Our Complicated Electronic Gadgets

I finally popped for one of those gigantic LCD TVs, or "flat-screens" as evidently they've come to be called. Believe it or not, for quite a while I'd been mainly watching a 20" CRT (picture tube) TV, and in fact that was the biggest TV I'd ever owned.

I completely leapfrogged over the era when people were buying those huge devices called DLP TVs that would totally dominate a room. Sit in the corner and stare at you. Usually, I'm not the first one to go right out and buy some new technology or toy—but I'm not the last, either.

It seems like every new electronic device is so complicated. Luckily, this TV (and probably almost all of them) steps you through the initial setup—at least the channel scan—with prompts. And for audio and picture settings, there are the factory defaults or presets. I have a feeling that 98% of owners use those presets and never change them.

Which gets me to my main point. How many of us really know how to exploit the features and settings and options of our electronic toys—our cell phones, our computers, even our cars? I know for fact that, since computer ownership has become so mainstream, many people have a very shaky knowledge of, say, their operating system (e.g., Windows) and need some sort of computer help at one time or another. So operation has gotten too complex. Consumer Reports magazine recently rated some Ford and Lincoln models as "not recommended," because their command system--MyFord Touch and MyLincoln Touch, I believe--is too complicated. They said good old-fashioned knobs and switches would be better: easier to use and less distracting for the driver.

Then there's just the matter of hook-up. An awful lot of people need help just with hooking up their TVs, computers, etc. I know because I have helped others hook up their computers, stereos, and so forth, many times. And occasionally I myself have been confused, if only momentarily, by a complicated hookup.

I can manage my computer all right and seldom if ever have had to seek any help. And ditto for my cell phone. With my previous car, I had to spend a lot of time studying the owner's manual, since it was somewhat fancy and had a lot of features I wasn't accustomed to. ("The car will do such-and-such, except when this or that or an alternate Tuesdays.") I bet we often discover some of the features only accidentally (happened to me).


I tend to feel that all this stuff complicates our lives. Yes, it's definitely cool what some of these things can do. Our "toys" are fun, convenient, helpful. But I find myself yearning for the days when my clock radio (probably now over 30 years old) would have been considered complicated. I feel I'm almost capable of becoming a real Luddite (named for a man who was a leader in protests and even sabotage of the new machinery that came in with the Industrial Revolution).

Interestingly, later (since I originally posted this) there came news that Consumer Reports removed its recommendations on one Ford and one Lincoln vehicle because their touch-screen-driven command system (MyFord Touch and MyLincoln Touch) is unnecessarily complicated and too much of a distraction to the driver. They said good old-fashioned knobs and switches would be better. Kinda makes me think that we've been seeking complexity and sophistication for its own sake and not for practical reasons or for real utility.

Also, from where I stand I think there is an age thing going on. Some of my friends my age continue to be knowledgeable of, and comfortable with, all these technological innovations. But a lot of people my age (and younger) need help with, for example, learning to use their computers. The other day I heard an 84-year-old man say that he didn’t know what karaoke is. As the writer Judith Viorst once said, It's hard to be hip after 40.

Copyright © 2010 by Richard Stein