Is Technology Bad Or Am I That Age?

I’ve been an avid tech geek my entire life from getting excited. Casio watches From my childhood to almost 12 years as a tech writer for CNET with built-in calculators. But this past year things started to change for me and I started to wonder: Has technology changed or have I changed?

It’s not because I don’t like technology anymore. So many gadgets designed to make our lives easier and more fun actually don’t work as they should. Take, for example, game consoles. Mine Xbox Series X It’s a lot of fun when it works. But often times, when I find myself in the mood to press some buttons and fire up, I face a long wait as major updates are downloaded for both the console and the game I want to play.

When I make a coffee and look out the window while updates are loading, I usually lose the urge to play and eventually start doing something else. same for PS5. Do you know what 80GB doesn’t require updates? My Scrabble set.

Then there are various new Bluetooth headsets that I use — AirPods Professional 2, Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro, OnePlus Buds Pro — works fine most of the time and then, every once in a while, for no discernible reason, a headphone decides not to connect and I have to stop what I’m doing and re-pair the whole set.

Sound was very important to me this year. Most of the time I love my Apple HomePod. Sound quality is great and AirPlay works well when it feels like it. But usually he doesn’t want to disconnect halfway through a song and decides to cut it. And when I try to reconnect via Spotify I can’t even see my HomePod as an option anymore.

I’ve had many similar experiences with Bluetooth speakers from other brands. And don’t get me started on the fragility of in-car Bluetooth connections that often seem to completely forget about your existence every time you stop your car.

Last Christmas my brother gifted me a vinyl record player. Then I immediately bought myself a set of records from my favorite bands like Periphery, Incubus and Royal Blood. Honestly, I found the whole experience to be a revelation.

I’m not going to speculate on the “temperature” or “character” of the sound coming from the record because as long as it’s “good enough” I’m honestly not that bothered. It’s refreshing to just put a record on and actually play it, without the need to connect wirelessly or disconnect inexplicably. I drop the record onto the turntable, move the needle and it just plays.

I’ve also found that I like to replay whole albums rather than just adding a few songs to a playlist or shuffling all my “favorite” songs. spotify. Going to record stores to find specific artists I want is far more satisfying than digging through the endless abyss of the Spotify catalog. Maybe I’d enjoy going back to DVDs instead of endlessly scrolling through Netflix and not being able to decide what to watch. Probably not.

It is worth noting that I will turn 35 in January. And there’s a definite stereotype about people in their mid-30s who suddenly start hitting the record. I’m a professional photographer and yes, I’ve also started doing film photography this year and enjoy the simpler approach that my Canon R5 lacks.

To be fair, I’ve always felt a little older than my age. I prefer bubble baths to nightclubs, I’ve been making homemade scented candles since my mid-twenties, and I can always identify the most comfortable chair in any room.

So is it me? Am I new to that age? Or is technology actually more frustrating? Broken connections, constant updates and patches that need to be downloaded, software bugs that cause phone reboots, crashed apps, similar games cyberpunk later published half-finished with the promise of future fixes. What happened to technology that just works? Just doing what it’s supposed to and providing the seamless experience we paid for?

Am I wrong about getting frustrated when things don’t go your way? I love technology and everything it brings to our lives. I love playing games. I love having Zoom conversations with my family. I don’t want to go back to a “simpler time” when there was “instant messaging” by mail or when the latest AAA game was ball in a glass. I just want things to work properly and not feel like I’m fighting against technology that’s supposed to help.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to my comfy couch with my hot cocoa and my blanket.