Puny, Squishy, Clumsy Humans and iPhones

The vast majority of the technology problems that I deal with or hear about on a daily basis really aren’t technology problems at all.  You see, the biggest technology problems are located between the chair and the keyboard.  That’s right.  The vast majority of technology problems are caused by you.

You puny, squishy, clumsy human.  Or someone like you.

And like me, of course.

Don’t get me wrong.  Some technology problems really are a result of a technical malfunction.  Hard drives do crash.  Circuits do fry.  Components do just…die out.  Faulty equipment is real, and the laws of physics, thermodynamics, and entropy must be obeyed.  But if you could measure all the technology problems in the world and apply a percentage to those that are bona fide technical issues, that percentage would be really, really slim.

That’s where we come in.  Or, better said, that’s where our EXPECTATIONS of technology come in.

All relationships live and die because of expectations.  This is true between human beings, and it holds true for the relationships between humans and their stuff.  We have ideas about how the material world should operate, and when it doesn’t we call it a problem of the OTHER thing, not of our own doing.  This is what happens with technology, too.

So, why should this matter.  It matters because we rely too heavily on technology, and when it doesn’t work…we freeze.  We become helpless for a time.  It’ bizarre, really, when you think about how much less intrusive technology was in our lives 10 years ago.  Yet, today, if the iPhone dies…oh, boy.  There will be HELL to pay if that things isn’t restored to the state that I THINK it should be restored.  I am useless without it.

Contemplate your relationships with technology and your expectations of those relationships.  Then contemplate your relationships with the people you love and your expectations of those relationships.  Which ones are clearer?  Which ones do you articulate to the other party?  For which ones do you fight harder?  I sure hope it’s the relationships with those puny, squishy, clumsy humans that come out on top!

For the record, I don’t own an iPhone.  Too many problems.