It’s time for a whinge! Have you noticed how much more complex technology is today? Perhaps it’s me, and one of the problems of getting old, but I find it overwhelming. Whereas a piece of equipment used to be simple and straightforward, now it does everything. I bought a camera expecting to take photos just by pushing a button, but what are all those other buttons and levers for? It is useful to be able to focus in or out, and to add flash on dark days, but why all the extras? Recently I pushed a knob by mistake and the picture in the viewfinder changed completely to shades of blue. Why do I need this?
I have to carry a mobile phone to keep in touch with friends and relatives as, apparently, a fixed home phone is no longer the way to communicate. But even the simplest mobile has so many extras that it takes months to work out. I don’t need a phone to also be a camera, a computer, calculator, travel planner, encyclopedia, message board, weather forecaster, music keyboard, etc etc. It’s a bit like wanting to buy a mouth organ and being presented with a concert organ with several keyboards and a myriad stops and pedals. To use any modern appliance one needs to attend a 10-week course as well as read and remember the instructions in the inevitable 50 page instruction booklet (?).
Interestingly, children appear to revel in using modern technology, and are keen to press all the knobs to see what will happen. Perhaps as retirees continue to increase in number in the overall population, manufacturers may see an opportunity in producing simple mechanical devices designed specifically for technically challenged old codgers.
An old codger's comments 