You verses technology

[ZLoth]

I enjoy technology. I really do. But, some days, there are some design decisions that still has me thinking "Why?" Here is a few fustrations, and how I would solve them.

• GPS that does not include a "pause" button - Anyone who owns a GPS has experienced this frustration. You are driving a long trip, and need to make a stop because you are either A. hungry, B. thirsty, or C. need to use the bathroom. When you do that, your GPS starts going into the "recalculating" as it tries to figure out how to get back to the main highway as you are parking your car. Stopping the navigation requires pressing a few buttons, which is often a bad idea when driving. I just want to pause the unit from recalculating.
  
• If you can interface with the outside world, get your time - The days of setting your clock by +1-303-499-7111 is over. If your device interfaces with the outside world, then it should be able to set the time automatically from it, whether it be via the Internet via Network Time Protocol (NTP) (I prefer pool.ntp.org), Global Positioning Satellite (GPS), Cell Phone, Radio Broadcast Data System (RBDS) (if the station has the clock set correctly), and through the air via WWV/WWVH. Yet, despite having both a GPS compass and RBDS, I still have to set the clock manually in my car. Most people really don't bother, and their clocks slowly drift off by several minutes. Likewise, if I am updating the firmware of my MP3 player or iPod and have it hooked up to my computer, why not correct the time while you are at it?
  
• Not being able to combine Bluetooth with another audio source - A long time ago, having Bluetooth meant that you had a hand-free headset so that you can drive, answer the phone, and not get a ticket. Thanks to the Smartphone, I can also broadcast audio from my smartphone into a Bluetooth speaker. Very cool. Here is the frustrating part. I enjoy the XM radio that is included in my car (and am looking forward to the return of 40s on 4 station), and I use my phone for navigation. Can I combine the audio so that I can listen to XM music while receiving turn by turn directions through my phone? No. Sometimes, I swear that auto manufacturers are five years behind the rest of the world.
  
• The more critical my data, the less secure my password and account access is - This brings up one of my pet peeves, and it drives me up the wall. The most critical of anyone's accounts is their banking accounts, because if someone gets in there, they can clean me out, and I may not realize it until I get to the grocery store and get the "insufficient funds". Yet, my financial institutions allow only short 12-character passwords with a limit character set, and MAYBE two-factor authentication. Yet, my friend's web forum which can cause me absolutely no damage if hacked, allows a 100 character password with any sort of character sets. While brings me to another point...
  
• Better security... as long as someone else pays for it - Europe has had the chip-and-pin secure credit cards for at least a decade. When I was in Canada last year and ate at a restaurant, the waiter brought over a electronic unit where I could swipe my card, add the tip, and sign electronically, and get a receipt without my credit card leaving my possession. Yet, in the United States, if I was paying for my meal, I have to lose possession of my card by giving it to a waiter, and sign a paper receipt. The magnetic stripes are literally 1970s, and are still used because the cost of a card with a strip is cheaper than the card with a chip. Migration stalled because the merchants, banks, and credit card issues ended up arguing who should pay for the migration. It took the Target data breach to break the logjam.
  

What are you pain points in regards to technology?

[agentsteel53]

What are you pain points in regards to technology?

the iPhone's utterly terrible behavior when there is marginal signal quality.  it behaves well when there is signal, and when there is no signal - but in the in-between points, the user can't simply "fire and forget" messages but rather has to manually baby-sit all of them so they don't come bouncing back.

[Scott5114]

My problems at work are basically annoying IT policy, not anything to do with the software itself, in most instances:

• Mandatory password changes and lockouts after too many incorrect password entries are a pain in the ass. I understand they are good IT policy but it is easy to mistype three times, especially if the last person to use the computer left caps on and you're not expecting it to be on, so you don't check. Having to call up the IT help desk and have your account unlocked is a waste of everyone's time.
• Unnecessary user accounts, especially when combined with password lockouts. To get to the "real" login dialog for the accounting system at work, you have to first type in a user name and password which is just the name of the business. But if someone typos the password on that three times, the account is locked. And since everyone has to use that account...nobody in the entire business can log on until some arbitrary amount of time elapses.
• Automatic logouts due to inactivity. Boy, this one is annoying. Our IT department installed some sort of program on all of the systems that forces automatic log-out from Windows after some amount of time with no user input. However, this makes little sense in a lot of applications, since a good chunk of the systems at work are (1) kiosks used by employees for 5 minutes, used only to access applications that have their own login systems, so a random customer couldn't access critical data anyway (2) status display terminals that run an application showing a list of work to be done, which employees glance at and then leave to go do the work. Having to go through the entire Windows login process for either of these is a waste of time.

