Although digital devices are making life more convenient, they can also make our lives difficult. Phones, tablets and laptops have been artfully designed and improved since those early days of green screens and dial-up tones, and that’s wonderful — until you realise that huge parts of your life now depend on them.
The screens of our smartphones have become our primary source for calling, shopping, entertainment, music and loving messages. Over the last 10 years, technology has drastically changed how we live our lives.
Worst of all is the tyranny of ‘updates’. There you are, bustling through your day, wanting to check something before you go out, and your machine smugly says it’s too busy ‘installing’ some improvements you didn’t ask for.
Libby Purves argues there isn’t a need for constant infuriating updates as digital kit is fine as it is but companies are toying with us (file image)
It may have changed the layout of your computer or made an uncomprehensible request to Adobe Acrobat.
The app PayByPhone allows you to pay for your parking at the train station. So you click on that, but as it’s been three weeks since you last tried, it insists on spending several minutes working on itself.
The taxi app is self-improving, my Kindle’s working on itself. Digital kings, just stop! The kit works fine.
At the other end, your taxi app may also be engaged in self-improvement, so that’s another wait. And so on until bedtime, when you pick up your Kindle for a soothing read and it has decided to ‘improve your reading experience’. That totally changes its look, and now you can’t find how to adjust the brightness.
Digital kings, just stop! You can use this kit as is. You taught us to love it and need it, and now you’re just toying with us!