Dang that technology...
Although I work with technology often, a lot of it frustrates me. Why do designers like to update things that work really well? They should just improve on things that need improving. This is pretty easy to say since I'm not the one with a manager breathing down my neck to invent the next best thing.
I use my PDA everyday. I use it to set up meetings, message my co-workers, store everyone's contact info, play games, etc... I can hardly believe there was a day that I didn't have one. So what's the problem you may ask? My thumbs! My thumbs are killing me at the end of the day. The PDA requires a lot of thumb action. If you are typing a message you use your thumbs on the keypad. If you need to select something with the stylus, you are using your thumb to grip the stylus. What if I didn't have thumbs? I wouldn't even be able to hold the PDA let alone use it efficiently. My PDA doesn't have voice recognition, but I'm sure there are either ones available or in the design stages as we speak.
Another thing that frustrates me is the toast crumbs that are impossible to get out of the toaster. What an awful design? The solution is one of them toaster ovens, but that doesn't do nearly as good a job to make a few pieces of toast. So I live with the unremovable crumbs to get my perfect toast.
Devices that run on batteries frustrate me. For instance when a device requires 2AA batteries which is 3V to run will stop running when the power threshold is low to about 2.7V. Most people just throw out the batteries assuming that the batteries have been exhausted when that is not the case. It is just too low for the particular device that is in need of power. It's very wasteful and problematic if the device is being used when the threshold is reached. It can be a situation of not being able to finish a song on your MP3 player or it could be and electric wheelchair going up a ramp.
I'm sure there are other things, but these are the ones that I came across today.
Amendment [1 December 2005]
For the Treo and other PDA/cell phones it seems to need to be used by folks with thumbs or most of their fingers. If these devices were updated with a tuner much like the IPod, they would be a bit easier for those folks without thumbs. The user can just scroll up and down the menu with another finger or appendage. The motion mimics the old rotary phones so it is not as disorienting as creating a whole new button system. It would still take some getting used to but that holds true with all new technology.
I use my PDA everyday. I use it to set up meetings, message my co-workers, store everyone's contact info, play games, etc... I can hardly believe there was a day that I didn't have one. So what's the problem you may ask? My thumbs! My thumbs are killing me at the end of the day. The PDA requires a lot of thumb action. If you are typing a message you use your thumbs on the keypad. If you need to select something with the stylus, you are using your thumb to grip the stylus. What if I didn't have thumbs? I wouldn't even be able to hold the PDA let alone use it efficiently. My PDA doesn't have voice recognition, but I'm sure there are either ones available or in the design stages as we speak.
Another thing that frustrates me is the toast crumbs that are impossible to get out of the toaster. What an awful design? The solution is one of them toaster ovens, but that doesn't do nearly as good a job to make a few pieces of toast. So I live with the unremovable crumbs to get my perfect toast.
Devices that run on batteries frustrate me. For instance when a device requires 2AA batteries which is 3V to run will stop running when the power threshold is low to about 2.7V. Most people just throw out the batteries assuming that the batteries have been exhausted when that is not the case. It is just too low for the particular device that is in need of power. It's very wasteful and problematic if the device is being used when the threshold is reached. It can be a situation of not being able to finish a song on your MP3 player or it could be and electric wheelchair going up a ramp.
I'm sure there are other things, but these are the ones that I came across today.
Amendment [1 December 2005]
For the Treo and other PDA/cell phones it seems to need to be used by folks with thumbs or most of their fingers. If these devices were updated with a tuner much like the IPod, they would be a bit easier for those folks without thumbs. The user can just scroll up and down the menu with another finger or appendage. The motion mimics the old rotary phones so it is not as disorienting as creating a whole new button system. It would still take some getting used to but that holds true with all new technology.
posted by -ellie. at
11:03 PM
