This is Technology Bytes, episode 32, for October 15th, 2023.
Technology Bytes is a microcast where I share brief bytes on interesting technology.
My name is Joel.
Enjoy, and here we go.
This week I thought I’d do something a little different.
I don’t have any specific technology that I’m going to talk about.
But what I want to talk about is when technology doesn’t work.
We rely so much on the technology in our lives today that when it doesn’t work, we get really frustrated.
We think technology is there for a few things.
One, it should make our lives easier.
And when it breaks and doesn’t do what we expect it to do, then we get very frustrated.
We want technology to be enjoyable.
We want to rent a movie.
We want to do a puzzle on the iPad.
We want to talk to people through text or social media.
And we want technology to be enjoyable.
And when things fail, it is the total opposite.
And we expect technology to give us time.
So we expect traffic lights to work appropriately.
And we expect our cars to work properly so that we can get to places in a timely manner and give us time with friends and give us time with family.
And we expect technology to give us comfort.
We expect washers and dryers and dishwashers and refrigerators and stoves and lights and electricity.
We expect that to all work.
And when it doesn’t work, it makes our lives very unenjoyable.
It makes our lives difficult at times.
It makes us have to spend time fixing instead of spending time with people.
And when technology goes on the fritz, we can get very angry.
So here’s the deal.
Nothing in this world is perfect.
And I think as you know, as you age, all of a sudden you have to step that last step to the bottom floor instead of jumping from three floors up or three steps up, I mean.
You know that you have to be careful when you pick up something so that you don’t tweak your back and not just grab it and jerk on it and pull it up and not have to worry about those things.
And then when technology ages, that kind of thing happens too.
My wife and I just recently moved into a place.
Everything seemed good.
Nothing is exactly new.
But just the week after we move in, our stove decides that it’s not going to heat properly and our dryer decides that the timer mechanism is going to break.
And whatever things go wrong, things go wrong.
And the thing that you recognize right away is you realize the comfort that technology brings is super nice.
And it makes our lives easier until it doesn’t.
And then we blame people like me because I love technology.
And when things go wrong at my in-laws, it’s because I did something wrong.
I broke something.
I didn’t fix something correctly.
And so you’re quick to turn the thoughts to whoever invented, whoever last changed, who was supposed to be in charge, and it becomes, again, a point of frustration.
So this seems like a very negative little microcast this week, and I guess it kind of is.
But I want to give you a different perspective and see if that doesn’t help as you use the technology that you use on a daily basis.
I will admit to times of frustration because things don’t work.
And then I start thinking about the complexity of the world in which we live, the amazing things that technology actually does for us.
And I decided to change my mindset and decided to be in awe when things do work, even if I expect it to, to still have that sense of wonder that this even works at all.
To think that when I press a small little switch on a wall in my house, that the electricity that comes from, where does it come from?
Well, there’s a power plant somewhere that runs electricity through wires for who knows how many miles, that comes through transformers, that gets it in the right form for a home to work.
And then when the switch is thrown, it makes a connection, and it actually flows electrons through wires and turns on a light.
That’s pretty amazing.
And the fact that it works like 99.9% of the time makes it even more amazing.
I think about other technology like washers and dryers and dishwashers, things that we used to do by hand.
It was no fun, and technology did make that easier.
And to think that it actually works, that without you doing much more than putting some soap in a container and throwing a pile of clothes in a bucket and hitting a button, and then you get clean clothes an hour later, that’s amazing that that even works.
And then I think of the technology that I put my hands to, like my automatic garage door opener I talked about last week and my electronic door locks that I put on my doors and the lights that I put in my lamps, and the fact that I can talk to the air and tell some inanimate person who I have given a name to do something as simple as turn on a light or open a garage door or unlock a door and that it actually happens more than it doesn’t, that’s just amazing.
And the fact that you can drive up to your garage, hit a button on your screen, and your door opens and it works 95% of the time, that’s just wonderful.
And it makes us feel good, and it makes our lives more enjoyable.
And the fact that on one little device, I can travel between three homes that I own, my kids own, and my kids rent, and have my phone know I’m there and connect to their smart devices and be able to turn on music or turn on a light or unlock a door, and that it actually works most of the time, that is fantastic.
That is amazing.
So I think that our attitude with technology needs to turn back to its original invention.
People were amazed when an automobile came out.
People were amazed when electricity would travel more than a couple feet.
And then we became used to it, and then we became angry when we don’t get what we expect.
I think if we change our minds and realize that technology working at all is an amazing thing, it will make all of our lives that much more enjoyable and that much more simple.
I know it still will be frustrating when things don’t work, but when you get it to work again, you can go, wow, that’s amazing that that even works.
That is all I have for today.
If you have any comments or suggestions, you can send them to technologybytes at merrickfamily.com.
Thank you for listening to this Technology Bytes microcast.
I look forward to the next time we are together taking another bite out of technology.
Microsoft Mechanics www.microsoft.com www.microsoft.com
