I work in the IT field and have for 20+ years. I am used to things going wrong and taking the position that if it breaks then I will find a way to fix it. I deal with custom written software and have a great trust in my ability to fix whatever may go wrong there. I can not say the same for hardware and purchased software.
Despite frustration with when things go wrong I love new toys and this weekend had the experience of setting up and playing with my new iPhone. I am going from no internet access on a phone to the Cadillac version. There were only a few snarls, such as setting up my email which I hacked away at for a great part of the weekend and finally, after deleting and starting over, got it to work last night.
I tell people that one of my greatest strengths is that I am stubborn and do not let something go until I have solved it. This is a strength but also a weakness in that it induces stress when things are not working. Its not uncommon for me and my friends to say “I hate computers” when in fact we obviously love them.
When the technology is working everything is right with the world. When it is not, the sense of frustration can become almost overpowering. I realize that a lot of people have learned to walk away but for me, I hang in there until there is a solution and so bring on a lot more frustration that is probably unnecessary.
And sometimes it is the littlest things that I can not let go of. When I ordered my iPhone I ordered a clear protective cover which I put on as soon as I receive t. It fits perfectly, so perfectly that I can not get it off. So, I began to notice that there were blotches under the cover, either condensation or some kind of smear on the back of the cover or the phone itself. This was bothering me, and all I wanted to do was get the cover off so I could clean it. But, the cover wouldn’t come off. So I tried to ignore it and turn on the phone and try all of the wonderful things it would do.
So, I have been setting up my phone for two days and all I have left is to finish my contact list and I love it except for these horrible blotches. I’m sitting at my computer updating my address book when three fire trucks come roaring up my street and I jump up to see what is going on and drop the phone on the floor, pulling the USB cable out with it.
So, now I’m a little concerned about my new phone but somehow the blotches are gone.
Technology is after all a tool that is meant to be used; however, I find that I am often annoyed by relatively simple technological problems. My annoyance seems to come from the feeling that my personal experience is being disrupted by these incidents. I want my experience to be simpler, cleaner, crisper and do not have a good way of handling the disruptions without annoyance.
I believe this is a reflection of what is going on on a larger level. There is a lot of static in our experience. We have a lot of wonderful gadgets that make life interesting and fun but when they break down we somehow feel diminished.
Technology represents the best and the worst of times.
And, Technology also seems to be somehow related to our concept of time because it can be a time saver, a time waster or something that consumes much more time than anyone ever anticipated.
