Sunday, August 23, 2026

August 22 - Tech Fatigue

August 16, 2026

Day 1,782 of the Adventure


My disdain for tech-anything has been well documented over the years. The fact that I engage in a little bit of social media, write various blogs and have a YouTube channel may lead people to believe I'm all into that. The fact is that I barely have a minimal grasp on any of it. Especially the initial part of setting it up and understanding how to use it. Once it's working, I mostly just leave it alone. It's all just too much work and effort to learn more than just the basics. Lately, as in over the last couple of years, a new level of tech is inundating our lives. It's that of paid subscription serves. Not the free ones. I'm referring to the ones that feel mostly being but nickel and dime us to death. Extortion is the word that come to mind. I suppose that it made its way onto my radar with cable TV. Which I avoided for years. Up until Monday night football went cable only. Then, with a lot of grumbling and complaining, I finally broke to the inevitability that the trend was here to stay. Soon came streaming services we had to pay for. Something you can't just have one or two of either. Now, every company has its own, and even if it's only $3.99 per month, if your show is on that network, you pay. It didn't take long for other industries to figure out they were missing out on a golden opportunity. Nowadays, subscription services stretch into appliance features, phone features, computer features, automobile features and the list goes on. Even though, for example. your car manufacturer went to the trouble and expense to install heated seats, which you paid for by the way, you may very well not be able to access that feature if you're unwilling to pay an ongoing monthly fee for it. 

The accumulative monthly effect of this is infuriating to me. Something in me snapped recently and I made a personal decision to not own or buy anything that relied on a paid subscription fee to access. The fact that we are slowly being conditioned to accept the idea of paying to rent things like heated seats, refrigerator ice makers and "fluff" settings on our laundry dryers is asking too much. What is the answer? I don't know other than personally, manufacturers and service providers that choose to follow that pathway will simply position themselves out of my marketability. My choice to not go there with them will not change anything for them, but it will give me the peace of mind to know that I am refusing to get dragged into that culture of control. 

It's a fatigue I never expected to encounter. It may indeed add to a level of inconvenience at times but as the old saying goes. It's now a "Bridge Too Far" for me. I'm not even trying to make a case why it would be a good idea for everyone to cancel all paid subscription services. You do you and I'll do me and me is not getting dragged in to anymore of this nonsense. 

Carry On

Adventure Quote: “For me, publishing books in hardback format is a protest against The World Economic Forum's decree that we will own nothing and be happy about it. In an economy that's subscription based, where we stream or rent everything as a service, this is my tiny, tangible F you.” ― Jarod Kintz

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