The Column
Motto: Oh Boo-Hoo
I’ve been first-world struggling lately.
Five and one-third years ago I wrote a Column about technological ecosystems. This is that table, updated for today:
See those green highlights? That’s what I’m using nowadays. Do you know how frustrating it is to have an iPhone and not use Safari, MacOS, Apple Maps, Airplay, iTunes, Apple Music, and Siri (I use Siri in some situations because I have to)?
Using an iPhone, a Windows Desktop, and mostly Google services is not what you want to do. See the Top 5 for more whining.
Somewhat related:
It’s crazy to me that I can’t tell my Google Home what word(s) I want to say to get its attention. I’m not living in the future until I can say “Hey Jarvis”, or “Okay Computer”, or “Yo Black Mirror” when I want to know what temperature it will be today.
Google’s forcing the “Okay Google” or “Hey Google” to be the wakeword has literally interjected frustration with Google as an entity into my life. There’s nothing worse than saying “Okay Google” for the 4th or 5th time. It makes you mad. You’re mad and you’re literally yelling at Google. It cannot be good for your company when I literally yell at it in frustration multiple times a week. I honestly think it’s likely some subconscious part of me was interested in the iPhone because of my mounting frustration with Google.
…said the guy on his Chromebook, writing on Blogger. They’re fine. It’s just stupid.
It seems like the Price is Right Rule is backwards. “The closest without going over” should be “the closest without going under”. First off, thematically it makes more sense to ask “how much money would you need to buy this thing” rather than saying “what’s an amount of money that’s just barely not enough to buy this thing.” It would make the products being advertised on the show like better deals, rather than people saying “uh, looks like a $35 dollar blender” and the price actually being $50. That makes it seem like everything on the show is a bad deal, or overpriced. LASTLY it would get rid of the bogus “$1, Bob” guess. That would translate into “ONE MILLION DOLLARS, BOB” if you think everyone else underbid.
Top 5: Problems I’ve Run Into Thanks to Mixing Tech Ecosystems
5. I can’t rely on the reminders I set on my Google Home or in Chrome to consistently show up on my phone
4. I can’t see the calendar events I’m notified of on my phone because I don’t want to use Apple’s calendar app to access my Google Calendar (I eventually gave in on this)
3. I can’t ask my Google Home to ring my phone if it’s on silent which it usually is
2. I can’t really use my computers to do anything interesting with my phone or each other
1. I can’t ask Siri on my phone to navigate someplace because I don’t want to use Apple Maps
Quote:
“Anyone who kicks stuff for a living has to be idolized.”
- Dad -