Technology Will Strangle You

One app at a time.

The Palm Pilot did two things superbly: the calendar and the contact list. They were simple and just worked 100% reliably.

The calendar on my smartphone, the one Google forces on you, has been abandoned for a paper datebook which is - you guessed it - simple and just works 100% reliably.

Contacts are scattered hither and yon, but mostly I applaud people who include full contact details at the bottom of their emails.

My phone has about 75 apps installed.

Seven (!) of them are for paying for parking. Every city, and even parts of cities, has parking managed by one or the other contractor, so if you travel you have no option.

OK, you could carry a pocket full of change…

Then there are loyalty cards.

Honestly I could add a dozen more, but these five at least deliver some discounts. I think.

When they work.

CAA loads about nine times out if ten, for no apparent reason. Air Miles, the same.

Scene card though just halts every six or seven days, refuses to load, and DEMANDS that it text my phone a six digit number to PROVE that I am not an evil bonus grocery points thief.

My bank is less paranoid.

The one app that I praise consistently is provided by Queens Region, our local government.

It does one thing: every other Thursday it sends a reminder that tomorrow is garbage day.

That is honestly really handy, and otherwise it does nothing

(To be fair, I think it probably also has info about trash and recycling, but I’ve never looked.) (Postscript: I looked, and it doesn’t.)

More and more I find myself abandoning technology which is annoying, or invasive, or just too much hassle for what is delivered.

I’ve gone from being a classic early adopter, to being someone who rejects the newest tech at the first hint of trouble.

And I don’t think I’m alone.