2008 Woodie Awards
Frustrated with technology? We hear you.
When Technology Goes Bad
Dennis Lambing
Issue date: 4/29/04 Section: Web Exclusive
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Networked Entertainment
Computer makers are currently touting the ability to route songs and video through a series of Wi-Fi (Wireless) connected PC's in your home. Apparently, the computer industry wants to replace the home entertainment system with a laptop. Sounds great but it still doesn't work well. Video takes up an enormous amount of bandwidth on any wireless network, even on the fastest standard, 802.11g. Currently, 802.11g is useful only for low-definition video. Sending hi-definition video across the current wireless technology will only result in disappointment because it will look compressed and blocky.
Memory Cards
There are too many different memory cards. Which memory card does your digital camera or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) use? Let's see. There is MMC, SD, Mini SD, xD, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro Duo and CompactFlash to name a few. That is far too many in my own honest opinion. Olympus and Fuji digital cameras will use the xD (Extreme Digital) format. The Sony brand of digital products use their own Memory Stick format but to get the most of the device, determining which Memory Stick will give you the best performance will cause you to search through tons of specifications. I am still a big fan of CompactFlash, even though it is an older format. Since every laptop made today still comes equipped with a PCMCIA slot, plugging in a CompactFlash Adapter and transferring files is painless. I wish I could say the same for the other formats.
Interface Cables
The only cable that the computer industry has finally settled on is the power cord and even that is tricky because occasionally I'm faced with a two-prong outlet with which to insert my 3-prong power supply. I still don't see much of a physical difference between FireWire and USB and yet they are two completely incompatible formats. The worst part is that some cables "almost" physically fit within a competing format. I had to troubleshoot a friend's USB problem, only to find out that she had plugged the USB cable into the Ethernet connection on the back of the PC. I laughed hysterically for hours afterwards but later I sat and pondered the real problem. The real issue is the Ethernet and the USB ports are very close together and that a USB cable will fit into the Ethernet port. Try it.
Device Drivers
Ugh! This seems to be the biggest failure within the computer industry (next to Microsoft Bob, remember that Operating System?) Manufacturers are in a hurry to get their products out, as well as they should, since the PC market is a cutthroat industry. In the end, it's the users that pay when they plug in their new printer only to find it won't work with Windows 98 or XP Home. Why? Because the drivers that came bundled with the printer are "buggy." See for yourself. There is hardly a device out there that does not have newer version of its driver published on the manufacturer website. If you purchased a video card, you had better check out their website because you will not get the most performance out of it until you upgrade to the latest driver. It's a hassle.
Batteries
You've spent all this money on a great little digital camera and extra memory, only to have the batteries die after 20 pictures. Of course, you could pack the DC power supply but what kind of pictures can you take while you are tethered to the wall? Why don't manufacturers bundle the high-capacity rechargeable batteries with their digital devices? I threw the generic batteries that came with my digital camera away and swapped them with rechargeable NiMH cells. They were expensive but worth it because I can run the camera flash and LCD display more often between recharges. Don't even get me started on how long the batteries are supposed to last. If the specifications indicate a 5-hour battery life, you can expect to get that kind of longevity but only when you don't use the built-in flash and LCD display.
That's not included?
Finally, you spent the money on a new ink-jet printer, only to realize that the USB cable isn't inside the box. Not only that, your new printer won't connect to the existing (albeit older) parallel cable. Did you also remember to purchase paper and additional ink-cartridges? Oh, did you want to print photo-quality pictures? That will be extra also. Before long, that $100 printer has set you back $150 to $200.
Computer Games
Why do the current games require that I have the latest PC technology? I picked up a really nice video card last year and I have found out that it is already obsolete. Well, it's not entirely obsolete. I simply discovered that the game's specifications have completely understated what it takes to actually play. Well, the game is playable but it feels like I'm playing in four feet of mud. The frame-rate is too slow. It is awfully disappointing to need a $300 graphics card to play a $50 game.
What is this program doing here?
I cannot count the number of times I have had to uninstall an unwanted program that came bundled with another application I purchased. I hate it when America Online, Turbo Tax, Quicken, Microsoft Office, Real Player or any other number of applications, suddenly fill your desktop with unwanted short-cuts to programs I did not want. When I managed to remove Internet Explorer from my computer (I hate IE), for some reason, Microsoft Photo Editor was no longer the default for some of my digital photographs. It took me over a day to figure out how to get that back. When I buy a program, I want the program and not the extras they think I should use. It's a complete waste of time. I don't like telemarketers and I don't like being soft-sold on an application I could care less about.
I have more complaints, but these are the issues that bother me the most. Like most people, I bought into technology because it would save me time. Unfortunately, it seems that time is now wasted on calling tech-support for assistance. Anyone who trusts technology, simply does not understand technology.