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This week Nate & Ian discuss everyone's favourite computing essential: the dongle. Last episode of the year.SOURCES:Donglevisionhttps://tedium.co/2020/08/21/weird-dongle-history-evolution/NewScientist on dongleshttps://archive.org/details/bub_gb_EIZI3TDTGTsC/page/n25/mode/2upByte on dongleshttps://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1981-10/page/n133/mode/2up?q=dongleCommodore PEThttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_PETSoftware protection donglehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_protection_dongle Apple makes 23 different dongles — and it would cost you $857 to buy them allhttps://www.businessinsider.com/apple-dongles-2017-8#2-lightning-to-30-pin-adapter-29-2Ebuyer search for dongleshttps://www.ebuyer.com/search?q=dongle&sort=relevancy+descending Anker 565https://www.anker.com/uk/products/a8388?variant=41786313998500 Become a supporter to go ad-free, unlock bonus content and listen live — join our Patreon.Full show notes, subscription options and more available at https://www.uktechshow.com.TECH’S MESSAGE IS:Hosts: Nate Lanxon, Ian MorrisProduction and Editing: Nate LanxonMusic: Audio Network & Pond5Certain Artwork Elements Designed By: macrovector / FreepikPublisher (Free Version): AcastCopyright © Nate LanxonAds (on free version) are not endorsements, nor controlled by Tech’s Message. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week is a special episode in which we revisit Ian's 2007 CNET feature, Top Ten Off Switches. Do the selections stand up to modern scrutiny? And how have off switches evolved in a world of Wi-Fi, virtual assistants and touchscreens? SOURCES:Top ten off switches (live)https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/top-ten-off-switches/Top ten off switches (archived, with pictures)https://web.archive.org/web/20071114120435/http://crave.cnet.co.uk/0,39029477,49293357-1,00.htmThe Slashdot post about the featurehttps://hardware.slashdot.org/story/07/11/12/1429244/the-top-ten-off-switches Become a supporter to go ad-free, unlock bonus content and listen live — join our Patreon.Full show notes, subscription options and more available at https://www.uktechshow.com.TECH’S MESSAGE IS:Hosts: Nate Lanxon, Ian MorrisProduction and Editing: Nate LanxonMusic: Audio Network & Pond5Certain Artwork Elements Designed By: macrovector / FreepikPublisher (Free Version): AcastCopyright © Nate LanxonAds (on free version) are not endorsements, nor controlled by Tech’s Message. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Nate and Ian discuss HD DVD, arguably one of the last global format wars to be fought -- and lost. The Patreon extended version also includes a lengthy discussion about the hypothetical future HD DVD might have had, were it to have won the format war against Sony's Blu-ray.SOURCES:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_DVDhttps://www.reddit.com/r/HDDVD/comments/114cteq/hd_dvd_exclusives/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_optical_disc_format_warhttps://www.pcworld.com/article/535906/hddvd_bluray.htmlhttps://www.cnet.com/tech/home-entertainment/why-hd-dvd-will-beat-blu-ray/https://www.reddit.com/r/dvdcollection/comments/l1wz2r/any_love_for_an_obsolete_format_most_of_my_hd_dvd/https://www.britannica.com/technology/DVDhttps://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN1419176920070815/https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/hd-dvd.htmhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_high-definition_optical_disc_formats#endnote_HDMC_table_note_hhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_TrueHDhttps://pioneer-blurayodd.eu/?lang=enBecome a supporter to go ad-free, unlock bonus content and listen live — join our Patreon.Full show notes, subscription options and more available at https://www.uktechshow.com.TECH’S MESSAGE IS:Hosts: Nate Lanxon, Ian MorrisProduction and Editing: Nate LanxonMusic: Audio Network & Pond5Certain Artwork Elements Designed By: macrovector / FreepikPublisher (Free Version): AcastCopyright © Nate LanxonAds (on free version) are not endorsements, nor controlled by Tech’s Message. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Nate and Ian discuss the dual-layered delight that is DVD -- it's history, and our memories of using it.SOURCES:The death of the DVD: Why sales dropped more than 86% in 13 yearshttps://web.archive.org/web/20200329212906/https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/08/the-death-of-the-dvd-why-sales-dropped-more-than-86percent-in-13-years.htmlPlayStation 2 Wikihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_2Bouncing DVD logohttps://www.bouncingdvdlogo.comDVD Frequently Asked Questionshttps://web.archive.org/web/19970329103433/http://www.videodiscovery.com/vdyweb/dvd/dvdfaq.htmlDVD industry in crisis as sales slumphttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/nov/29/dvd-industry-sales-slump-blu-rayHMV boss says more people buying DVDs and Blu-rayhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c99wngrw4nxoDVD and Blu-ray sales statisticshttps://www.avforums.com/threads/dvd-and-blu-ray-sales-statistics.2004986/British Video Association press release archivehttps://web.archive.org/web/20100623045015/http://www.bva.org.uk/news-press-releases/2009-news-release-sales-robust-transitional-year-british-video-industryDVD Commercial from 2000https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xn8m9KLYQgYahoo DVD Player reviewhttps://www.cnet.com/reviews/yahoo-ydp-530-review/ Become a supporter to unlock bonus content and listen live — join our Patreon.Full show notes, subscription options and more available at https://www.uktechshow.com.TECH’S MESSAGE IS:Hosts: Nate Lanxon, Ian MorrisProduction and Editing: Nate LanxonMusic: Audio Network & Pond5Copyright © Nate LanxonAds (on free version) are not endorsements, nor controlled by Tech’s Message. Read Nate’s ad policy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nate and Ian discuss the modern anxiety of calls from unknown numbers, repeated missed calls, and general caller ID-related terror. You might think this is a Halloween episode, such is the horror of the content.SOURCES AND LINKS:Mobile company customer forumshttps://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Tech-Support/People-I-have-never-contacted-returning-my-calls/td-p/1626378https://community.three.co.uk/t5/Account-and-services/Scammer-using-my-number/m-p/32346https://community.bt.com/t5/Home-phone-including-Digital/Receiving-calls-from-people-saying-I-called-them-but-I-haven-t/td-p/2173030Mumsnethttps://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4972436-to-have-anxiety-from-this-missed-callCaller anxietyhttps://www.reddit.com/r/Anxiety/comments/17fis4j/just_completing_ignored_an_important_phone_call/Apple will launch a Business Caller ID service next yearhttps://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/apple-will-launch-a-business-caller-id-service-next-year-223913262.htmlBecome a supporter to unlock bonus content and listen live — join our Patreon.Full show notes, subscription options and more available at https://www.uktechshow.com.TECH’S MESSAGE IS:Hosts: Nate Lanxon, Ian MorrisProduction and Editing: Nate LanxonMusic: Audio Network & Pond5Certain Artwork Elements Designed By: macrovector / FreepikPublisher (Free Version): AcastCopyright © Nate LanxonAds (on free version) are not endorsements, nor controlled by Tech’s Message. Read Nate’s ad policy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.