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Gosh, is it just me? Am I the only one who wishes that the pace of tech “Progress” would just slow down? I mean, I just updated to the latest IOS version, and I just read that there its another one coming soon and I have yet to use a single new feature from the last one. All these tech changes make it harder to deal with life including ones money. Do you have your ID.ME credentials set up yet? Without this or some other new government wide PW scheme, you can’t get into the IRS, the VA or perhaps Treasury Direct.
And, what about Passkeys? I haven’t got a clue. I use a PW manager which works on both Win devices and Apple devices. I understand how it works and syncs. Someone told me that these Passkeys are safer and stored in a device keychain. Don’t know what that is either. I don’t allow any browser to retain login info. I’m happy without using passkeys…..whatever they are. My personal info has been stolen many times via big companies failing to protect my data that I trusted them to keep safe.
My sons think I am behind the times because I don’t use my phone to control my thermostat and house lights remotely. I don’t have or want a Ring doorbell camera either.
I know that I could show my Costco card on my smart phone, but I don’t see that as easier than getting the Costco card out of my wallet. Ditto Apple pay. Most places I shop are not compatible.
Some of this tech is good. I like the smartphone link in a car that enables hands-free phone usage. My Apple Watch has been very helpful in dealing with medical issues and tracking some fitness activities.
I was 8 years old before Mom and Dad could afford to buy a TV. (black and white) I think this tv could receive maybe 6 or 7 channels over the antenna on the roof. These days, it is very hard to figure out how to watch some new show you see advertised. I have to go to the IMDB app to see on which streaming service it is running. Mostly, I can’t watch them because I don’t want to pay another $10 a month for just one show. PLUS, the interface to get logged into a service via a “smart” TV is more painful than hitting your thumb with a hammer. I am very grateful for the public library…..
Some people are eager for the development of AI. I worry about what will happen to the 3.5 million commercial truck drivers if true self-driving vehicles became available. The same thing could happen to software engineers, doctors, and other knowledge workers. For our economy to work there have to be consumers with $$ to buy things. This seems like a disconnect in the concept.
Finally, I dread every “improvement” to the look and feel of things like Gmail or any other communication/software. I no more than get used to one version when a new one is released. All of the time needed to deal with tech changes is a blow to my productivity. Constantly having to update the programing in operating systems, hardware, and software is such a PITA!
New technology can be disabling. My mom simply can’t figure out the new apps and software with minimal icons. Recent gmail changes have been difficult for her. She calls me to complain that that her computer is broken. I go there to fix the problem and find that an update rearranged the icons, an icon has a new color, or something else I think is simple has changed. New features with no explanations are the worst.
Figuring out how to use the online portal to reach her doctor has been a moving target of web updates and URL changes as ownership changes and young designers streamline the design of new pages with uninformative icons and areas to click which are not clearly marked.
And every doc, med center, and hospital has their own portal meaning you need different credentials for each one. Plus, often the docs don’t read the messages you send. They are too busy and often have a clerk/assistant who is supposed to do this. One of our medical providers wants you to do an on-line check in before you come, but the entire check-in still has to be done in person when you actually go to your appointment.
Since WindowsNT (and maybe earlier), the menus were in a button in the lower left corner. Windows11 moved the button near the middle of the screen, but it moves depending how many items are in the bottom menu. 30 years of muscle memory cursor positioning with the mouse have been erased in a single update.
Zeiss did something similar to us when they upgraded from their Zen Black to Zen Blue software. They promised things would stay the same but be better because we could integrate Python, but a lot of changes in basic functionality had been made. I wouldn’t have recommended purchasing the systems if I knew these changes were made. I felt they pulled a bait and switch on us. I still do; this plus many of the functions not being addressed in subsequent updates means I’m not interested in their products except for a few very specific technical corners of their market.
Gmail’s new search function is terrible. I don’t want AI guesses; I want precisely the term I’m searching for.
Schwab’s updates to their online pages put too much white space around text so that it doesn’t all fit on the screen in a way that can be scanned quickly. I want pa ked tables, not a ton of designy white space.
