Ease of Use in Technology

Every now and then something happens--I come across a new piece of tech, or I update to a new version of an old program--and I'm just reminded about how much easier technology is becoming. With all the innovation in user interfaces and attention paid to streamlining programs and hardware, I think it's really easy sometimes to forget just how hard using technology used to be. Case in point: I remember going to use the computer catalog at the public library when I was growing up. You had to use precise commands that didn't make a whole lot of sense (at least not to a ten year old). These days, it's all point and click and keyword searching. Much much easier, even if now and then you still can't find exactly what you're looking for. It's still much better than it used to be.

Yesterday I was trying out the new versions of iPhoto and iTunes, and I had the same experience. Again--the programs aren't perfect, but it's a lot easier to do things with them than it used to be. I was particularly surprised at how easy it was to upload photos to Facebook. Before, I needed to jump through a lot of hoops, worry about resizing my photos, sometimes use multiple programs. Now it was as easy as checking a box, and suddenly there they were online.

Nothing much more to say about that than what I have. Just that I think we should take the time to be grateful for the technology we have. It can still cause headaches and problems, but it's getting better all the time, and it helps us in so many ways we take for granted already. Yay technology!