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Ashley Gieseking's avatar

I feel your pain. Spent 2 hours the other day trying to make a laser printer output decent prints, the whole time knowing I was wasting my time, then wasted $300 on new toner in the hopes that the perfectly good toner in the printer was somehow the problem. Only to find out what I already knew which is that the damn thing has never worked and no setting or toner will change that. It’s especially frustrating for us problem solving brains to accept the broken nature of things. But it seems to be the status quo. Don’t you appreciate all this extra time technology is gifting us?

Bill Sawalich's avatar

Ha! Precisely.

Is it my problem solving brain that makes me hate everything? This makes so much sense. I was worried I was just turning crotchety.

Michael Mejia's avatar

Here's the solution.

Just get a pony and go door to door taking pictures of kids on the pony. Don't worry about all that other crap.

Bill Sawalich's avatar

This is brilliant. I kinda wanna try it.

Miranda Barfuss's avatar

"My outgoing emails get flagged as spam but my inbox is filled with boner pills and Nigerian princes. My car tells me I have a flat tire but what I really have is a faulty tire sensor. I soap up my hands at the public restroom sink and then struggle to convince the motion-activated faucet to believe in my existence." So funny. Thank you, thank you.

Bill Sawalich's avatar

Thank YOU for reading. And for the encouragement!

Don Giannatti's avatar

Technology of all kinds seems to have embraced the "subscription" model even without subscriptions. They just keep upgrading the software until you have no choice but to buy the latest and greatest. It's almost like they plan it!

BTW:

"This is boomer behavior, I gather. But you know what? Boomers got paid."

... is so very, very true.

Bill Sawalich's avatar

Thanks, Don. I agree. I hadn’t considered how this is planned obsolescence but I guess that’s exactly what it is.

As I was writing about these foibles I was picturing the heavy black Bakelite rotary phone that remained fully functional on my grandparents’ kitchen table for 50 years. I want that.