Re:Ask HN: Why is everything sucking now?
by bediger4000 on Tuesday August 08, 2023 @11:43PM
(#37058469)
I'm with you on this, and I'll add that entering passwords has objectively gotten worse.
1. Enter a password ca 1999
2. Enter a password, but all the characters are now dots, so enter it blind, ca 2010
3. Enter your new password blind, twice, ca 2010
4. Your new password has to be 8-20 characters, contain upper and lower case letters, numerals and a special character, and we'll tell you which special characters qualify after you've successfully entered it blind, twice, ca 2020
5. Your new password has to be as before, entered blind, twice, on a teeny weeny cell phone virtual keyboard, and it can't contain any english words.
A lot of this particular example is "best practices" accumulating without discarding any "best" practices from the past that really were little more than superstitions back then and are falsehoods now. Little dots instead of the actual password exist to prevent should surfing, which is lots harder in these days of "mobile first" on small screens held closer to the face which also have a narrower field of view.
But it illustrates your point.
Circa 1988, my boss, who had to have been 45 or 50, was bemoaning the fact that everything had a sequence or you had to key in numbers. I think he was commenting on vending machines that had a key pad instead of old school vending machines with a discrete button or knob for each selection. This isn't a new problem.
1. Enter a password ca 1999 2. Enter a password, but all the characters are now dots, so enter it blind, ca 2010 3. Enter your new password blind, twice, ca 2010 4. Your new password has to be 8-20 characters, contain upper and lower case letters, numerals and a special character, and we'll tell you which special characters qualify after you've successfully entered it blind, twice, ca 2020 5. Your new password has to be as before, entered blind, twice, on a teeny weeny cell phone virtual keyboard, and it can't contain any english words.
A lot of this particular example is "best practices" accumulating without discarding any "best" practices from the past that really were little more than superstitions back then and are falsehoods now. Little dots instead of the actual password exist to prevent should surfing, which is lots harder in these days of "mobile first" on small screens held closer to the face which also have a narrower field of view.
But it illustrates your point.
Circa 1988, my boss, who had to have been 45 or 50, was bemoaning the fact that everything had a sequence or you had to key in numbers. I think he was commenting on vending machines that had a key pad instead of old school vending machines with a discrete button or knob for each selection. This isn't a new problem.