Not to Use

A quote that has stuck with me through the years is something attributed to Morrie Mages, the founder of a small Chicago-area chain of sporting goods stores. In response to complaints about the quality of the goods sold in his stores he said “These aren’t sporting goods to use; they’re sporting goods to sell.”

I think there are quite a few valuable observations in Ian Bogost’s plaint in Atlantic that nothing works anymore:

What adult hasn’t suffered the pneumatic public toilet’s whirlwind underneath them? Or again when attempting to exit the stall? So many ordinary objects and experiences have become technologized—made dependent on computers, sensors, and other apparatuses meant to improve them—that they have also ceased to work in their usual manner. It’s common to think of such defects as matters of bad design. That’s true, in part. But technology is also more precarious than it once was. Unstable, and unpredictable. At least from the perspective of human users. From the vantage point of technology, if it can be said to have a vantage point, it’s evolving separately from human use.

But it’s something of a grab bag. It tangles true statements with misunderstandings.

From my point of view toilets stopped working when the federal government got into the act of determining how much water a toilet should use. It was well-intentioned as so many of the federal government’s ill-conceived schemes are but micromanagement is not the federal government’s forte. When the objective is to reduce water use, I believe that it’s reasonable for the Congress or even bureaucrats to set targets but should leave the details of implementation or how meeting the targets is accomplished to private companies and individuals. Taxes can be levied; penalties could be imposed (if they dare) on states and municipalities. Once you’ve gotten to the level of detail of how much water should be used per flush and, importantly, ignored actually reducing water utilization, you’ve entered the realm of fanaticism.

As to voice response systems, why do big businesses have phones at all any more? I know that some don’t. Phone systems used to be part of the entire customer relationship management systems of companies. Now they’re labyrinths with the presumed objective of losing customers in their twists and turns. That isn’t a technological problem; it’s a management problem and the sad reality is that good management is always in short supply.

This:

Digital distribution has also made media access more precarious. Try explaining to a toddler that the episodes of “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” that were freely available to watch yesterday via subscription are suddenly available only via on-demand purchase.

is just a misunderstanding. Mass media targeted at children have never been public services. They now serve and always have served the purpose of making money in the present and in the future. I blame Howdy Doody.

If you want to keep your children from being trained to be good little consumers or dragoon their parents into ever-increasing consumption, throw out your television and homeschool them. Even then you’re merely fighting a delaying action. Otherwise be prepared to ante up or give explanations.