2019-09-01_Computer_Shopper

12 SEPTEMBER 2019 |COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE 379

S& S

TOPARAPHRASEFERRISBueller of the titularFerris Bueller ’s

DayOff:‘Tech moves pretty fast as atech journalist.If you don’t

stop and look aroundonce in awhile,you could miss it.’

That’s rather true of my line of tech journalism.There’s aheck

of alot going on, with all mannerof tech firms showcasingnew

features in phones,laptops, PCs and so on. And you know what?

That’s good, becauseit means as arbitraryas some incremental

upgradesmight be,things are always moving forward. Then there

are the really innovative things that pop up at least once ayear.

But I’ve noticedatrend in people,mostly tech-savvy types, that

are very keen to scorn efforts to inject alittle somethingdifferent

intowhat’s quickly becomingstale tech design.

‘Who needs adual-screenlaptop?’,some have spouted after the

likes of Asus and Intel revealed laptops with two displays at

Computex 2019 (seeTheLowdown,page 17), completely failing to

New technologyisgreat,butit’snot alwaysthehighest specsorfastestperformance

that make aproductawinner–itjustneedsto be convenient

RANTS&RAVES& SS

think of the potential such devices might have for

others, even if it wouldn’t suit them.

‘Who wants aphone with two front-facing

cameras?’,arelic of tech-watching might bleat,

fo rgettingthe youth of todaylive their lives via selfies.

‘8K?!ThePlayStation5willneverbeableto dothat!’,

s me grunted at the semi-reveal of Sony’s next-gen

g s console,despitehaving no insight intowhat the

companyis doing with its partnershipwith AMD.

And then there’s the dunkingfolks do on pop-upcamerasin

smartphones.When the OnePlus7Pro (page 44) was revealed,

people questionedhow durablethe pop-upselfie camerawould be,

rather than revelling in the gloriousbezel-freedisplay.

The OnePlus7Pro is now my daily phone,and while I’m not a

massiveselfie taker,the pop-upcamerashows no signs of

grubbiness,even thoughIdon’t use acase.

In short, people are simply tooquick to moan at attempts to

push the boundariesof tech design and innovation. And it’s making

me,someonewho loves arant, ironicallyvery grumpy.

Tech firms that try to push the envelopeshould be celebrated.

Sure,wecan laugh at their failures, but we shouldn’t discourage

the trying of new things, otherwisewe’ll be stuck in acycle of

Apple-styleincrementalupgradesforaneternity.

ALOTOFtechnologicalprogresswas driven by trying to make the

best, aiming forthe highest-ever specs. More recently,I’ve been

shying awayfrom having to have the most powerfuldevices, as it

feels as thoughwe’re in an age where convenienceand usabilityare

just as, if not more,important.

Ilike to playthe odd game,but until recently,mychoices were

to boot up the PC in my garden office or go forthe PlayStation

pluggedintothe main TV and take over the lounge.Both choices

requireddedicated time and space,which wasn’t always possible.

That’s the main reason Ibought aNintendo Switch.

It’s not the most powerfulconsole,itdoesn’t have the highest-

resolutionscreen and you can even get phonesthat technicallyhave

more oomph.What the Switch has is convenience.When Iwant to

playsomething,Ican pick it up,turn it on and I’m ready to go in

seconds,whetherI’m in the kitchen or sitting on a

plane travelling. If Iwant that big-screenexperience,

then there’s always the dock that lets me plug the

consoleintothe TV.

The result of this flexibilityis that I’ve played some

new games, but I’ve also gone back and am playing

k yrim again. The more personal,convenienttouch of

the Sw itch means I’m more involvedwith the game and, the

secondtime around,I’ve done more,enjoyed the open world

more,and had more fun playing on the Switch than Idid on my PC.

Forsimilar reasons,Iended up breakingout the iPad and playing

some old LucasArtsgames: the flexibilityto playwhen and where I

wanted was farmore important,and Igot more time to playthan I

would have if I’d stuck with the PC.

The Switch is agreat exampleof where quality and convenience

has outstrippedspecs, but we’re seeing it in other places, too: just

look at the RaspberryPi (page 18). Launchedto make programming

and projectseasier,the Pi has sold abucketloadof models,with its

simple,cheap and convenientdesign proving to be awinner.

I’m all forthe continueddevelopmentof technology,but we

shouldn’t lose sight of how the end productwill be used, with

convenienceoften triumphingover raw specs.

DavidL

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