Is technology really moving us forward or are we sometimes going backwards because of it?

Question

For example, our toaster. It used to have a potentiometer (knob) on the side you turned it to a number, pressed the lever to lower the bread and it cooked fine. Now it has an LCD display with separate + and – buttons. Every time you turn it on you have to select ‘Toast’ (not defrost or re-heat) and press + a couple of times to get to the required heat setting. Surely this is going backwards? It uses electricity if it’s left on, doesn’t remember the temperature if you turn it off and the buttons will probably wear out before anything. It’s the same for other things as well: microwaves, phones, Hi-Fi’s, DVD players, TV’s, Cars…

Does anyone else feel sometimes we are cramming so much technology into things that it makes objects harder to use or we are sacrificing quality for convenience and so going backwards?


Bit of a rant I know! Any views would be helpful.

Answer 1

What a chord your toaster dilemma has hit! The counter reaction to "overteching" is in full swing! First the miniaturization went swiftly crazy! Tiny cell phones and remote control devices and calculators that we can't see, let alone operate! Then the race to include more features, few of which will ever be used, with instructions needing days to figure out, even with a 17 language guide. Along with these developments, we have the added problem of such rapid inclusion of tech "advances" into " newer " models that our devices become obsolete way before we have learned to properly use them! And if your "older" device needs repair, forget it! Parts, including batteries, for your last months model are no longer manufactured! Take stereo receivers. Until the late 1980's, we had large, silver faced beauties with readily visible controls, tuning dials that could actually be fine tuned very easily and a few really useful, well marked features like BALANCE, A & B SPEAKERS, LOUDNESS, BASS, TREBLE, etc. that were so simple to operate that a manual was often unecessarry! Then things got smaller. Worse, the color changed to black, period! Now you really couldn't see anything! Large knobs became tiny black buttons. More station preset buttons were added than there were stations to preset! Each model had more & more "convenience features", like 23 different music sound locations from concert halls to barnyards and 15 different speaker outlets, each with something different coming out of them. No longer stereo but now humungachaneleo! All of this now takes, at least two 1&1/2 inch manuals to learn how to operate, one for the receiver and the other for the remote which has even more features, most of which can't be accessed from the receiver itself!!. JC's throughout the nation are now offering AA degrees in Manual Understanding and Use! Enough! I've been buying and selling stereo equipment from the 1970's & 80's for about 5 years and I can tell you there are alot of people looking, sometimes begging, for the easier & simpler ways of the past. If you think it's just the older crowd, think again! Just look at the large amount of questions in this format, under "consumer electronics" that are confused and asking sincere questions abour how to get stuff downloaded or uploaded to or from their ipods! One of persons was calling her ipod an "old School" version! Obsolete already, I guess. I rest my (and your) case. bet you the industry will take note of this backlash in the not too distant future and begin to produce some new, old style equipment. Has it started yet?

Answer 2

Good observation. Actually technology is moving us forward, but some so called engineers are applying it in the wrong way. If the LED or LCD is on your Microwave oven or displaying your car speed you probably appreciated a lot, but if the some technology is used in the way that you just described it is annoying and pointless. Simply speaking it is not bad technology it is bad engineering.

Answer 3

Doesn't call for much of an answer. It made me smile reading the question because it is worded nicely. I suppose my answer would be a resounding YES in agreement. I like to use tech WHEN I feel like it but overall I feel technology is taking us straight to hell in a newly designed plastic and metal case.

Answer 4

We may sacrifice VERY small things with technology gains, but we gain much MUCH more valuable things. Imagine if you didn't even have a toaster...

Answer 5

Sometimes the technonerds forget simplicity of operation.

Answer 6

no, not tech, just people alwasy looking forward not backward, so people wants more and more