The joys of mature technology

Amid all the excitement about new technology it is easy to forget the joys of the old one.

This morning I followed my morning ritual by making a traditional Italian coffee with a Bialetti stovetop, invented by Alfonso Bialetti in 1933. At the time it revolutionised domestic coffee preparation and it is still used by hundreds of millions of people around the world. All it needs is water, coffee and a heat source (gas or electricity). It always works, never breaks down and is fully reliable in terms of end-result.

Revolutionary (or even evolutionary) new technology is often quite a bit more exciting in terms of possibilities, but it also usually takes more than a decade to mature. The more complex it is the more time it takes to get rid of the teething problems and design flaws. Because of the general buzz and image effects of using the latest gadgets, people tend to be quite patient with these flaws, providing a grace period for the producers and allowing them to boost the hype further. The unexpected shutdowns, long updates, disappointing functionality and hardware malfunctions are rarely mentioned by the early adopters.

But maybe we have now arrived at a point where we come to value the merits of maturity above excitement. After more than a decade of increasing tech arousal, perhaps we have come to realise the beauty of simplicity and reliability over the latest internet-connected gadgets and home appliances. Do we really want to share our whole life with advertising agencies and spend our money and time on ever more sophisticated ways to do nothing? 

Time to sober up and focus more on all the joyful old technology surrounding us and meanwhile enjoy a good coffee!