5-pet-peeves
Modern society is so immersed in technology these days, but it doesn't take long for something to irk someone. What is your tech related pet peeve?
Written By: Geovian
Date: 10 July 2020
It's not all that bad, isn't it?
Since the Internet Age took off in the late 90's, we've all been looking for the silver bullet to make our technology usage pain free and easy to use. Hasn't quite worked out that way huh? I know, having lived in the Linux Universe most of that time, the pain was severe to start out with, but has over time gotten better and better.
Some things have completely dropped off the map. Who remembers MySpace? What about Napster? Is anyone still using Pirate Bay? Actually, years later, I believe they still are. Is anyone still on a dial-up modem?
I'm not so convinced about Windows. It took two backwards steps with its development; Vista and ME being the two chief offenders. I've been off MS for many years now, though occasionally I'll have to roll out MS Word for work purposes because some clients won't deal with anything else.
How about the smart phone? I use Android mostly (a Google trap and tie-in unfortunately), I would use an iPhone but I'm not a fan of the price of their handsets nor the walled garden paradigm. Admittedly, there are more things that I like rather than dislike about phones.
What about web browsers? Is anyone still using that godawful Internet Explorer browser these days? What a crap piece of software that is. I can't believe big business still donates Microsoft millions of dollars to use their s&%$#y software. they are so last century. As for social media, I won't give them any oxygen such is my disdain, so let's not go there, haha.
So, what this demonstrates is that the 21st century adult human has had enough interactive experiences to know which things are great, productive and appealing, and which things annoy the bejeezus out of you.
Pet Peeves
What are your 5 pet peeves about technology and the overall environment in which technology pervades our lives? Here's mine. Now before I start, some of these might be minor things to a lot of people (or they could be major), usually the way to mitigate such things is to avoid them. Much like what I did with Facebook so as to avoid flame wars, for which I was a frequent contributor to. It didn't do a great deal of good to my blood pressure.
YouTube Commenters
Some of the most infantile comments can be found on YouTube. Why do men (or teenage boys more than likely) have to persistently sexualize everything, even on videos where you'll find a woman talking about a completely everyday topic. The feedback from men (or boys) is just so perverse and disgusting. They wouldn't say it to her face, so they hide behind their keyboard and get their jollies that way. It annoys me no end.
Encounters with the Chat/Forum bully
I participate on a few regular boards, and you quickly discover who the chat/forum board bully is, judging by their writing style, the number of responses they make and the feedback they generate. Surely some of you have been privy to the chat/forum board bully? Ordinarily, I'd be the first one to shoot them down, but these people rise like cockroaches out of the filth. This is their way of having fun, usually at everyone else's expense. Karma is a bitch, and one day she'll come a knockin'.
Realistic Expectations
If you've ever been on the Upwork site (Gig Economy Job Board), you'll notice that some job postings go from the sublime to the ridiculous. Some people post all manner of jobs, such as writing the equivalent of a Leon Uris novel all for the princely sum of $5.
Or people who say they want a 'rockstar freelancer' yet don't declare what it is they want you to do. 'Just apply and we'll advise you if you are selected'. Yeah right dumb ass!
The ones that really peeve me off are the job posters looking to rip off others web data through a process called web scraping. In most cases it's illegal, but in another word, it's technically called "theft". I hate that!
Are you responsive?
It's 2021, and web technology is such that website owners need to have two things in place. That is: SSL enabled (site encryption using https: ) and responsive HTML. Thankfully most of the major web platforms like WordPress, Laravel, Joomla etc are all responsive enabled.
However, some of the older legacy websites still don't realise that 40% of web access is done through mobile platforms now. Old wide-angled websites look like crap. So to all you website owners still living in the pre-2010 Internet, get with the program.
Paywalls
This mainly applies to online Newspapers. Now that physical 'paper' based newspapers are in decline. Newspaper businesses have to dream up a way to make money. They believe a paywall is that 'way', when in fact, it probably isn't.
Here in Australia, there is only one entity, that being Fairfax Media, and yet they have dozens of different regional papers, but mostly if you look on their websites, the news is all the same. Why don't they just consolidate?
If a serious media researcher was to do an analysis of where people get their news, I wonder how far up the drain pipe will a newspaper rank, ahead of Twitter, Facebook, Google News, Telegram, or other specialist sites? Probably not. I'm sure newspapers will be relevant for some time yet, but not pay walls. However, it does make for great fish and chip wrapping.
In Summary
What are your pet peeves? Drop us a line in the Comments section below.