to run the fastest way possible, but it is ''so incredibly tedious and user-hostile'' that it has fallen out of vogue already in the 1990s. Today's compilers, especially C and C++ compilers, are so good and produce so optimized code there is no point on programming on assembler any more - unless you are doing it on a vintage CPU architecture, such as the MOS 6502 (e.g., UsefulNotes/Commodore64, UsefulNotes/AppleII, UsefulNotes/Atari8BitComputers) or Zilog Z80 (e.g., UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum, UsefulNotes/TRS80, UsefulNotes/AmstradCPC).

*** As of 2021, [[UsefulNotes/TheNinthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames 9th generation consoles]] such as the UsefulNotes/PlayStation5 and [[UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS Xbox Series X|S]] provide native 4k rendering. Some passive entertainment is also released and broadcast in 4k, especially if you consider TheRuleOfFirstAdopters. It is also nearly impossible to buy new 40"+ [=TVs=] below 4k resolution. And in 2022, it's not uncommon to find 4K monitors on sale for less than US$300. TechnologyMarchesOn, indeed.

* The interface protocols the USB Type C connector supports is a great idea. Not only does it support USB, but it supports various other interfaces like HDMI, [=DisplayPort=], and Thunderbolt. The problem? They're all optional and it's not obvious at all whether or not a given Type C connector supports those interfaces. To top it off, a given Type C connector isn't even guaranteed to support USB 3.1 Gen 2 and at best, you're only guaranteed USB 2.0 support. So you're stuck with a connector that's trying to do everything, but in reality it may not and it creates confusion among people who wonder why their USB Type C to HDMI cable doesn't work on one device when it worked fine on another. An infamous example of this is with the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, which uses a very specific interface that, while also present on some non-Nintendo cables, is fairly uncommon; this led to a number of nasty incidents where people fried their Switch by trying to charge it with an out-of-spec Type C cable, leading to the still-persistent misconception that the Switch's charging cable is a proprietary one that just looks like a normal Type C cable. The interface issue in general is a real shame, since Type C solves a couple of issues with past USB connectors, which can only be inserted in one orientation, and on [=microUSB=] in particular the pins bending over time due to the way the locking mechanism works; in short, Apple's Lightning connector but for non-proprietary devices.

* As with interpreted programming languages, graphical user interfaces made computers easier to use but were huge memory hogs when they were first introduced in the 1970s and 1980s. The original UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh could only hold a few word processor pages in its memory, such was the resource usage of early [=GUIs=]. The only machines that could support graphics and doing actual work through the 1980s were expensive workstations, while [=PCs=] stuck with slim character-based interfaces. Steady improvements in hardware allowed for cheaper and more powerful computers with graphical interfaces toward the end of the '80s, paving the way for Windows 3.0 in 1990, which finally popularized [=GUIs=] in the PC world.

** RDRAM also had such very high latency and a small buffer that its advantages were negated, infamously making it a performance bottleneck on the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 and the UsefulNotes/Playstation2.

* ''Toys/LegoVidiyo'' was an ambitious {{Franchise/Lego}} theme focused on AugmentedReality multimedia, with the pitch being that sets consisted of wacky, music-themed stages and compact [="BeatBoxes"=], containing [[Toys/LEGOMinifigures Minifigures]] and elaborate tile sets that could be scanned by an app that could create LEGO-themed AR music videos, a novelty akin to those seen in Website/TikTok. Unfortunately, it sank dramatically due to two factors: the ''price'' (most [=BeatBoxes=] cost $20 for around 70 pieces, one of the most lopsided price-per-piece ratios in the history of LEGO, and most of the pieces are just [=2x2=] printed tiles), as well as the fact the AR gimmick was only available on a dedicated app that was not only notoriously buggy, but by design didn't allow anyone to export video recordings to share on more widespread platforms like [=TikTok=] or Instagram, limiting its audience and quickly drying up in novelty. The theme launched in 2021, and despite praise for the aesthetic designs and LEGO's plans to continue the line in years to come, it was discontinued in January 2022 due to being a commercial disaster.

* Flat-bottomed hard taco shells. They're easier to fill and serve and make for a neat presentation, but a traditional taco shell holds together much better when you bite into it, where the angular shape of flat-bottoms causes them to shatter almost completely on the first bite, creating a bigger mess while eating them.

* On the whole, guns as home self-defense in general are this. Even in the United States, a country (in)famous for its low bureaucratic barrier to entry for firearms, one thing a gun owner needs to keep in mind is that guns are designed to ''kill''. Should someone invade your home and you fire at them, even if they were a genuine threat to your life or those of your housemates (spouse, kids, non-family roommates, etc.), it may be a difficult legal hill to climb to prove that you had a perfectly good "don't take me to prison" reason for ''ending someone else's life permanently''.