Monday, July 27, 2009

Modern inconveniences

Noel wrote a blog post on the A.V. Club decrying an annoyance no futurist, no matter how visionary, could ever have foreseen: Shuffle fail. Specifically, this is when you hear "Abacab" on your iPod and realize that it's not shuffling but playing all your music in alphabetical order.

I frequently find myself drawing back from the edge of frustration by reminding myself that in an earlier era, I wouldn't have had the convenience that is now creating my anger by not working as planned. In this I attempt to follow the wisdom of Louis C.K.: It's going to space. Give it a second.

Here are my modern inconveniences. What are yours?
  • Going to the washer to transfer its load to the dryer, only to find that I forgot to shut the lid and therefore the spin cycle didn't happen.
  • Having to go inside of the gas station to pay because the credit card reader on the pump is out of order (or, heaven forbid, absent entirely).
  • Not being able to connect to the hard drive attached to our wireless network.
  • Local programs or events for which no information is available on the web.
  • Yahoo! Shopping.
  • Books with no "Look Inside" feature on Amazon. (Less annoying because of the novelty factor, but on the rise: Newly published books with no Kindle edition.)
  • Songs for which the same incorrect lyrics are posted on every lyric site on the web.
  • Convenience stores that aren't open seven days a week. (Similarly: Fast food outlets that are closed on holidays.)
  • People with no Facebook profile picture, network, or location information, making them hard to eliminate when you're trying to find that one particular John Q. Smith you went to high school with.

3 comments:

Doc Thelma said...

You didn't go to high school with anyone named John Q. Smith.

Eric Grubbs said...

For me, it's the toaster oven in my office's kitchen. It doesn't properly toast anymore, but it can warm things up close to a toast.

Well, a few weeks ago, I put a bagel in and then heard the timer's bell go off five minutes later. I pull out the bagel and it's not hot. I thought the oven had finally gone kaput.

Turns out it was unplugged.

Good grief!

dougb0 said...

- When my iPhone automatically connects to a Wi-Fi network that doesn't allow me to download email.

- When my universal remote doesn't quite get all the devices turned off at the end of a home theater session.

- When the reception on my car radio isn't good enough to get the "now playing" info to display on my dashboard.

- When Quicken fails to automatically download and reconcile all the credit card transactions.

- When Google Maps sends you a few blocks off the perfect route.