Other examples? I could give a plethora. But after years of Outlook changes which reduced productivity, The 365 one enforced at work a few weeks ago is a clear improvement.
Cammer Michael, Re: “Windows11 moved the button near the middle of the screen, but it moves depending how many items are in the bottom menu. 30 years of muscle memory cursor positioning with the mouse have been erased in a single update.”. That change drove me nuts, I like consistency for efficiency. Fortunately, I found I could align the task bar buttons back to the left corner. Go to: taskbar settings => Taskbar behaviors => Taskbar alignment => left.
I agree that technology is difficult to keep up with, but even worse when it fails. My computer failed last year and my backup was 2 weeks old. However, the local computer technician was able to retrieve the data off my hard drive the same day. And Dell sent the new laptop in 2 days (free shipping!).
We have our home insurance with State Farm and they sent us a device (free) that you plug into your electrical outlet called a ‘Ting’ (one for our home and one for my husband’s workshop). The ‘Ting’ device detects ‘tiny electrical arcs, the precursors to imminent fire risks’ and notifies you via a phone app. They work with your electrician to fix the issue to prevent an electrical fire. The Ting device also notifies you if there is an electrical outage. If your insurance won’t supply it, you can purchase it on their website for $99.
https://www.tingfire.com/
We also have ‘MyQ’ for our garage doors and Ring security. 🙂
For the past month I’ve been aggressively leaving my smart phone off, exploring alternatives and just living with the pain to avoid turning on. The motivation is primarily to regain control of my own attention (no beeps, buzzes, dings, poup-ups, ads) and to break the compulsive urge to check the phone every 30 seconds.
You’d be amazed what you can get done with 90s tech. Bonus: advertisers targeting your connected smart phone can’t pop up ads when you’re playing a CD on a boombox 🙂
Latest musings on the subject here: https://curious.port111.com/2024/11/05/just-turn-it.html
My 12-year-old grandson says we are not technologically up-to-date because we don’t have all the gaming platforms he has at home, we have “old” smartphones, and our Smart TV is old. I reminded him that our generation is responsible for many of the technological advances that allow him to play games, watch streamed TV content, and keep up with a friend 6,000 miles away. I received an eye-roll in reply.
Ask your grandson to explain a packet of data. What does 64 bits mean vs 32 bits? Gamers would find more interesting “games” and more potentially lucrative futures if they’d learn to program. They don’t have to get as primitive as my generation learning machine code, but knowing about it is essential to be truly technically literate.
Michael – my son (grandson’s Dad) is in IT, trained by the Navy. AFAIK he doesn’t code. He does automate some tasks, but the automation is an internal tool. My son and grandson play online games. In my opinion it’s an ideal opportunity for teachable moments, but I doubt that’s what is happening.
Whenever I meet an engineering student or recent graduate, I ask what they are coding with. There are many utility-based options, such as Python, Java, or Visual Basic that would serve them well. Most recently the answer I’ve been getting is “Matlab”. Coding in Matlab requires that you have Matlab to start with – I would prefer the flexibility and independence of using something like Python or Java. As an engineer, I was never down in the weeds with machine code.
People have been complaining about adapting to tech for as long as tech existed. Myself included. Learning new tech is a necessary evil. It is also a personal choice.
How would you like it if your doctor or healthcare provider didn’t embrace new tech? I don’t think any of us would be in favor of that.
Tech helps solve CURRENT problems (while unintentionally creating some NEW problems). And some tech is just bells and whistles from modern snake oil salesmen.
However, I wouldn’t embrace or identify personally with the refusal to adapt to it. Eating healthy, getting physical exercise, or listening to doctors’ suggestions can be annoying and bothersome, too.
Everyone knows “that person” who proudly touts, “I eat what I want, and I tell the doctors what I will do, not the other way.” While that is fine, eventually, that person falls ill. There are two downsides. First, the person is ill when they could have prevented or reduced the severity of the illness. Second, that person indirectly transferred their problem to someone else (caretakers).
Now the spirit of this article is likely A LOT lighter than I make it out to be (ios updates and passkey), but I argue against the mentality of “I don’t need any new tech.”
