26 Modern Conveniences That Are, Ironically, Not Very Convenient At All

Just because something is new doesn’t automatically make it better, easier to use, and more consumer-friendly than older technology. Progress for the sake of progress doesn’t always prioritize the customer’s wants and needs. And if we’re being really honest, there are lots of issues we have with modern tech and corporate attitudes that we’d love to change if we had a magic wand.

The ironic reality is that not all modern conveniences are all that convenient. The members of the AskReddit community recently took to an interesting thread to vent all about how certain tech changes have made their lives that much harder. Scroll down for some very relatable opinions.

#1

Scanning QR code to access the menu and order the food.

Image credits: NoDish1669

#2

Why do I need an account to use your website? It’s just one time service.

Also, I called customer service because your website is not user friendly and does not have the services I am calling about. Stop asking me to hang up and go to the website.

Image credits: 9atesirben

#3

2 factor authentication for EVERYTHING. You are a free recipe website. You made me set up a password. Let me use it. No, I don’t need a second form of id to use this site. You have exactly 0 of my vital information. No money. No numbers. And everything you have that someone might want is freely given on my public profile.

Email, banking apps? Sure 2 factor me there. But Allrecipes and YouTube? Why?

Image credits: AtheneSchmidt

#4

Subscription based payments.

Image credits: innocent_pig

#5

Everything being “smart”.

Things have become so smart that’s it’s gone full circle and are now just dumb and unusable.

Image credits: brownhornet1000

#6

Touch screen devices everywhere. Many people with tremor disorders (like me, with 2) can barely use them or can’t use them at all. (Estimated 10 million people in the US with just Essential Tremor alone!).

Image credits: dooky15

#7

Social media.

The (dis)information and entertainment overabundance is dangerously addictive and rots our brain.

It has immense potential for good, but, as always, some bad actors in a good thing spoiled the whole thing.

Image credits: Pagiras

#8

Having to do anything that involved a chat bot or ai.

Image credits: Bugaloon

#9

Idk about made my life harder, but search engines “correcting” your search if they think you misspelled a word is a thorn in my side. The suggestions they give if they think you misspelled something are fine, it’s when they start deciding “no, this is what you meant” without you saying so and overriding the search results that it becomes an inconvenience.

As someone who’s often looking up non-English (well, non-Modern English) words, it’s annoying. Stop being “helpful” and let me search for the thing I’m searching for.

Image credits: TheSaltyBrushtail

#10

When you order a new product (Roomba) and the owners manual is online. And they want you to link it to your phone so you can turn it on from work or whatever. I just want to push a button and make it go. And I like paper manuals.

Image credits: EdgeMiserable4381

#11

Doctor’s apps and AI customer service representatives. AI in general, really.

Image credits: EmpressOfUnderbed

#12

The whole applying for jobs online situation… i only work in hospitality and low wage jobs. I miss the days of walking round town with my CV printed out, where I could talk to a manager about a vacancy, instead of wasting endless time filling out the same details for jobs and often silly questionnaires when I’ll often hear nothing back at all.

Image credits: kushqt420

#13

Website cookies, they’re designed to remember bits and pieces to make your life easier, but are used to track your history, create a profile and use it to make accurate personal digital image of yourself, available to the highest buyer or government.

Image credits: snafe_

#14

Today I had to go to the urgent care.

I was the only one there. They could have just taken my ID and insurance and had a practitioner see me.

But the only way to claim an appointment- even by walk-in – was by scanning a QR to register.

Except that they were on the first floor of a big building, and mobile service wasn’t great.

So I went on their Wi-Fi, but their website was down.

So they had to print out paper forms that they had done away with, except their Internet was also down.

So they had me write my information on the back of some receipt paper, and finally saw me.

But they couldn’t bill my insurance, because their system was down.

And then they knew they had to send my Rx to a Walgreens, but couldn’t, because their system was down.

So they called the closest Walgreens they could find for my RX, but it was actually 30 minutes away, because their system was down.

So I asked for a paper RX order and went to the Walgreens next door, who had to contact the Walgreens 30 minutes away to get the RX transferred because the system was down at the urgent care.

But they couldn’t verify the RX being transferred because the system was down at the urgent care.

Image credits: DangerSwan33

#15

Not being able to physically own a copy of a video game anymore. Even if you have the disc, you still have to download the game. You’re paying for the privilege to play the game, not the actual game itself.

Image credits: OrganicLFMilk

#16

Windows automatically saving all of my files to OneDrive. I like to think I’m somewhat tech savvy but I can’t for the life of me figure out how to stop it from happening. Recently moved a bunch of MP4-files from a USB to my PC then a short while later my e-mail stopped working because the OneDrive storage was full due to the files I thought I saved locally.

Image credits: furrymittens

#17

My tumble dryer has a dozen presets for every kind of clothing (shirts / jeans / sports / silk / etc) but absolutely nothing on the machine or in the manual indicates temperature, which is literaly a universal pictograph written on every item to tell you how to dry it.

Also I just spent a couple hours setting up my new TV. Used to be you plugged it in, turned it on, and it worked. .

Image credits: HonoraryCanadian

#18

Cloud services. I have my own portable drives, not every free version of a cloud service has limited cloud storage, so it fills up and they can compel you to pay. Less tech savvy people just bite the bullet often. But I had iCloud tell me that my solution was to copy it to my pc, and clear it out. Then I go to my phone, and my photos are all gone. I never asked to delete them from my phone!

Image credits: YossiTheWizard

#19

Constantly being available to contact.

Image credits: thisremindsmeofbacon

#20

Internet. In short, because before the internet I wasn’t daily forced to know exactly how many immensely stupid people are alive in this timeline.

Image credits: Watchman74

#21

Bluetooth headphones

they took our headphone jacks.

Image credits: Sc0ttiShDUdE

#22

Many teachers like me are pressured to use their school’s online Learning Management System (Canvas in my case, or Google Classroom, etc.)…there are a few benefits, but on balance it makes things worse.

Image credits: IntlPartyKing

#23

Touch screens. I prefer buttons.

Image credits: Sea_Suggestion9424

#24

Dating apps. They’ve made my life significantly harder in so many more ways and given me so much more anxiety than just bumping into someone randomly at the store etc.

Image credits: bgp70x7

#25

Mobile phones

everyone you dont like but are obligated to talk to (boss) can contact you any time.

Image credits: a1b2t

#26

Child safety locks. Now me and my niece cant get to the pantry.

Image credits: Bubbly_Strike9383