Technology Failures this Weekend

People wonder why I like old, simple, manual, mostly analog devices and tools. This weekend served as a pretty good reminder of why I sometimes hate technology.

Bluetooth Headphones

I have a rather expensive pair of Bluetooth earbuds so I can listen to audio books while I ride my bike. I bought them so I could ride without worrying about tangled cables or the buds falling out. I charged them up (which is required before every ride because battery life is pretty bad) and drove to the bike trail. The headphones wouldn’t pair. They were paired yesterday, but suddenly nothing. I tried for 20 minutes and gave up.

iPhone

After failing to pair my headphones, I noticed that the battery meter on the iPhone said 29% even though I’d charged it overnight and it was only 10:00am. I shrugged, fired up Runkeeper, killed all other apps, and took off for my ride. 20 minutes later the battery was dead. This happens pretty regularly and is maddening.

AppleTV

I wanted to try using the Remote app on the iPhone instead of Apple’s horrible aluminum remote. Somehow I ended up unable to control the AppleTV with either the phone or the remote. Required a reset and some time on Google to find a fix.

DEVONthink

I’ve been using DEVONthink for years. One thing they still don’t have nailed is sync. There are all sorts of configurable sync options but I’ve not found one that works consistently. If I didn’t hate using Evernote I’d switch back to it just for its flawless sync. After an hour of fidgeting I’ve gotten things working again, but sheesh.

iMac

My iMac has been getting worse and worse. Very slow, very flakey. I’m almost positive it’s a hardware problem but Apple had it overnight and found nothing. A reboot takes up to 20 minutes before things are usable. Half the time only some of the startup items actually start. Time for something new I think.

Sonos

Sonos on my phone wouldn’t connect to any of the speakers so I couldn’t control my music. I tried updating to the latest 5.1 version via the desktop app but after it downloads I get a message saying that there was a problem with the update and to “please try downloading the update again”. Maybe later.

I think may just put on a record and read a book.