I do have problems with the recent trend of "let's 'simplify' interfaces by hiding/removing useful features!" Instead of simplifying things, I have to go on a hunt for my desired feature or kludge some workaround for the lack of said feature.

[kkt]

It's sort of neat that one's Google or Facebook login can be used to log in to lots of minor web services so one doesn't have to remember so many passwords.  But Google and Facebook are so evil!  How much would I have to pay for a login authentication service that was reliable and not selling everything I ever did to every merchant or busybody in the world?

[Scott5114]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenID might be useful.

[jeffandnicole]

GPS that does not include a "pause" button - Anyone who owns a GPS has experienced this frustration. You are driving a long trip, and need to make a stop because you are either A. hungry, B. thirsty, or C. need to use the bathroom. When you do that, your GPS starts going into the "recalculating" as it tries to figure out how to get back to the main highway as you are parking your car. Stopping the navigation requires pressing a few buttons, which is often a bad idea when driving. I just want to pause the unit from recalculating.

But I LIKE parking lot directions! (This particular one was from just a few days ago, in a hotel parking lot in Allentown, PA):

[vdeane]

• Not being able to combine Bluetooth with another audio source - A long time ago, having Bluetooth meant that you had a hand-free headset so that you can drive, answer the phone, and not get a ticket. Thanks to the Smartphone, I can also broadcast audio from my smartphone into a Bluetooth speaker. Very cool. Here is the frustrating part. I enjoy the XM radio that is included in my car (and am looking forward to the return of 40s on 4 station), and I use my phone for navigation. Can I combine the audio so that I can listen to XM music while receiving turn by turn directions through my phone? No. Sometimes, I swear that auto manufacturers are five years behind the rest of the world.
  

This is actually a "feature" intended to combat distracted driving.

• The more critical my data, the less secure my password and account access is - This brings up one of my pet peeves, and it drives me up the wall. The most critical of anyone's accounts is their banking accounts, because if someone gets in there, they can clean me out, and I may not realize it until I get to the grocery store and get the "insufficient funds". Yet, my financial institutions allow only short 12-character passwords with a limit character set, and MAYBE two-factor authentication. Yet, my friend's web forum which can cause me absolutely no damage if hacked, allows a 100 character password with any sort of character sets. While brings me to another point...

This is because the entire financial sector is run by by dinosaurs who think "The Google is some thing kids these days use".  Most technology in banking is just an illusion.  It gets ridiculous with checks.  If I want to deposit a check, I fill out a paper form, give it to the teller, who then types the info into the computer, only to have that info taken and put back into paper form and processed in the same manner checks have been processing since the 50s.

[Pete from Boston]

• Not being able to combine Bluetooth with another audio source - A long time ago, having Bluetooth meant that you had a hand-free headset so that you can drive, answer the phone, and not get a ticket. Thanks to the Smartphone, I can also broadcast audio from my smartphone into a Bluetooth speaker. Very cool. Here is the frustrating part. I enjoy the XM radio that is included in my car (and am looking forward to the return of 40s on 4 station), and I use my phone for navigation. Can I combine the audio so that I can listen to XM music while receiving turn by turn directions through my phone? No. Sometimes, I swear that auto manufacturers are five years behind the rest of the world.
  

This is actually a "feature" intended to combat distracted driving.

• The more critical my data, the less secure my password and account access is - This brings up one of my pet peeves, and it drives me up the wall. The most critical of anyone's accounts is their banking accounts, because if someone gets in there, they can clean me out, and I may not realize it until I get to the grocery store and get the "insufficient funds". Yet, my financial institutions allow only short 12-character passwords with a limit character set, and MAYBE two-factor authentication. Yet, my friend's web forum which can cause me absolutely no damage if hacked, allows a 100 character password with any sort of character sets. While brings me to another point...

This is because the entire financial sector is run by by dinosaurs who think "The Google is some thing kids these days use".  Most technology in banking is just an illusion.  It gets ridiculous with checks.  If I want to deposit a check, I fill out a paper form, give it to the teller, who then types the info into the computer, only to have that info taken and put back into paper form and processed in the same manner checks have been processing since the 50s.

I take a picture of my check.  What's a teller?  Something that tells? 

