The best gadgetry is usually the simplest

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 05/15/2006 12:29 PM | Life

Arnawa Widagda, Contributor, Jakarta

Technology is good, most of the time. It allows us to do more in less time, either by allowing us to perform several tasks at any given time or by finishing a task sooner. It is so integrated into our lives nowadays that we can hardly imagine living without it. However, technology is not without its caveats.

Technology is always moving forward. One of the obvious perks of this is that it allows manufacturers to integrate more features into the same package. Look at cellular phones -- most now come with MP3 playback, FM radio and digital video/still camera. It certainly adds value to the product, so manufacturers can maintain a reasonable profit margin. However, by doing so, manufacturers also complicate things for users.

To make the most of your cellular phone, you usually have to consult the manual at least once. On an ordinary cellular phone, that usually means phone book management, call list and SMS options, and data/GPRS settings. That's not all, there's also infra red/ Bluetooth communications, e-mail, organizer, user customization options and of course, camera, MP3 and radio settings. Even the most up to date tech geek will spent a week to manage all these settings and that's without some troubleshooting. All these features are actually complicating a simple device.

There's also user friendliness to consider. Look at an ordinary tape recorder. This is probably the most user friendly device on the planet. There's only five buttons: play, stop, pause, rewind and fast forward with an additional slider to control volume. Now look at a DVD player. Including the remote, there's a plethora of buttons to press - previous, next, menu, audio language, subtitles, the numerical and a 4 way keypad. Of course, since we're talking about remotes, let's throw in the television. In the old days, there's only a numeric keypad, a volume up and down button and previous and next channel buttons. Nowadays, we have menus, input choices, normal/widescreen, mute, etc. The answer to this problem? Read the manual.

The latest innovation of technology is making all the gadgets in your digital life connect to each other or at least share the same storage media. Take your pick, there's CompactFlash, MultiMedia Card, SecureDigital and MemoryStick.

However, manufacturers are not content with that, now we have these things in smaller format as well: TransFlash, MicroSD, XD, and MemoryStick Duo. These storage media are easier to lose and misplace than ever. But not only that, they're also more likely to become damaged as well, rendering the data stored lost forever.

Take an old CD, you'll likely see some dirt and God forbid, a scratch or two. Chances are, you might still be able to listen to the full content of the CD, if it is not too badly scratched. Even if you can't, you can still listen to the tracks not affected by the scratch. Now let's look at a modern day removable media, the MemoryStick. If you're unlucky, a little surge from your camera, MP3 player or card reader can totally kill your card. Static electricity is also a major problem, particularly for those of us in the tropics. That's why these cards come with plastic containers and instructions advising users to avoid hot-plugging the card from a device that's turned on.

The next quirks are usually associated with Microsoft, the so called bloatware. It literally means software that has so many features, it takes so much space on your hard drive. Most of the features are often eye-candy and not really that useful.

In addition to taking space, they also require more resources making your PC run slower. The solution is actually pretty simple: you don't have to use bloatware. Even if you must, there's usually an option to install only the things you need. Alternatively, you can find other software that's smaller and better suits your needs.

With all of this in mind, is technology still a good thing? Yes. It still allows us to accomplish things we never thought possible in the past and it is becoming more integrated with our lives.

Hopefully, manufacturers will realize that in making products there is more involved than just making them faster and cheaper, but they should be easier to use as well. Look at the success of Apple's IPod. There's a lot of MP3 players out there that are smaller, with larger capacities and longer battery life. Even in countries without ITunes support, IPod is selling like peanuts. The secret? Simplicity and ease of use, something the rest of the industry should be aiming for. Even with its share of problems, the IPod, is still the most popular MP3 player in the world.

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