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.Patch Lady here – spotted this article today lamenting about Doctors hate some of technology they have to deal with. It seems to me while technology
[See the full post at: Has technology become too complicated?]
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
Some plain tools that I use on a daily basis that still work well include things like notepad and paint. What plain, ordinary programs do you really like?
Good old Calculator of course.
Notepad. 
You can still do some HTML coding in there. HTML 5 has had some blessings, but finding a friendly, free HTML5 editor these days is not one of them. As far as Technology goes, we’re still in the baby steps of computing.
I look forward to a day when a computer will:
1. Accurately detect a problem, not tell you what it THINKS is the problem
2. Accurately self-heal the problem, with few or no compromises or more damage done to the system by the fix.
The year? 2050?2150?
We shall see.
Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit, Dell Latitude E6330 ("The Tank"), Intel CORE i5 "Ivy Bridge", 12GB RAM, Group "0Patch", Multiple Air-Gapped backup drives in different locations. Linux Mint Newbie
--
"The more kinks you put in the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the pipes." -Scotty
…in the year 2525…
I think technology has probably made flying actually more dangerous than it was 15 or 20 years ago, but possibly safer than the years prior.
Fortran, C++, R, Python, Java, Matlab, HTML, CSS, etc.... coding is fun!
A weatherman that can code
I don’t use many of the old stalwart programs any more. Instead of calculator, I talk to Alexa, who sits on my desk. Instead of Paint, I use the Snagit editor. Instead of notepad, I use Google Docs. I’ve given up on Evernote and OneNote, in favor of Docs. Then there’s Gmail and the Google Calendar.
The biggest shift for me is away from my desktop/laptop — which have become bloated and unwieldy — and toward phone and tablet.
I feel sorry for the folks at my local doc’s office. They’re saddled with a monster of a new system, much like the one discussed in the first article. The intent is to capture everything, but the technology isn’t there yet, and likely won’t be for another decade. So everybody — docs, nurses, admins, techs, absolutely everybody — spends hours and hours on the computer. Is my medical care better for it? Yeah. But it has to be enormously frustrating for the people who input all the data.
The problem is marketers.
Marketers can’t sell a product unless it has new, often useless, unwanted junk features.
Apparently “controllability, predictability & reliability” are features that consumers have no use for.
Marketers remind me of (one of) Jonathan Swift’s comment about lawyers in “Gulliver’s Travels”:
“that in all points out of their own trade, they were usually the most ignorant and stupid generation among us, the most despicable in common conversation, avowed enemies to all knowledge and learning, and equally disposed to pervert the general reason of mankind in every other subject of discourse as in that of their own profession.”
-lehnerus2000
Marketers make everyone feel that if they aren’t keeping up with the “latest” technology, that they are Neanderthals and dinosaurs.
Years ago, a customer of mine was running AutoCAD on Windows 2000. She had one XP computer that was connected to the internet; the other computers in her office were running 2000, and they were on an isolated network that was not connected to the internet. The set up worked very well for her; there was no need for her to get an OS that was newer than 2000.
But she wanted to go with something newer than that, because she was convinced that she was behind the times, even though everything she had was getting the job done very reliably. She eventually fired me and got a new IT tech, and he immediately put her on Windows 8 and the latest version of AutoCAD. I guess it all worked out for her; but I do know that she unnecessarily spent a bunch of money to make the move from what she had to the newer stuff.
Agreed…..When it comes to technology, I have and always will believe that the new norm for today is:
If it works and it works well, let’s FIX it. That goes for computers, software, anything. This constant updating and redoing to IMPROVE things is not needed. If it works, leave well enough alone. All this improving and updating seems to, in most cases, make things worse a lot of the time.
It depends on the need. With Windows 8.1, the UWP Calculator works for me. As far as text is concerned, Word is for the longer documents that need something extra. For simple text that I need temporarily, Notepad works file. Also, I’ve found I’m doing more on the desktop, usually surfing the web, so Firefox works great. It’s not getting too complicated yet, even with updates & extensions. Sadly, Microsoft abandoned the Facebook & Twitter apps on Win8.1 in favor of Win10 whatever. The features that they have on the web were ported over (scraped?) to Win10, but FB on 8.1 was still left with “click to Like, click again to unlike”. No additional reactions… Twitter on 8.1 was still stuck with 120 characters & the star to Favorite. After uninstalling them, I access the websites. Going to the Windows Store while I’m writing this & the Official Facebook & Twitter apps are Gone! Nothing but knockoff clients… As for anon’s quote, “If it works and it works well, let’s FIX it.”, let this geekzer adapt it it to the old saying:
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” (Before)
“If it ain’t broke, break it, then fix it Better.” (After)
UPDATE: Forgot another example; I usually view pictures in the UWP Photos app. Not snazzy, but works OK. But I can view my Pictures library in Windows Media Player & see when I added them. Also, when I go to my Pictures library in Explorer, double-clicking on a pic brings it up in Windows Photo Viewer, since that’s my set default for photos.
Bought a refurbished Windows 10 64-bit, currently updated to 22H2. Have broke the AC adapter cord going to the 8.1 machine, but before that, coaxed it into charging. Need to buy new adapter if wish to continue using it.
Wild Bill Rides Again...
