Linkdump No 114

I recently had a "phone support" call with my parents, where they needed help with their computers and smartphones and the internet router. They regularly ask me for help, because they're completely overwhelmed and out of their depth when it comes to modern technology, and it makes me sad to see how much they struggle with their devices. We have incredible technology these days; things that 40 or 50 years ago were pure science fiction, like a supercomputer that you carry around in your pocket and that is connected at all times to the rest of the world, can play music, can play movies, can run games, can record video... it can do virtually anything you can think of. And yet it's terrible, especially for elderly and non tech-savvy people. Technology is supposed to make our life easier. That's why we have it. But somewhere in the last 20 years or so we completely abandoned this idea and created devices that are downright hostile to the user. They bombard us with notifications, demand our…