[oscar]

Most technology in banking is just an illusion.  It gets ridiculous with checks.  If I want to deposit a check, I fill out a paper form, give it to the teller, who then types the info into the computer, only to have that info taken and put back into paper form and processed in the same manner checks have been processing since the 50s.

Both banks I use have you scan in checks for deposit at their ATMs, no deposit slip needed.  (Other people using online banking might get to scan their checks on their smartphones, as in the incessant PNC commercials in my market.)  Sometimes human intervention is needed (usually the result of my illegible handwriting, or for really big checks), but usually it's automatic and paperless.

With banks always whining about their thin margins on most retail accounts, they seem not at all shy about using technology to cut their costs, though they might do things the old-fashioned way as an exception to accommodate old-fashioned customers.

[sammi]

• GPS that does not include a "pause" button - Anyone who owns a GPS has experienced this frustration. You are driving a long trip, and need to make a stop because you are either A. hungry, B. thirsty, or C. need to use the bathroom. When you do that, your GPS starts going into the "recalculating" as it tries to figure out how to get back to the main highway as you are parking your car. Stopping the navigation requires pressing a few buttons, which is often a bad idea when driving. I just want to pause the unit from recalculating.
  

Then don't use GPS navigators. You're a roadgeek. You just know your way around.

I've barely used our GPS navigator at all since AARoads; probably the only time was in Chicagoland when my uncle told us to take LaGrange (US 45) instead of I-355 and we got lost looking for US 6.

[Duke87]

For my first bit of hate, I'm going to just let Randall do the talking:


For my second, I will add: websites which require the use of Javascript in order to display static text. WHY!?

[US81]

My problems at work are basically annoying IT policy, not anything to do with the software itself, in most instances:

• Mandatory password changes and lockouts after too many incorrect password entries are a pain in the ass. I understand they are good IT policy but it is easy to mistype three times, especially if the last person to use the computer left caps on and you're not expecting it to be on, so you don't check. Having to call up the IT help desk and have your account unlocked is a waste of everyone's time.
• Unnecessary user accounts, especially when combined with password lockouts. To get to the "real" login dialog for the accounting system at work, you have to first type in a user name and password which is just the name of the business. But if someone typos the password on that three times, the account is locked. And since everyone has to use that account...nobody in the entire business can log on until some arbitrary amount of time elapses.
• Automatic logouts due to inactivity. Boy, this one is annoying. Our IT department installed some sort of program on all of the systems that forces automatic log-out from Windows after some amount of time with no user input. However, this makes little sense in a lot of applications, since a good chunk of the systems at work are (1) kiosks used by employees for 5 minutes, used only to access applications that have their own login systems, so a random customer couldn't access critical data anyway (2) status display terminals that run an application showing a list of work to be done, which employees glance at and then leave to go do the work. Having to go through the entire Windows login process for either of these is a waste of time.

I do have problems with the recent trend of "let's 'simplify' interfaces by hiding/removing useful features!" Instead of simplifying things, I have to go on a hunt for my desired feature or kludge some workaround for the lack of said feature.

And along these lines, IT - or management - requiring mandatory password changes for multiple accounts (with varying length and character requirements) over short periods of time (monthy or quarterly) while also requiring employees to sign agreements that passwords can never ever be written down, on threat of termination. How can "they" really expect employees to choose  *secure* passwords when they dock employees who require account resets? 

[jeffandnicole]

• Not being able to combine Bluetooth with another audio source - A long time ago, having Bluetooth meant that you had a hand-free headset so that you can drive, answer the phone, and not get a ticket. Thanks to the Smartphone, I can also broadcast audio from my smartphone into a Bluetooth speaker. Very cool. Here is the frustrating part. I enjoy the XM radio that is included in my car (and am looking forward to the return of 40s on 4 station), and I use my phone for navigation. Can I combine the audio so that I can listen to XM music while receiving turn by turn directions through my phone? No. Sometimes, I swear that auto manufacturers are five years behind the rest of the world.
  

This is actually a "feature" intended to combat distracted driving.

• The more critical my data, the less secure my password and account access is - This brings up one of my pet peeves, and it drives me up the wall. The most critical of anyone's accounts is their banking accounts, because if someone gets in there, they can clean me out, and I may not realize it until I get to the grocery store and get the "insufficient funds". Yet, my financial institutions allow only short 12-character passwords with a limit character set, and MAYBE two-factor authentication. Yet, my friend's web forum which can cause me absolutely no damage if hacked, allows a 100 character password with any sort of character sets. While brings me to another point...

