What tech trend are you totally burned out on?

[Dani]

Other than AI, that is. (Rant: Who here things the AI bubble is going to burst soon, though?)

[rproffitt]

The year is 2026. I sign onto HuTube because YouTube had been taken over by AI.
Confirm I'm over 18, scan my face to confirm I'm human, do a vocal recording to confirm it's me, answer "I'm not a robot" again, find all the traffic lights in a picture.

Finally start to play a video and
Blam: 5 unskippable ads.

[Reverend Jim]

The tech that really gets me riled is the "everything in the world has to have its own app". If I installed every app that I was offered I'd have

1. one for buying gas
2. one for shopping at Superstore
3. one for shopping at Walmart
4. one for Rogers (TV)
5. one for Shaw (TV - merged with Rogers but would need both apps)
6. one for banking (not a chance in hell I'll say where)
7. one for my retirement health spending account
8. one for Oculus (this one is a must for me)
9. one for shopping at Safeway

and I don't know how many more. With all the other (cr)apps that came pre-installed on my phone my app list covers several screens.

[Reverend Jim]

Back in the 90s we had the dot com bubble. A company could see it's stock price jump by 25% just by adding .com to their company name. Then a few years ago they started adding blockchain to everything for another bump. I'm still waiting for AI.com to make its debut. That will extend the bubble a bit more.

Wyoming is building a new AI based data centre that when running at full capacity is expected to use more than five times the electricity used by every household in the state combined. I hope the bubble bursts soon.

[Dani]

I'm still waiting for AI.com to make its debut. That will extend the bubble a bit more.

.ai is the new .com TLD :)

[Dani]

The tech that really gets me riled is the "everything in the world has to have its own app".

I get the convenience of apps that let you do the most common things on-the-go. For example, I just hired a home care worker to take care of me, and HomePay has an app that lets her do her timesheet. It's a lot simpler to check in on an app than it is to get over to a computer, browse to a website, and start doing it through a much more clunky interface.

For me it's the apps that have embedded browsers that do nothing more than show end-users mobile-friendly versions of theri webistes. That's annoying.

[Reverend Jim]

What's also annoying is when they show someone on TV using the tech it is always quick and seamless. CSI in the field? Take a picture and send it to a co-worker in five seconds. No scrolling to open the photo app. No selecting the photo and adding an email address and clicking send. The phone always knows beforehand what app you need open and that you want to email it to a particular person.

A more realistic version was in the show Silicon Valley when Gavin Belson kept trying to use the latest tech to video conference. Every single time the system would freeze and a tech would appear from out of frame to tweak. Three different systems in rapid succession resulted in the d=same epic fail.

My wife and I both have Microsoft Teams running on the same account. Whenever Adam calls, I answer on my laptop and hers keeps ringing. We didn't have that problem under Skype.

And that's another beef. Newer, less capable and harder to use tech that replaces older tech. Smart TVs whose main "improvement" seems to be a better system to stream ads to the user. Smart vehicles that don't allow the owner to do repairs, forcing them to go to the dealer at a non-negotiable price. Printers that brick themselves if you try to use a non-brand ink cartridge, and cartridges that tell the printer they are empty when they still have ink left.