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Technology

What techy thing would you change, and why?

(15 Posts)
BenFriedman Fri 21-Oct-16 16:31:43

Pittcity, why not use the auto-save function in the browsers?

Pittcity Tue 11-Oct-16 21:15:45

Can we not have just one card or device instead of endless loyalty cards, cashcards etc. I never have the right one to hand.
I would also abolish passwords.....

rosesarered Tue 11-Oct-16 16:03:35

Mine are! grin

Ana Tue 11-Oct-16 15:35:26

Pockets in bras? Are you mad?

You'd have to get half-undressed to access them - not a pretty sight for the other passengers when you're searching for your bus pass...

Anniebach Tue 11-Oct-16 15:04:15

With Luckygirl , I hate windows 10 and I can't afford an Apple Mac

Luckygirl Tue 11-Oct-16 14:05:30

I would ditch microsoft and its endless Windows updates that are simply designed to line their coffers and to satisfy those companies who make money out of all these changes.

JackyB Tue 11-Oct-16 13:55:23

Oh yes - toilets are the worst for fiddly corners. I once saw a toilet where the ceramic bowl itself had a very wide rim and no seat or lid. It was very comfortable and looked and felt very hygenic.

Nowadays with the trend going towards these automatic lids, I can't find anything like it - at least not on the internet.

Stansgran Tue 11-Oct-16 13:46:34

The handle fittings on pans. They should be streamlined and not have screws which collect grease. Yes toilet seats are a nightmare to fit. The space behind tap fittings should be wide enough to clean behind without a special gadget from lakeland. all phones should have the same charger as I have many in a drawer and no idea which should be thrown out. I have boxes of cables too and think they should all have some label as to where they belong.

tiggypiro Tue 11-Oct-16 13:40:49

After driving my friends new car I was tearing my hair out at all the 'bleeps'. It bleeped if I crossed the white line in the middle of the road without indicating which meant that I had to indicate on an empty road in order to avoid a pothole or puddle. It bleeped if I got too close to something on any side. Front or back bleeps I admit can be useful but the ones on the side would mean I couldn't drive on my local narrow roads. I was ready to find the fuse box and remove the culprits. For those of you who also hate bleeps the car was a Honda Jazz.
I once bought a new microwave only after listening to all the bleeps they made.
Why do washing machines make you wait, what seems like ages, before they bleep to tell you now have permission to open the door.
Am I a bleep phobic ??

NanaMacGeek Tue 11-Oct-16 13:03:59

Where do I start? A car where the central console has room to put a handbag, my bag ends up in the footwell of the passenger seat or on the back seat so I can't reach it. Car seat belts that are comfortable for women drivers. Mobile phones that fit in your hand, including left hand (for us lefties), they don't need to have flat screens and could be cylindrical and look more like a small torch. Laptops with built-in handles, modern ones can easily slip out of small hands. 'Tear here' strips that actually work. I can't manage to open large screw tops (I have a kitchen tool that does this though). Oh and I hate my sunglass cases, because the lenses have to be large to protect the eyes, the cases needed to carry them are huge too. Surely it's possible to design more practical glasses cases for someone like me who only needs glasses for close work so always needs to carry them but not necessarily wear them? Perhaps handbag designers could do more? I can't imagine that pockets in clothes would be enough to carry all I need to go out for the day and I'd be bound to end up fishing something precious and soggy out of the washing machine. Please could technology find a secure way of providing us with paperless receipts, vouchers, coupons and parking tickets. At the end of a day's shopping, it's as if my bag is full of confetti but I have to go through everything and either file it or shred it! Enough now - sorry!

jollyg Tue 11-Oct-16 12:59:18

Of course bras have pockets!!!!!

What do you put in yours?

Elegran Tue 11-Oct-16 12:28:15

I thought my new toilet was great (simple outer shape that fits against the wall, with no corners behind it to trap dirt, no bits of floor that I couldn't get at to clean, soft-close hinge to seat and lid) until the fixing on one side of the seat started working loose. There was no way I could tighten it because there were no wing nuts under the bowl, they must be hidden inside the shell.

Then one day while I was sitting there minding my own business there was the sound of metal fittings slithering down ceramics. Seat now loose at one side. Presumably the bits have fallen somewhere inside where they can only been reached by dismantling the whole bathroom.

Tizliz Tue 11-Oct-16 11:51:56

too many dirt traps on or around toilets

JackyB Tue 11-Oct-16 11:49:27

A friend of mine made me aware of this when she found she had bought a deep-fat fryer that was women's-hands-friendly.

So, my ideas would firstly be about kitchen gadgets. They all seem to have awkward corners where food can lodge and spread germs. If they are plastic with a bayonet joint they break off too quickly. So they should be made up of as few parts as possible, which fit together easily, preferably with as much metal as possible and not plastic (won't lose its shape in the dishwasher).

I would standardise vacuum cleaner attachments. They always break first, and if they are bent or split they don't suck properly. Even with different vaccuums of the same make, the attachments aren't always interchangeable.

A colleague of mine some years ago had a new car and found that she couldn't get at the dashboard switches properly with her nails. I have often broken nails on the dashboard behind whilst grabbing for the steering wheel.

The standard height for kitchen work surfaces is also uncomfortable for many women, who are shorter than men (coh).

And, as the article mentions pockets: Why don't bras have pockets? (Although I always imagined that women designed bras.)

I'm sure there's loads more.

Elegran Tue 11-Oct-16 10:22:00

Piece at www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-37605943 today about women's influence (or lack of) in the world of technology design. We have all met things designed by men and useless for women. What is your pet hate, and how would you redesign it?