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Sometimes, I just get fed up and tired of technology.

More specifically, I get fed up and tired with the way product manufacturers insist that "adding an app" is a product improvement, when — in fact — it is just an annoyance and complication.

Call me cynical, but it feels like aforesaid manufacturers have run out of actual improvements, so they add a bunch of meaningless fluffery in order to call their wares "new and improved" and subject to (another!) 10% price increase.

For pretty much nothing...

I think what upsets me here is that so few things are actually improved in a way that reflects what people actually want as opposed to what makes the manufacturer more money... while looking more clever than their rivals.

It also worries me in the sense that we are allegedly trying to build a better world for the future... but these features are not really better.

And so, I not only don't want the improvements... I increasingly find reasons to reach for the "analog" versions of many products.

As a writer and photographer, I do have loads of content and work stored in the cloud. But I also have several 2-terabyte external hard drives to which I have virtually everything backed up, including 20 years worth of images. I just consider it "extra security" in case something happens to that cloud storage server, or my stuff suddenly gets taken and put behind a paywall.

Maybe I'm particularly sensitive because we live close enough to Canada that we sporadically end up with our cell sevice coming through Canadian cell towers.

The thing I end up thinking about is that a lot of items in the world are already fully developed and don't need to be improved... and adding to them or putting them on apps actually worsens the quality and utility of the item!

No thanks!

It does make me wonder whatever happened to the idea of companies changing their products in response to actual customer feedback about utility and such... not just as a tool to sell more products and charge more for them.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week ahead!

How about YOU? Have you bought any new products and felt disappointed by their "improvements?" Do you think technology is always an improvement? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — Not posted elsewhere!)

Created at 2026.07.20 01:55PDT
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