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When I T muppets...

Professor Precise-a-bug

Want to make a name for themselves in the ITD department. They come up with great ways of adding a knob on top of a whistle on top of a flute on top of the bell because they can.

But for those of us who are on our spectrum, is it really helpful? To have to learn how to do what we used to be able to do without any problem suddenly becomes a huge amount of unnecessary work.

my telephone now insists on displaying categories of photographs. I do not want categories. I do not want any computer to do something I can do unless I instructed it to do it. Yet I cannot stop this telephone from identifying people, memories, reasons, everything under the Sun I did not want.

Why are we forced to put up with this?

Why are we forced to put up with this?

And how much does this actually comply with the requirement to not put somebody with a recognise characteristic as a disadvantage? 

  • in reply to TheCatWoman

    That's true, it was easier to call and talk to someone on the phone back in the day. I don't like that I need a smartphone for a lot of things, hence why I've taken steps to make sure I only use it when I have to. I've seen so many people walking around staring at their phones when I go for my daily walk in the park, and I know only too well how much of an attention and time sink they can be.

  • in reply to AlanRalph

    I've been asked by people here with the agreement of others who know me, that if I'm made to have a banking app that I will give everyone a few days notice so as they can liquidise their assets in case I crash the worlds banking system.

    I think easier with a smart phone is an iffy statement to be honest, I think those of us who remember pre smart phone days and everything having to be done via an app, recall that many things were much easier or just as easy. At least a human answered your questions.

  • in reply to TheCatWoman
    TheCatWoman said:
    One of the problems I find is that I'm promised all this stuff I don't want and yet can never find the things I do want, so mostly I gon't bother

    Aside from Amazon’s algorithms which aren’t customer friendly as mentioned in another post, I changed my browser to DuckDuckGo and it has mostly stopped unwanted advertisements and sales promotions. 

  • in reply to TheCatWoman

    I've stripped back what's on my iPhone now to just the essentials. That does include various banking apps, the NHS app, BBC Weather and WhatsApp, but at least those are actually useful. It's unfortunate that so much of modern life requires, or is a lot easier with, access to a smartphone or computer.

  • Nobody make me have a phone with all these gongs and whistles, I have a stupid phone that does calls and texts. 

    I enjoy watching people faces slide off the front of their heads when I tell them I have no smart phone, then they often tell me they wish they could give up thier phones too..

    One of the problems I find is that I'm promised all this stuff I don't want and yet can never find the things I do want, so mostly I gon't bother.

  • I completely get your frustration. I was a computer geek in the 80s and 90s and pursued IT and software development as a career, but over time my patience with technology has worn down to almost nothing. Particularly so since the arrival of the first iPhone and later the iPad. Ever since then, there has been a race to come up with new ways to 'help' people that often do the exact opposite.

    In the bad old days, at least if something went wrong you'd get a message, even if it was meaningless. Now, rather than interrupt you, apps will just silently fail to do background tasks for you.

    Notifications, oh how many apps what to notify you of things. Often in the most blaring way imaginable. And never the chance to tell them to do so discreetly and only for certain things, it's all or nothing until you track down the settings and dial them down.

    I make full use of all the accessibility features that are available to me on my phone and computer, not because I'm disabled but because it makes makes stuff more legible and less distracting. I'm currently refusing to upgrade my iDevices to the '26 releases due to the dog's dinner that Apple have made of their user interface, apparently forgetting their own Human Interface Guidelines in the process. (And I hear from others that Windows 11 has also messed things around.)

    Unfortunately, I don't see things improving any time soon, so I'm switching over wherever possible to using apps whose developers actually give a damn about usability and accessibility.

    /steps off soapbox.