Eventually, the embrace of ignorance will: one, catch up to you and cause you discomfort, and two, transfer your own burden to others.
Lets use IOS updates, life wont change much if you miss the LATEST one or two….but if you swear off all update moving forward, you will surely miss very useful tools. Wearable and close proximity tech is already in most smart phone and getting better. Apps and new phone features that can give you input on your sleep habits, blood pressure, heart rate, and more. And this is quickly improving to be more accurate and expand what can be monitored. It won’t be long before blood sugar can be monitored in real-time, as you eat. Helping diabetics connect the dots on what changed glucose levels and helping them not have spikes and crashes. Not far behind that will be algorithms that monitor your blood pressure, heart rate and other factors and can help predict when you could likely have heart issues or a heart attack so you can preemptively take an aspirin and get to an ER.
I kid you not; I have an app on my phone that connects to my pacemaker and tells me when to send a transmission (saving me a doctor’s visit). It also tells my doctor when my heart rate is abnormal. Just this summer, I got a call from a heart surgeon’s office about a consult that week. I told the secretary calling me I had never heard of that doctor, nor had I set up an appointment. I called my cardiologist next. Turns out my heart had an odd set of rhythms in my sleep 2 nights before, sent a transmission to my cardiologist and my cardiologist called for a 2nd opinion with this heart surgeon/specialist (and the receptionist accidentally made an appointment for me).
But isn’t that something!!!! My phone connected my pacemaker to my specialist, who connected me to another specialist BEFORE I KNEW I EVEN HAD AN ISSUE!!!! Luckily, the abnormality was nothing; I didn’t have to go to any appointments and I feel great. But talk about addressing a serious issue with some newfound efficiency.
Next, you’ll eventually get so far behind you will have to rely on children and grandchildren to do things for you that you could have been capable of doing. For years,my wife had to send emails for my father-in-law and sell his old stuff on Craigslist and Facebook marketplace. While she was happy to do it, it drained her time and added chores every time she went to visit (reducing the joy of just catching up when she saw him). Then he retired for good and got a smartphone because his friend had a MLB app with live score updates lol. In a matter of a year, he could send email, use Facebook to see pics of his grandkids out of state, list his own items, find used things to save money, get the weather, book flights and so much more, all on his phone.
An IOS update doesn’t seem like much (and it isn’t). Just like missing an annual check-up, likely won’t mean imminent death. Build a habit or identity around missing them though, and you’ll pay for it later.
I agree that change is a pain. But the pain of adapting often reduces future pain; we just can’t connect those dots in the moment.
My pacemaker works the same way that yours does via the same app. I think that I am, for someone almost 80, fairly technically able to cope.
I’m far from being a Ludite….that said, for most of us seniors, tech gear can do far more than we need it to do. As processor -chips have gotten better, they make many functions possible. And, all these possibilities increase complexity. We are on a merry-go-round. Perhaps the faster chip drives the process, or maybe the desire to make tech do more drives chip development. It doesn’t matter for many people it is too much. Just one example, the new IPhone 16 (which I don’t own) has a fairly powerful photo editor. Just my opinion, but 98% of the photos I take are just fine and need no editing. Should I spend time and energy learning this function if I had the phone, I think not.
And, if we look beyond just the gear, there are changes to software and apps. Some of these changes are due to changes in the chips or ops systems environment which are necessary. Others seem to be driven by bored software engineers who feel the need to put their own imprimatur on how something looks or feels. I mean, why did Microsoft need to move the Start button?
We have a grandson who will be one in a week. Photos, videos, and FaceTime have made seeing him and being part of his life much more enjoyable. So, tech can be a real blessing. But there is a fragility to the whole complex system. Something works today, but tomorrow, for some reason it might not. And, what you learn to do today is likely going to be useless technique tomorrow.
Excellent examples, Will. Thank you for those reminders outside of the computer and phone realm.
A love/hate relationship if there ever was one!
It’s not just you. I can identify with just about everything you mention.
And GW below mentions car manuals. The most recent car in our household is a 2019 model—I guess that’s why the owner’s manual is only 500 pages. Once I was so frustrated with it that I called Toyota—they couldn’t make sense of it either!