It started with VCR’s, then digital light timers with one or two buttons that required you to push the buttons in certain combinations for certain lengths of time to make them work. Then user manuals went from printed documents to soft copy to online to fragmented online with different chapters written by different people in different countries who didn’t understand the complete product. New software available for download rarely provides comprehensive description of what the software does, does not do, or how much it costs. We’ve lost the ability to communicate complete thoughts even though there are 9 bazillion ways to communicate online.
I remember when Microsoft software came with a help file. An actual, locally-installed, help file that was well written and reflected the operation of the product. The F1 key brought up the help file, from your own local disk, which was great if what you needed help with was establishing a network connection. You could even search the help file and find good answers to your questions. Now, the F1 key in most MS programs is useless, and you have to use your favorite search engine to find answers that actually make sense. If F1 is going to force you to the Internet anyway, might as well do the searching yourself. That way, you stand a chance of getting a clear, concise answer to your question, instead of an invitation to a training class, or a link to something that doesn’t correspond to the program you were in when you hit F1.
I think the downfall in help quality started with Clippy.
Spot-on, Susan.
What plain, ordinary programs do you really like?
Back in the day, when I was very often remoting into a customer’s computer, I had to have some basic tools available on their computer, so I learned how to use EDLIN. (Remember that one?) Everybody, and I mean everybody, was quick to tell you how stupid and awful EDLIN was; but there was one thing they never told you, and that was that it was available on EVERY DOS computer ever made. Consequently, if you would learn it and get to where you could actually use it, it would get the job done. At some point, EDIT became universally available, and I used that rather than EDLIN. But there was one problem with EDIT, and that was that you had to press ALT (all by itself) to get into the file save menu; but PC Anywhere (my remote access program) wouldn’t transmit ALT over the line, so I always had to ask the customer to press ALT for me. Consequently, I never entirely abandoned EDLIN.
In the modern era I would have to vote for PAINT. PAINT has to be the most useful quick-and-dirty graphics editing program ever invented. It doesn’t have a lot of features, but for basic no-frills editing, it is unsurpassed.
This software probably doesn’t qualify as plain or ordinary, but it has been depreciated and it works.
Windows Essentials 2012 is a suite of five or six programs, two of which I use continuously:
I’ve researched and experimented with other packages, but have found nothing as comfortable to use in mail client and photographic capabilities as these two programs within Windows Essentials.
I still need qbasic so that I can play gorilla.bas
(running away!…..)
Red Ruffnsore
Technology no longer serves the user because it is not what the user wants and is of poor quality. Cars no longer have real bumpers yet we have needless technology that replaces good driving skills!
Computers used to provide an excellent tool assisting man do perform his tasks ;now we are slaves to computers due to the constant barrage of poor software and too many options that are useless.
What happened to KISS…keep it simple stupid!
There’s an ever expanding gap between technology and progress and at this rate we will be back in the stone age very soon.
In W7 the snipping tool to GUI/Window capture (and still use it in W8.1)
I still use all the old standards like notepad, paint, calculator, etc. (until MS eliminates them).
Unfortunately MS in it’s infinite wisdom and forcefulness is he!! bent on eliminating the average user with new “Features” that not many want in the first place. You would think that somewhere down the line, average users that can no longer use these new “Features” will drop off and find a simpler way to use a computer whether it’s windows or not.
Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).
I regretted the loss of Outlook Express when I switched from XP to 7, but found Windows Live Mail to be a somewhat OK substitute. I am still using Office 2010 and, on occasion, Office 2003, Excel in particular when I need to make plot charts the quick and easy way.
And Windows Picture Manager, because with it I can still make very large Bitmap files into much smaller GIF ones.
More generally, as a practicing engineer, before being shoved by circumstances more to the science side of things, I remember clearly witnessing the tension between marketing department people and engineers; the former trying to push “better and improved” versions of whatever was working just fine already, and writing brochures that painted rosy visions of mostly unnecessary things one would be able to do with those “already” “improved” products. Engineers, on the other hand, just wanted to get things working properly, as well as to come up with really new things, like nothing that had existed before, but that also worked reliably and were fit for purpose.
Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).
MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV
I’ve let this question brew a while, and I think I’ve got an opinion:
Technology is necessarily complicated. It’s the nature of the beast. Advancements in complexity – and the management of complexity – are moving us forward. Life is complicated.
It’s this headlong rush to change everything at a breakneck pace that’s the problem.
If we allowed people the required YEARS to ferret out the best parts, to get good at using them, and to suggest refinements, THEN it would not be so complicated. The right things would be made simpler to use, and the unnecessary parts would be marginalized.
The untenable part is that there’s no time any more to get good at anything. Mostly it comes and goes and very few folks even get to know it at all, except the most superficial aspects. The industry infers from this that we all need dumbed down technology – which isn’t the case at all.
What we need is time to adapt to the complexity, to learn it, to harness it, and to make it work for us.
No one in their right mind would say that we need a new operating system release in anything less than 3 years. 5 years might be even better.
I was watching a video on YouTube the other day by a machinist using a lathe that was built – no lie – in the early 1900s. The machine is the better part of a century old, and he – a 3rd generation machinist – claims to still be learning how to best apply it. Now, when he gets a job, he knows how to set it up, to get things right the first time, to do the job with precision and efficiency.
Why do we have 6 months to get familiar with a new release of Windows 10? Who in their right mind thinks that’s the right release cadence?
It’s not about complexity. Complexity is necessary. But what’s equally necessary is to have the time that’s needed.
-Noel
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