When I am God-Emperor #7993 - Technology that won't go dark

[andrewducker]

I understand that being able to find the power button for a monitor in the dark might be something that some people need to do occasionally. And that flashing lights on a network device let you know that it's talking to other network devices, and not taking a long nap.

But when people build technology nowadays they realy, really should take into consideration that people tend to have tech in their bedrooms. And that monitors, computers, networking switches, powerline adapters, power extenders, wifi points, and anything else that might ever plausibly be in the same room as someone trying to sleep should have a "Completely fucking dark" option.

Comments

[pseudomonas]

YES YES YES. also what's with making everything blue leds.

[andrewducker]

Possibly the most annoying invention in the history of mankind.

[birguslatro]

Eyelids?

[andrewducker]

If only mine were completely opaque to all light!

[birguslatro]

Paint 'em black. You'd start a fashion trend! Because it's useful.

[darkoshi]

Agreed. I try to keep tech out of the bedroom at sleep time, but still the radiator, fan, and electric blanket controller all have LEDs that you can't turn off when they are on.

Our current cable modem has a constant blinking (not just flickering, but blinking) orange LED, in addition to mostly-constant white, blue, and green LEDs. When I first set it up, I couldn't believe that the blinking was normal. When I looked up about it, there were many other people complaining about the same thing. The only solution mentioned was a piece of black electrical tape.

[andrewducker]

Tape is definitely on the shopping list...

[marahmarie]

Same problem here. In one of my last places (a little over a year ago) we had a home office that adjoined the bedroom via a (doorless) doorway, so you could see into it from the bed, and while Other Half could sleep through almost anything except me turning book pages, which would wake him from the dead, I couldn't bear the modem flashing, nor the PC power button flashing, nor the printer LED and other flashing lights (the iThing speaker flashed (blue and green), our Android phones on charge or standby flashed (blue, green and red), my scanner had an LED (green), and so on). Xfinity (Comcast) modems have a long, vertical row of constantly flashing lights (green), which were by far the most annoying.

After a year or so of increasing...light noise, I guess you could say...I couldn't take anymore and started basically unplugging the entire office every night. The modem and phones I covered with magazines, newspapers, towels and pieces of clothing. Whatever was handy.

The place I'm in now is not so bad...I just make sure the iThing speaker stays unplugged, I put black electrical tape over the TV LED and the light on the TV box, the computer power button won't light unless it's on, I turn off and unplug my laptop every night, my Windows phone doesn't flash, and the internet modem is in an office clear across the house behind many other doors, so I think I've got it under control.

But yeah, blue is the worst color because it mimics daylight (according to our brain's interpretation of it, which is very stimulating), green is not far behind and flashing in any color is just grrr.

Conversely, I think I could sleep through red-anything in a room - as long as it doesn't flash.

[andrewducker]

Flashing is particularly annoying - because I just can't adjust to it!

[doccy]

Thanks to my skill at strategically throwing t-shirts, everything in our bedroom can go completely dark.

[andrewducker]

Useful skill!

[dalglir]

Gaffa tape and strips of cardboard. Create little flaps. That's what I did with a couple of my random electronics in the bedroom.

[matgb]

There's a can of compressed air in front of the 10-gang w/USB lead I got myself because of the two lights, the only place it fits well on the desk also has it pointing directly at the bed. The router is under the desk and has a stack of binders piled in front of it.

I had forgotten that having a power switch that doesn't stay lit is unusual for monitors, as I'm in the market for a new one that's a useful reminder.