This is because the entire financial sector is run by by dinosaurs who think "The Google is some thing kids these days use".  Most technology in banking is just an illusion.  It gets ridiculous with checks.  If I want to deposit a check, I fill out a paper form, give it to the teller, who then types the info into the computer, only to have that info taken and put back into paper form and processed in the same manner checks have been processing since the 50s.

Checks are the most insecure document around.  What else do you own that contains your banking account number, your ABA number, your financial institution's name, and most likely your name and your address on it? 

[kkt]

• Not being able to combine Bluetooth with another audio source - A long time ago, having Bluetooth meant that you had a hand-free headset so that you can drive, answer the phone, and not get a ticket. Thanks to the Smartphone, I can also broadcast audio from my smartphone into a Bluetooth speaker. Very cool. Here is the frustrating part. I enjoy the XM radio that is included in my car (and am looking forward to the return of 40s on 4 station), and I use my phone for navigation. Can I combine the audio so that I can listen to XM music while receiving turn by turn directions through my phone? No. Sometimes, I swear that auto manufacturers are five years behind the rest of the world.
  

This is actually a "feature" intended to combat distracted driving.

• The more critical my data, the less secure my password and account access is - This brings up one of my pet peeves, and it drives me up the wall. The most critical of anyone's accounts is their banking accounts, because if someone gets in there, they can clean me out, and I may not realize it until I get to the grocery store and get the "insufficient funds". Yet, my financial institutions allow only short 12-character passwords with a limit character set, and MAYBE two-factor authentication. Yet, my friend's web forum which can cause me absolutely no damage if hacked, allows a 100 character password with any sort of character sets. While brings me to another point...

This is because the entire financial sector is run by by dinosaurs who think "The Google is some thing kids these days use".  Most technology in banking is just an illusion.  It gets ridiculous with checks.  If I want to deposit a check, I fill out a paper form, give it to the teller, who then types the info into the computer, only to have that info taken and put back into paper form and processed in the same manner checks have been processing since the 50s.

Checks are the most insecure document around.  What else do you own that contains your banking account number, your ABA number, your financial institution's name, and most likely your name and your address on it? 

Back in the day, checks were quite secure because the bank had actual people checking the signature on the check with the signature on the signature card.  But the bank decided to save some money for themselves by firing those people, and making the customer responsible for complaining if someone forged a check.

[formulanone]

Some vehicles, if they have a Bluetooth or USB connection, allow you to simultaneously receive GPS directions while having a phone conversation. If you're using 4G, you can easily do this. If you're on 3G, you have create the route and let it navigate first, then place the phone call.

Apple drives me up a wall with their iOS: stop reminding me every time that I don't have a cellular or WiFi connection, especially the latter then I'm using Google or Apple Maps (as well as a few other apps/features which aren't dependent on a data connection)...they may as well remind me to carry a refrigerator with me in case my water bottle gets warm. Please, Apple...If your average customer can't be trusted with a "don't bother me again about this" option, or let them figure it out on their own. You already constantly waver this fine line between cryptic, pretentious, and annoyingly obvious.

Credit reporting...so, which one of seventy-three permutations of your name (full, partial middle name, initial, nickname, misspelled), current address (did we leave off your street type, forget a cardinal direction, misspell it, omit an apartment number), former addresses (not including the one we can't find a bill for, mixed up order of previous addresses), birthdate (two or four digit format, did we use the wrong year or century), and is there anything else to memorize? If you don't hit this Keno-like combination of your own identity correctly, good luck with anything and anyone who works with monthly payments. This probably would make sense in a day and age where people could be trusted to verify this information, but due to mistrust and a dizzying volume of total information overload, neither gets it right.

[jeffandnicole]

• Not being able to combine Bluetooth with another audio source - A long time ago, having Bluetooth meant that you had a hand-free headset so that you can drive, answer the phone, and not get a ticket. Thanks to the Smartphone, I can also broadcast audio from my smartphone into a Bluetooth speaker. Very cool. Here is the frustrating part. I enjoy the XM radio that is included in my car (and am looking forward to the return of 40s on 4 station), and I use my phone for navigation. Can I combine the audio so that I can listen to XM music while receiving turn by turn directions through my phone? No. Sometimes, I swear that auto manufacturers are five years behind the rest of the world.
  

