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Least Favourite inventions of the 21st Century

GaryH

TS Member
Ok let’s have a contrast and see what people think are the worst.

Following on my comment in the other thread I vote smartphones and tablets as the worst invention. I think they have actually made society more insular, less friendly, isolated the elderly as companies force them to do things online (ie. Banking), made more people vulnerable to fraud, and turned kids into zombies more interested in what’s going on in instagram than paying attention when crossing the road.

Mental health issues now are worse than they have ever been as people aspire to be like the glamour people see on their social media feeds, with the wealth, fast cars, fit bodies and good looks. Many feel inadequate and have low self esteem that they can’t be like these people. Bullying isn’t now just in school but follows people online and is hard to escape. Job aspirations are to leave school and be a vlogger on YouTube.

The biggest thing they have done is remove our privacy. It seems to be acceptable now that apps and companies can access a multitude of personal information about us now….. and we don’t care. Hackers can steal passwords, access accounts, photos on the cloud, personal information and its now seen as part of modern life.

I think they have also eroded patience. Everything is now on tap in an instant. We can’t wait for anything anymore. Scan and shop = less employed in the stores, less people to interact with but who cares when you don’t have to queue for 5 minutes.

I know a lot of the younger people will think I’m mad saying this, but I do think the future looks very bleak and lonely as human interaction is replaced with technology.
 
Ok let’s have a contrast and see what people think are the worst.

Following on my comment in the other thread I vote smartphones and tablets as the worst invention. I think they have actually made society more insular, less friendly, isolated the elderly as companies force them to do things online (ie. Banking), made more people vulnerable to fraud, and turned kids into zombies more interested in what’s going on in instagram than paying attention when crossing the road.

Mental health issues now are worse than they have ever been as people aspire to be like the glamour people see on their social media feeds, with the wealth, fast cars, fit bodies and good looks. Many feel inadequate and have low self esteem that they can’t be like these people. Bullying isn’t now just in school but follows people online and is hard to escape. Job aspirations are to leave school and be a vlogger on YouTube.

The biggest thing they have done is remove our privacy. It seems to be acceptable now that apps and companies can access a multitude of personal information about us now….. and we don’t care. Hackers can steal passwords, access accounts, photos on the cloud, personal information and its now seen as part of modern life.

I think they have also eroded patience. Everything is now on tap in an instant. We can’t wait for anything anymore. Scan and shop = less employed in the stores, less people to interact with but who cares when you don’t have to queue for 5 minutes.

I know a lot of the younger people will think I’m mad saying this, but I do think the future looks very bleak and lonely as human interaction is replaced with technology.

I kind of agree that smartphones have brought some very understandable things to our lives in a lot of ways, but I have to disagree with some of the reasons as I think some of the points you've made are modernisations of things that were always there.

I don't think they have made us less friendly, I just think they've changed the way we communicate. I feel guilty for instance that my kids don't go out, knock on their mates door and go and climb trees and stuff like I did. But when I watch them, they're actually more sociable than I ever was. Their phones and Xbox Live means they're in constant touch with their friends after school and I kind of now get it. It's strange I know because that's not how we grew up, but sometimes there's full on conferences going on in my house and they seem to have more contact with bigger groups of friends than I ever did.

I'm not sure about the mental health impact regarding glamour changing either. But then that could be because it's something that passes me by as I don't really understand it all. But growing up, you never saw anything but "perfect" images of men and women, it was just that it was on telly, billboards and in magazines instead? Traditional media has always sold us a fictional world of wealth, fast cars and 6 packs, only back then it was fed to us more by establishments.

I have to agree with the bullying though. Smartphones have taken away a lot of hiding places from those who are being bullied and I'd find it hard to deal with if ever my children were to become victims.

Not sure about the Vlogger aspirations either. Is this any different to us having grand plans to grow up and become rock stars, premiership footballers and BMX stunt riders?

You're absolutely right about the changing face of fraud and our privacy being given away. It's absolutely shocking how much data there is out there on us and how much of it falls into the wrong hands.

The most worrying thing about Smartphones for me would be the lack of escape from the outside world. Back in the day, I could have a day off from work, go out somewhere and no one could reach me. Even with old school mobile phones all anyone could do was text you or ring you if you had signal and it was acceptable to leave them at home. Now, so much of your life depends on your phone, you can't really do that now. No matter where I am in the world, someone can reach me, give me bad news, harass me or whatever.

