Gadgets That Drive Me Nuts!
Did you know that up to 25 percent of some consumer electronic products are returned to the stores within just a few days of their purchase? The reason given is because they are just too complicated and hard to use. No doubt, wireless gadgets, computers and many other consumer electronics items drive us collectively nuts. We cannot seem to get the product to work as expected because sometimes it is just too difficult to hookup or program, or there are too many features to learn and the instruction manual is thicker than the device itself.
I've written many articles about a variety of high tech products. Before writing about the article, I try out the product first, whether it's a gadget, a software application or a website. If the product is too hard to use or understand, or if it doesn't work as expected or isn't a good value for the money, I send it back with a nice note to the manufacturer on how to improve it. I've been asked many times about products that drive me nuts, so here are a few that are on my list at the moment.
Mobile Phones
Cell phones have turned into gadgets made for teenagers with small nimble fingers, acute hearing like a bat and eyesight as sharp as an owl at midnight. Do you ever see kids squinting to read their text messages? The mobile phone handset is not a friendly device for those of us over 45 who wear bi-focals, have adult-sized fingers or feeling the aches of arthritis.
But it's not all about big screens and buttons. It's also about the mix of services. At our age, we don't care much about text messaging, we prefer to use a phone for what it was made for — hearing a human voice. We really don't need a personal entertainment center in our pocket since our busy days are "entertaining" enough with all the activities we try to cram into them. Playing MP3s and having a camera are handy, but if we want to watch a full length movie it will not be while squinting through bi-focals at a two-by-two-inch screen held an inch away from our nose. I'm waiting for the handset manufacturers and the mobile phone carriers to wake up and smell the coffee that they have a big underserved market of folks over the age of 45.
Remotes
Don't get me started on the individual quirks of TVs, HDTVs, VCRs, DVDs, DVRs, and cable boxes. Trying to wire all these devices together is not for the faint-of-heart. What drives me nuts about these items is that each comes with its own remote. In my house it takes a minimum of three remotes to change from watching satellite TV to a DVD. I've learned to keep the instruction manuals for each device nearby for when I need a refresher on how to switch between devices.
Standardization of button locations, functions, and inter-programmability is not a priority of these device manufacturers, not to mention the bag full of batteries you need to buy to keep all these devices funtional. And woe unto you if you misplace a remote! Did I mention that home theater setups, radios, stereos and even ceiling fans and air conditions also come with remotes? Word to the wise — label every thing!
As a last note, it seems every appliance in my home connected to a wall socket has a digital clock. When the power grid hiccups, all these clocks need to be reset. I think I'll research a future article on trying to find a universal remote, with big buttons that can also reset all my clocks.
About the Author
Susan Ayers Walker is a leading-edge boomer with over 35 years experience in emerging technologies.
