Are we still doing that?

Umm, usb c audio is exactly as 'analog' as audio from a 3.5mm jack. Straight from the dac to the jack. And there isn't any drm in the dongle either, they're exactly as complicated as a 3.5mm to 1/4" adapter.

Because Cleveland and Detroit are definitely what I would call rural areas

Going on 12 years for an off-road installation in Wyoming, with all the wind and hail that implies. Batteries have lost some capacity but are still functional for at least another few years, panels themselves (Panasonic) have only dropped to 95% of their average output when first installed. Sure, the warranty won't cover wind/tornado/lightning damage, but that is what homeowners insurance is for. Considering it would have cost 14k just to bring power to the corner of the property, the off-grid solution has already paid itself off, and that takes into consideration the upcoming battery replacement.

While I agree that the math is essential, Forrest Mims managed to write some very excellent beginner textbooks that didn't require any high level math, and they were almost entirely analog circuits as well. For a beginner course, there is little need for calculus. I looked it over, and it seems like it would just scare off a beginner rather than pique their interest. Granted, if you want to go any further than the bare basics you will need some math, but for a course that seems aimed at the hobbyist or student it just looks too intimidating.

You do know that the barometer doesn't add any volume in nearly all cases, right? It's not a separate discrete chip, it's included with the accelerometer in many cases, and an accelerometer is absolutely a requirement for a smartphone.

Then why are you even commenting? According to you, you wouldn't be consuming the media in any fashion, regardless of release schedule or format. I might be able to go and comment on a NFL discussion, but I won't have anything of value to add.

Considering that it isn't that terribly uncommon to see a Chinese man 'relieving himself' in semi-public, I'd say that culturally it is a done thing. AFAIK, the big reason it's even an issue now is that, like spitting, it's becoming an imported cultural hangup. Oh, and traditional Japanese bathhouse are also semi+public, but are also falling out of favor. Seems we Americans have to really try to export the worst parts of our culture.

They didn't have caps, but I was billed per minute. Ah, the joys of rural living, paying exorbitant amounts of money for a 56k connection that in reality was closer to 14kbps. Oh, and the line was such poor quality that it would fry modems and cordless phones regularly. We never were able to get that fixed, I just kept a spare modem around, and we went back to basic analog phones that would likely survive a nuke blast. Dial-up tones cause my eye to twitch to this day.

Personally, I think I had already seen that joke 640k times by the mid 2000s.

Oh no, he expects every unit to undergo thorough testing. And not any piddly flying probe type crap, oh no, every unit should be stress tested for hours while the senior greybeard stares at it sagely. It does cost several hundred dollars, surely they can work that into their margins. After all, automobiles cost tens of thousands, and there is never a safety defect on a single car that leaves the factory. Hell, manufacturing is easy. Children do it every day in sweatshops all around the third world, and look at the quality wares they produce...

They certainly have problems, but my dad has been living with lead acid batteries for his solar array, as lithium was too expensive at the time. The batteries will need replaced soon, but lead acid still looks like the way to go. The memory affect sucks, and power density is horrible, but they are pretty darn safe. I wouldn't want to short the system, but if you dropped a wrench on the output terminals it wouldn't be nearly as serious as doing the same on a lithium system, provided the protection circuitry failed. He may go lithium, but if so those batteries are getting moved into a pit external to the house, the potential failure mode is too ugly to have that bank inside the garage. I wouldn't want any portable device with lead acid, that's for damn sure, but they are still pretty darn viable for stationary use.

Because no mechanical engineer has ever released a product that was defective in any way, no siree... And I'm sure the software running the power grid and every modern form of transportation is completely unnecessary. These things happen in every field of engineering, the CS guys just release more faulty products into the wild. In their defense, a respin for software is a hell of a lot cheaper than making new molds or changing a product mid-run.

Actually, rail is heavily regulated. So while the FCC doesn't regulate it, the Dot is happily telling them how their track must be constructed and applying safety standards to rolling stock and engines. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Railroad_Administration/

While that's true, there are only a few prototypes made for each product. What of all the machinists who used to crank out production parts? Those jobs are gone forever, so are the motor machinists who used to rebuild your motor every 50k miles. Manufacturing is almost all CNC now, and consumer products are either non-repairable or last longer than they used to. Nobody overhauls their car engines anymore, and nobody fixes televisions. I wouldn't go back, but there are a lot of formerly promising careers that don't exist now.