This is actually a "feature" intended to combat distracted driving.

• The more critical my data, the less secure my password and account access is - This brings up one of my pet peeves, and it drives me up the wall. The most critical of anyone's accounts is their banking accounts, because if someone gets in there, they can clean me out, and I may not realize it until I get to the grocery store and get the "insufficient funds". Yet, my financial institutions allow only short 12-character passwords with a limit character set, and MAYBE two-factor authentication. Yet, my friend's web forum which can cause me absolutely no damage if hacked, allows a 100 character password with any sort of character sets. While brings me to another point...

This is because the entire financial sector is run by by dinosaurs who think "The Google is some thing kids these days use".  Most technology in banking is just an illusion.  It gets ridiculous with checks.  If I want to deposit a check, I fill out a paper form, give it to the teller, who then types the info into the computer, only to have that info taken and put back into paper form and processed in the same manner checks have been processing since the 50s.

Checks are the most insecure document around.  What else do you own that contains your banking account number, your ABA number, your financial institution's name, and most likely your name and your address on it? 

Back in the day, checks were quite secure because the bank had actual people checking the signature on the check with the signature on the signature card.  But the bank decided to save some money for themselves by firing those people, and making the customer responsible for complaining if someone forged a check.

That's fine...if you're writing a check.  I have your name, address, and bank information.  Why would I write a check and leave a potential papertrail?  I would do everything electronically.

[Thing 342]

• Websites that are too lazy to write articles down and instead require you to watch a video (90% of the time being played by a flash-based player that makes my computer go into hairdryer mode)
• Awhile back, Busch Gardens replaced the turnstiles at the entrance where an employee would manually check your pass or ticket with turnstiles that used an infrared scanner and a fingerprint reader in order to theoretically improve pass detection and speed up entrance times. The problem is that the readers hardly ever read the pass correctly, and the print reader couldn't get a good print if the user (or users before them) had any oils on their skin (which included sunscreen), which basically meant that 85% of the visitors had to get their pass checked manually, but after waiting over 30s for the thing to try and fail at reading their pass/print. The result was that it now takes twice as long just to get into the park as it did before the new turnstiles.
• Staged update roll-outs, mostly because I seem to always be in the last 10%.
• The generally unusable Hands-Free phone bluetooth systems used in most cars.
• As Scott mentioned earlier, the continued trend in software design to hide or condense functions in software (see Google Maps). While I appreciate the initiative to declutter software interfaces, this is a step too far.

[Dr Frankenstein]

My problems at work are basically annoying IT policy, not anything to do with the software itself, in most instances:

• Mandatory password changes and lockouts after too many incorrect password entries are a pain in the ass. I understand they are good IT policy but it is easy to mistype three times, especially if the last person to use the computer left caps on and you're not expecting it to be on, so you don't check. Having to call up the IT help desk and have your account unlocked is a waste of everyone's time.
• Unnecessary user accounts, especially when combined with password lockouts. To get to the "real" login dialog for the accounting system at work, you have to first type in a user name and password which is just the name of the business. But if someone typos the password on that three times, the account is locked. And since everyone has to use that account...nobody in the entire business can log on until some arbitrary amount of time elapses.
• Automatic logouts due to inactivity. Boy, this one is annoying. Our IT department installed some sort of program on all of the systems that forces automatic log-out from Windows after some amount of time with no user input. However, this makes little sense in a lot of applications, since a good chunk of the systems at work are (1) kiosks used by employees for 5 minutes, used only to access applications that have their own login systems, so a random customer couldn't access critical data anyway (2) status display terminals that run an application showing a list of work to be done, which employees glance at and then leave to go do the work. Having to go through the entire Windows login process for either of these is a waste of time.

I do have problems with the recent trend of "let's 'simplify' interfaces by hiding/removing useful features!" Instead of simplifying things, I have to go on a hunt for my desired feature or kludge some workaround for the lack of said feature.

And along these lines, IT - or management - requiring mandatory password changes for multiple accounts (with varying length and character requirements) over short periods of time (monthy or quarterly) while also requiring employees to sign agreements that passwords can never ever be written down, on threat of termination. How can "they" really expect employees to choose  *secure* passwords when they dock employees who require account resets? 

I often lock myself out of my profile at work after the monthly password change.

[agentsteel53]

I take a picture of my check.  What's a teller?  Something that tells?

