Happy Nice Mall

This article is part of the On Tech newsletter. Here is a collection past columns.

I wanted dust home printers. I felt very stressed recently when I was struggling to set up a new internet modem. Maybe you pray first trying to connect wireless headphones to your computer. And Siri, WHY ARE YOU SO STUPID? sometimes?

It’s been 30 years since Walt Mossberg was a pioneering personal technology journalist. started his first column In The Wall Street Journal’s sentence: “Personal computers are very difficult to use, and it’s not your fault.”

Today, many consumer electronics are far more capable, less expensive, and used by far more people than the PC when Mossberg wrote those words in 1991. Some gadgets have also become more user-friendly, but many of them want to curse and swear at you. scream. And it’s not your fault.

I know my voice is coming (still) like a grumpy old man. And balky headphones and printers aren’t the world’s most serious problems. However, I will continue with my grumble. Actually, I’ll leave that to Mossberg.

“If I were to restart my column today, the first row from 1991 would still work with one small change,” he told me by email. “PCs, smartphones and tablets are relatively easy to use – as long as you don’t change the default settings too much and do light work on them. Beyond that lies the disappointment.”

Mossberg then examined samples of “surprising and/or infuriatingly unreliable” products.

Routers and modems have improved, but “I feel like they were made for IT staff,” he said. Printers have “a million problems”. Mossberg said the voice assistants were “hit or miss.” webcams installed on computers was generally of poor quality and systems for controlling internet-connected home devices It was “an incompatible mess of confusing and unreliable stuff”.

Why is so much technology so infuriating?

First, it is difficult to make products easy to use. And some of the backbones of our home technology, including the internet, are so puny, It’s a miracle they never work.

Tech companies are also to blame. To sell us more, pack more features, which means more complexity.

Lauren DraganSome gadget companies are protecting their space and profits by making it harder to combine their products with other companies, said a writer for The New York Times’ product recommendation site Wirecutter. Have you tried using Apple’s AirPods headphones with an Android phone? Hahahaha. No, it doesn’t really work.

Lauren GoodeOur favorite electronics are getting more complex, said a tech writer at Wired. and The more we use them, the more chances for disappointments.

Combining capable hardware with knowledgeable software is becoming more important, Goode said. This combination is not easy. The TV maker may be great at showing a nice picture, but it’s terrible at making an app to log into Netflix.

TV sets, meanwhile, are at the top of Goode’s list of “no-complicated” products. And printers – yes. good lately went to get a tattoo and started fixing the salon’s printer. He said in his experience: iPads and stripped laptops called Chromebooks It is one of the few devices that is easy to set up and start using.

I am grateful that technology has made it possible to stay connected, work, have fun, and see the world in ways we have not seen before. But the more we use and rely on personal technology, the more we expect from it and realize how far from ideal it is.

I’m still waiting for the real-life “Star Trek” computer.tea, Earl Grey, hot” at my command. But I would gladly accept an internet router that doesn’t want to make me cry.

The technology you use for vacation

We recently asked On Tech readers to tell us what technologies they use to help manage the holidays. I wanted to highlight the responses you both got today. Jason and Justin, you guys are much more organized than I am.

Jason H., about using a shared digital calendar in Oregon:

A simple shared calendar for all family members (Apple and Google calendars). Flight information, family reunions, school holidays, etc. Everyone can add to this, and we can all see what’s planned for the family without seeing each other’s personal dates.

(If you want to follow Jason’s lead, here is an article about it how to set up a shared Google calendar with multiple people. And check out these tutorials for creating shared Apple calendars on iPhone or Match computer.)

Justin Jesena in Long Island City, Queens, about using Trello, a list-making app that looks like a collection of Post-it notes:

I use the Trello app to organize my holiday shopping list. I create a “card” for each person I need to buy gifts for, and add product links and ideas to their individual cards throughout the year so that by December, I already know what I’m getting everyone.

Remember when my grandma mentioned months ago that she wanted a new tablet? I also have a “purchased” card in the app so I can see what I’ve already purchased in one place – handy when I’m out and about trying to remember what I’ve already bought online or need inspiration!

(There is here are tips on how to get started with Trello.)

Before you go …

• This is a crazy online scam with seemingly no payoff: My colleagues uncovered a bizarre and relentless hoax to try to deceive several prominent female journalists and media figures in India. Thinking they got a job at Harvard University. The identity of the scammer or scammers is unknown.

• I cannot recommend this article highly enough: In 2020, many shared allegations that furniture dealer Wayfair was a front for the child sex trade. The allegations were not true. The Washington Post investigated what went wrong and women still torn apart by that viral lie. (Subscription may be required.)

• Notable deaths of people who helped shape technology: Learn about the lives of technologists, including Clive Sinclair, inventor of an early personal computer and Daniel Kaminskydiscovered a fundamental flaw in the structure of the Internet. including them List of notable deaths in 2021 Compiled by the obituary desk of The New York Times.

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