"Last week I wanted to buy a new vacuum cleaner. A basic household appliance. Turns out, there's a staggering number of options to choose from. Corded or cordless? If corded, how long is the cord? If cordless, how much battery life should it have? Should it be handheld? How much power is enough? Do you need it to handle pet hair? Long pet hair or short pet hair? Do you have carpets? It quickly turned into a whole research project."
"Maybe I tend to obsess over mundane technology, but it's not just vacuum cleaners. Everywhere you look, things seem more complicated than they used to be. So many apps to keep track of In the 2000s, the average office joe could get away with barely knowing how to use Excel and Word, maybe email. In the 2020s, you need to juggle calendars, meeting schedulers, video conferencing, file-sharing, AI chats, ticket management systems, and a multitude of instant messaging apps."
Buying a new vacuum cleaner revealed numerous product choices and technical trade-offs, turning a simple purchase into an extended research project. Choices include corded versus cordless, cord length, battery life, handheld versus other designs, power levels, and pet-hair handling for different hair lengths and carpets. Everyday consumer goods have become more specialized and complicated. Office work tools have multiplied since the 2000s, expanding from basics like Excel, Word, and email to calendars, meeting schedulers, video conferencing, file sharing, AI chats, ticketing systems, and many instant messaging apps, often each requiring separate passwords.
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