I wish I could.  my Wells Fargo mobile app makes me line up the image to within 1 degree of correctly oriented, has me do this over and over again, and finally when the photo is acceptable... it crashes. 

[formulanone]

• Awhile back, Busch Gardens replaced the turnstiles at the entrance where an employee would manually check your pass or ticket with turnstiles that used an infrared scanner and a fingerprint reader in order to theoretically improve pass detection and speed up entrance times. The problem is that the readers hardly ever read the pass correctly, and the print reader couldn't get a good print if the user (or users before them) had any oils on their skin (which included sunscreen), which basically meant that 85% of the visitors had to get their pass checked manually, but after waiting over 30s for the thing to try and fail at reading their pass/print. The result was that it now takes twice as long just to get into the park as it did before the new turnstiles.

Disney World was no better; the wristbands they've come up with work only marginally better. But you still need a PIN for purchases, due to valid security reasons. Of course, Disney doesn't want you to start thinking of your monthly expenses while you're in the Mousetrap, but there really isn't much difference in time saved if you're still just reaching for your wallet and swiping a card, anyhow. The first time you set it up, you still have to show ID and wait on line to enter one of the parks for the first time.

Just come out and say, "It's for improved data collection and statistics" and stop the damn charades.

I get the idea we're getting a lot more interference and hassle with more technology, and I'm starting to understand why the Grandpa Simpson-s of the world exist.

[empirestate]

• Paper towel dispensers. At one time, you pulled a piece of paper out of a slot, a process with which I rarely had any trouble. Today, you must rely on a machine to do this job for you, and it invariably performs poorly, if at all, at this most basic of tasks.
• Broadcast television. Although the year is 2014 and I live within the city limits of my country's most populous city, I don't receive all of the major networks through my antenna. This is not a problem I remember having 20 years ago.

[vdeane]

I REALLY hate automatic toilets.  Seriously, in the time it takes to put myself back together, they inevitably decide to flush multiple times.  It's embarrassing.

I take a picture of my check.  What's a teller?  Something that tells? 

Some of us don't have smart phones.

Both banks I use have you scan in checks for deposit at their ATMs, no deposit slip needed.  (Other people using online banking might get to scan their checks on their smartphones, as in the incessant PNC commercials in my market.)  Sometimes human intervention is needed (usually the result of my illegible handwriting, or for really big checks), but usually it's automatic and paperless.

With banks always whining about their thin margins on most retail accounts, they seem not at all shy about using technology to cut their costs, though they might do things the old-fashioned way as an exception to accommodate old-fashioned customers.

It's an option for First Niagara as well, and I've used it when depositing regular checks.  That said, most of the checks I've dealt with lately are those jumbo-sized business ones (such as the refund on my security deposit for my last apartment), and I don't know if the ATM can handle those or not.  Plus I often use the opportunity to grab some quarters for my laundry, and I'm trying to get rid of the deposit slips that came with my checks anyways (and the checks, on the rare opportunity I have to use one; they haven't had my current city/address in over a year now).

Whenever I deposit a check, it becomes very obvious that the bank processes them the old fashioned way because any deposit made after 3pm shows up as "pending" in online banking until the next business day.  Plus if it's all electronic, why does it still take check two weeks to clear (note: fully clear, not just be added to your available balance), and why aren't online payments instant?

[Pete from Boston]

I REALLY hate automatic toilets.  Seriously, in the time it takes to put myself back together, they inevitably decide to flush multiple times.  It's embarrassing.

There's another thread right over there that talks about why your fellow citizens have created the need for this.  I'll take the embarrassment over the alternative.

[1995hoo]

I get quite annoyed at apps that insist on promptIng you every time to turn on wi-fi to improve location services. The one that annoys me the most is the pedometer app I use when I go for a walk in the morning around the lake near our neighborhood. It's idiotic: The whole point of a pedometer is to measure how far you walk (mine also tracks number of steps, speed, time elapsed, and calories burned). Unless you're walking on a treadmill, you're highly unlikely to have wi-fi available!

It's another symptom of the programmers assuming the user is too stupid to determine for himself how best to use a device.

Regarding checks, the 20-something crowd seem to take a juvenile delight in ridiculing them as obsolete, and for many purposes they are, but sometimes you have no choice. State bar regulations in Virginia require the use of paper checks for transactions involving client money, for example. I don't care if a client wants money wired. If the bar requires me to send you a check, that is what you will receive.

[hbelkins]

I still have a number of transactions that require paper checks. My local water bill, for one.