Loading, Buffering and Booting: The Lost Days of Our Lives
Technology has done a lot to save us countless hours of effort by automating many processes in our daily lives. While algorithms and APIs have given us more time to do new and exciting things, not everything about technology makes us more efficient.
I don't know about you, but when I am facing the end of life, I want all the time back I have spent watching spinning hourglasses and crawling progress bars. Credit me the hours it used to take me to install upgrades to my Windows operating system before I switched to OS X. Extend my days by the amount of time I have spent staring at the word "buffering" or looking at something "loading."
And that's not even considering the time I have spent creating PowerPoint presentations that didn't look compiled by an engineer. Or the time it took to set up a wireless network and connect all various wifi devices in my house.
This isn't just a rant about the days of my life I have given to Microsoft products. My Nexus One gets sluggish and occasionally freezes, requiring a thorough housecleaning in order to remove a rogue app I may have inadvertently downloaded in the Wild West of the Android open mobile marketplace.
Don't get me started about the time it takes to reset the TiVo after it freezes when I try to watch a pre-recorded TV program while it downloads an Amazon movie. Or the mid-movie buffering that I endure when I try to watch a Netflix film over my woefully slow Broadstripe cable network.
Technology gives, but it takes as well.
What gadget or application has been your biggest test of patience?
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