clarakatalin

Aside from credit card fraud, which is a whole other area (cyber security), this is the year that technology failed me. Yes, it’s partly a function of me not keeping “updated” — the latest version of this or that. But a series of events this year makes me want to pull back quite a bit from frequent screen time, and probably for the good. Maybe it’s God nudging me to do so.

It all started in January, 2026, when my husband and I attended a conference in Columbus, Ohio. We had attended this conference before in 2019, and my smartphone had no problem with the conference app, through which you could set your schedule, get reminders for your schedule, look up speakers, etc. Well, seven years later in 2026, my operating system on the same phone was too old for the 2026 conference app. If I recall, my phone could not update to an operating system that would work. Fortunately, they had available (though not really advertised) a printed booklet with the needed conference information.

Later this year, my smartphone had trouble syncing email with my desktop, or even showing new emails in a timely manner. Eventually, in frustration, I deleted the email app from my phone. More trouble (VERY slow texting) happened when I started getting up to 200 texts a day, because I had stupidly given out my phone number on some political donation sites. I switched to a different text-handling software, which sped up texting.

Another problem began to occur with my desktop, beginning in June. I got the Microsoft “blue screen of death”. My husband I found ways to overcome it for a while, but it kept happening more frequently. I switched to using an old laptop, and using my husband’s desktop. We decided to buy a new CPU, which arrived promptly. But only after four to six weeks (procrastinating or too busy), got it up and running today. We decided to delete the Microsoft operating system which came with it (I had never updated to Windows 11, anyway), and installed Ubuntu, a Linux system. My new desktop now uses Brave for its internet browser. The only drawback is that a few of my programs (such as a genealogy software and a personal financial software) run only on Mac or Microsoft.

To top it all off, I replaced my smartphone with a newer Android phone. It took about 12 hours to move everything over from the old phone. And then, perhaps a week later, I dropped the new phone and the screen now has a lovely artistic crack on it. I know, I know — I should have had a phone protector.

So, what is the lesson? For me, it’s not to trust technology too much, and rely on it less. Combined with the credit card fraud mentioned above, I will be making most donations by mail only, and will limit my ordering of online products. Actually, it might all be a much simpler and peaceful life.

If all this shows my ignorance of modern living, so be it. At 71, I have earned the right to be a bit crotchety.

*****

Postscript: A bright spot in all this is that I did not have to pay $210 to replace the phone screen. Somehow the manufacturer absorbed the cost, though I don’t think I had insurance on the phone. My husband bought me a phone case to protect it. This is now installed, the only glitch being a sticker blocking the middle of the screen, which is proving to be a bit stubborn to remove.