Plain Text: The Tech-Support Generation

And the headaches keep escalating as digital technology infiltrates new, once simple appliances. Take the newest digital phones. Phones used to be simple and easy to use, didn't they? Over a year ago, I fell for a new Samsung mobile phone offered by Sprint. The phone, the i500, combined a Palm Pilot into a seemingly well-designed compact handset. It looked great, and I could carry one device around instead of two. Even today, 14 months after I bought it, the silver clamshell gadget elicits amazement from friends.

But the only thing that amazes me now is how crappy it actually is. The graffiti pad on the phone stopped working soon after I bought it. The screen frequently goes on the fritz. And the little stylus that slips into the handset appears specifically made to get lost in the seat cushions of my car. I recently checked a mobile-phone chat page on the Internet and found that lots of other users were having the same problems. We all paid way too much for a gadget whose primary function is to raise its owner's blood pressure.

Technology execs used to spend a lot of time beating the battle-drum of simplicity. Products had to be easier to use and more elegantly designed, they argued. You hear less of that now, but certainly not because they achieved those lofty goals. Too often, today's slick user interfaces appear to be nothing more than curtains hiding the wizard. Hit the wrong key, and you still get those incomprehensible error messages.

Every now and then, I indulge in a little revenge fantasy: as my computer freezes up or flashes its dreadful "blue screen of death," I put execs from a few choice technology companies in a headlock and give them noogies while demanding that they answer for the shortcomings of their products. But I would never actually do that. Though they probably share the sentiment, my parents wouldn't approve.

© 2004