Technology Challenges, Chapter 37
Ernie and I hold on to our phones the way we hold on to our cars.
That is to say, until the last possible minute before they completely conk out on you.
It’s a bit of a skill, I must say, to be able to gauge the right moment to call it quits on either your phone or your car. You need to find that sweet spot of really maximizing your investment without leaving you stranded, car-less or phone-less.
My iPhone 12 was fast approaching overshooting that sweet spot. It was time to trade it in and buy a new one.
Hello, iPhone 17.
Not having had a new phone in close to 6 years, I seemed to have forgotten the need to log back in to all your apps. I swear I don’t remember that happening. I was under the impression that when everything got transferred to the new phone, everything would work the same, with no extra effort required, on the new phone.
It has been a week of sheer torture.
On Friday for instance, I went to use my Insight Timer app. I was going to do some yoga and meditation. You know, get myself into a good zen place.
Except, zen was going to have to wait.
I was prompted to log in to my account.
Ok. Type in email address.
Ok. Now it’s asking for my password.
WTF is my password? Who remembers that?
Check Notes, which is the only place, if I even remember to record a password, that I record a password.
Nada, zip, zilch.
Ok, click on Reset Password.
“Please check your email for the link we are sending you to reset your password”, they tell me.
Ok. Check my email. Nada, zip, zilch.
Wait. Wait some more. Wait some more some more.
Hit refresh your inbox for the 10th time.
Rebuild the pyramids at Giza.
Ah! There it is.
Ok. Clink on the link. Enter new password. Re-enter new password.
“Great!”, I think. That should do it. My zen state can begin.
I type in the new password. Another screen pops up with the message that I should check my email for a verification of the password change.
Come on. Seriously?
Zen state is nowhere to be seen, but REALLY IRRITATED AND ANNOYED STATE was making itself at home.
I checked my email. Nada, zip, zilch.
Wait. Wait some more. Wait some more some more.
Hit refresh your inbox for the 10th time.
Excavate the pyramids at Giza.
And STILL NOTHING.
Now I have the fun task of seeing if I am able to contact Customer Support.
Surprisingly, I was able to locate where it says HELP. I swear these apps majored in How To Bury the Contact Support link.
I clicked on that and typed away about my situation. I was pleasantly surprised when I got a fairly immediate response.
However, it took 7 messages from them before I discovered I was talking to a bot when I got this message: “…I’m handing this over to a human member of our support team who can take a closer look…”
7, count them, 7 messages from Customer Support before it was able to figure out that it should be turned over to a human. I think maybe a PIP (Performance Improvement Plan) might be in order for this bot. It clearly needs some help in achieving how to recognize sooner when you need to call in the humans.
It then took 4 more messages from 2 different actual humans before my problem got solved on Saturday.
Dear god, this is just one app. I have 7 screens of apps.
REALLY IRRITATED AND ANNOYED STATE was fast turning into COMPLETELY OVERWHELMED HOW WILL I GET THROUGH THIS STATE.
But fortunately, my Insight Timer app was back in action.
I put on Soothing Guitar With Ocean Waves For Stress Relief and Relaxation.
Might need a few more sessions of that, plus maybe a Healing Piano Music For The Body And Soul, before attempting to log into any more apps.
And if that doesn’t help, there’s always wine.
The Tech Paradox: Making your life easier while simultaneously making it harder.