I was stunned when the electronics died in our Camry and I couldn’t shift it into neutral to tow it out of the back yard.
Ah a somewhat fishing thread to bring out the old men to shout at clouds.
I saw firsthand with my father the perils of not investing firsthand in getting a base level functional understanding of technology. Despite being a scientist by background he never really got to grips with computers beyond basic wordprocessing and could in later life barely navigate making a call on his smartphone.
At the same time I have extreme wariness re forced technology. Is that phone update going to make things better for me or risk bricking the device or sneak through a load of extra permissions to exploit my data?
You can’t do nothing but at the same time you probably shouldn’t do everything.
I definitely take that attitude with smart devices. Why open my life up to bad actors if the analogue version still works fine.
And the online world where every vendor wants you to register an account that you may only ever use for a single purchase drives me insane.
I have less than two pages of apps on my iPad. I figure the less apps the less unwanted information sharing!
Absolutely. Plus not only does updating the OS often result in unwelcome changes to the user interfaces, you often have to turn off all the permissions again. I’m an ex-techie, but I use my phone for calls, texts, maps, controlling my hearing aids, an occasional photo and not much else. I’m certainly not going to use it for health data – I have a Google Pixel and I am quite sure the data would go to Google.
Serious question, are you really that upset about all the free services you receive because they change now and then? I mean when in human history has more been available at very low or no cost to billions of people?
When you take a bigger picture view, even considering all the inconveniences aren’t things better than ever?
Amen
The Amish were right.
Double “Amen” to everything you mention here. Sure wish there was an easy answer to this. I know just enough to be dangerous in these matters so my wife “lets me” take care of it but admit I’m falling behind the pace of change. Even if the customer support folks are kind and helpful, I’m annoyed that I need to call for help to figure out where they moved a certain feature to now or what it’s been replaced with or no longer available. A gadget/tech guy at heart with an engineering degree leads me to be curious about how things work and fascinated by the micro and macro marvels of today’s world. I guess that helps me push through these annoyances.
As bad as it feels, we’re miles ahead of dial up modems (even to just get rid of that nasty electronic noise during the login “handshake”) and the slowwwwww speeds. Prior to converting to all Apple products many decades ago, I vividly recall the annoyance of having to constantly do updates to the my PC software, including the security package like McAfee or Norton, and how badly it slowed my top end computer down while it did its job. Going further back in time, it was once thought to be impossible for a human to be able to operate a steering wheel, clutch and brake/accelerator at the same time. Look at us now! My new car has more features than I want or need (at least for now) versus my 2011 but there are numerous, helpful improvements that far outweigh reading through the 800 page manual to learn about and make best use of them. On another positive note, I haven’t had to step inside a bank and stand in line or go to their drive through since the 90’s, I don’t need to mail anything if I don’t choose to and we almost don’t need physical bank checks anymore.
Ironically, most of us get really annoyed when we can’t blaze through tasks these days including anything more than a few seconds for an internet site/page to load on your phone or computer while we used to be amazed at being able to get a letter across the country in a week.
Speaking of security, why would anyone want to sign the outside of an absentee ballot and worse, mail it in?
I just read a piece saying that young voters are so unused to signing their names they have trouble producing a consistent signature. I once read the document that accompanied a new bank account and discovered that they don’t check the signature on checks. I never sign those iPad screens when I use a credit card – a wavy line works fine.
Well, if you don’t sign, they won’t count it….with 100% mail voting,It is the only way to vote here. But there are drop boxes so you don’t have to use USPS….
Exactly. Been doing this for years and it’s a marvelous way to vote and it always goes straight to a drop box. Maybe signatures don’t count for much anymore. Heck, the credit card companies told us years ago not to sign the back of your card when you get a new one as a lost signed card was allegedly a higher risk.
I get the point that without a signature it’s a no-go and weeds out the duds without having to open a ballot. I guess I’d just be more comfortable keeping my signature within the envelope. To each their own I guess.
I am not sure how it is done, but they claim to review every signature on every ballot. And, if you requested it on the envelope they will contact you if their is a problem with your signature…..