Work makes it almost mandatory to be on WhatsApp groups, respond to emails within an hour of getting them or do little things remotely. Sometimes this is good as I have a lot of work systems that can be accessed from my phone and they sometimes allow me to work more efficiently. But where's the escape? Where's the switch off time?

I used to love having a smartphone and I still do in some respects when I think of all the things it's made easier. But I hate the fact that having one is almost mandatory these days, like it's an extension of your person. Something sinister about it all, how baked in now is to modern life.
 
With all the talk of smartphones being the least fave product of the 21st century...anyone would think their possession was compulsory.
They aren't, and you can live a full and happy life without one.
If it hurts, stop doing it.
My least favourite invention...BoJo's prime ministership...
By a very long way.
 
As an extension to the above, any automated system for customer service systems. A lot of companies these days it is near impossible to get through to a human being. Amazon is the best example of this. I do not mind an automated system that is good and could tailor to your specific needs, but I have found no such system. They are all soulless and go straight to 'have a refund'.

There are positives to mobile phones. I have particularly found in a hospital environment they have been pivotal for elderly patients to reach their loved ones since the pandemic. Similarly, tablet devices are helpful with showing patients YouTube and other media to keep them entertained.
 
I completely agree, it's incredibly frustrating. I know you're talking more about online systems, but I was just reading an article about how McDonald's is going to be refurbishing hundreds of its UK restaurants soon which will involve changes to ordering and collection. It will reduce staff-customer interaction massively, which is kind of important to having a good experience in my opinion.

 
I completely agree, it's incredibly frustrating. I know you're talking more about online systems, but I was just reading an article about how McDonald's is going to be refurbishing hundreds of its UK restaurants soon which will involve changes to ordering and collection. It will reduce staff-customer interaction massively, which is kind of important to having a good experience in my opinion.

Can you summarise for those of us who don't wish to read a Mirror article?
 
Just looks like a tart up of a few McDonald's branches to me. Clearly states there's still a manned till available
 
Here's a better article for you lot;


For those who don't want to click.

Tills for cash will move to seperate pods.
Seperate countr areas for different types of orders, dine-in, takeaway, delivery.
At some stores seperate entrances/parking/counters for delivery drivers.
Some stores will get bigger kitchens.

Recently I was in Belgium and noticed the touch screen gave the option to pay in cash, where a receipt is printed with a barcode so a cashier only does the final part and takes payment. I wonder why McDs never did that over here? The number of people paying by cash does seem incredibly small though.
 
MdDonalds is far far slower now than ever before. You could walk in before and order for example, just a hamburger, pay the cashier and be out in under 5 mins. Now you have to order it on the screen, and wait for your order number to come around, you could be there waiting 15 minutes even just for your 1 burger. The home deliveries have also hit McDonalds hard. The queue times are now much longer and our local is always making mistakes with the orders as the staff are now under so much pressure. They serve in the store, in the car parks, drive thro and now home delivery drivers. In a good way its stopped me going to them anymore.
 
Very similar and likewise.
The screens made things confusing for cave dwellers with cash like me.
I got caught out with "card only" by the mocking Bernard on the FY4 bar the other day.
So my C21 hate.
Cashless bars.
Discriminatory to miserable grey haired old gits who simply want a bottle of brown, and only have their car key and a twenty pound note in the sweaty, holey old sock they use as a purse at the parks.
 
When McDonalds updated and added the screens and changed their kitchens, all orders were pretty much made to order. Compared to previously when the food was always just sat there waiting to be collected. So I guess now food is much more fresher than previously.

personally I would much rather use touch screens, you can explore the menu properly, take your time, edit your order or add and remove things you might want to change, something which can be hard when ordering at a till.
 
Yep the big change is that instead of making six hamburgers and they sit in the warming chute, they now hot hold the patties and make them into hamburger/cheeseburger/double to order. So the burger is assembled to order, which also makes it easier to ask for no onions.
 
Yep the big change is that instead of making six hamburgers and they sit in the warming chute, they now hot hold the patties and make them into hamburger/cheeseburger/double to order. So the burger is assembled to order, which also makes it easier to ask for no onions.
I always order my burgers plain, but if you asked for one less ingredient (i.e no onion) the cashier would shout "grill up" to the chef and they would make it fresh to order.
 
I always order my burgers plain, but if you asked for one less ingredient (i.e no onion) the cashier would shout "grill up" to the chef and they would make it fresh to order.

Well they would have seven years ago before they switched to making every burger to order.
 
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