The Pendulum Of Progress

Do We Really Need An App For Everything?

As a lifelong tech geek, I’ve spent most of my life chasing the cutting edge.

My FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) have made me an early adopter of more electronics than I care to admit.

I’ve stood in pre-dawn lines for new gadgets. I’ve beta-tested software that had no business being released. I’ve marveled at the shrinking of circuit boards and the rise of cloud computing.

But lately? Something’s shifted. The pendulum of progress is swinging the other way. I’m less interested in the “new” and “improved.”

I just want my tech to work. And I’m not alone.

More and more, I’m seeing people dust off old iPods and Wiis and shoot photos on twenty-year-old point-and-shoots instead of their “smart” phones. Flip phones are staging a curious comeback and even dumb TVs and VCRs are finding new fans at thrift stores.

It’s easy to dismiss all this as nostalgia. But I think something deeper is happening.

The truth is, technology has lost a bit of its spark. For me, it’s stopped feeling fun.

One of the biggest culprits? So-called “smart” phones and their endless sea of apps.

I used to get excited about new apps because they solved real-world problems—or at least sparked a little joy. Now? When I download new apps, I tend to open them once. Maybe twice. Then I promptly forget about them.

App fatigue is real. And I don’t think I’m the only one feeling it.

Our phones are littered with dozens—sometimes hundreds—of little icons we rarely use. There’s an app for everything, and most apps are only useful to a tiny niche of the population. Personally, I need an app just to organize my apps.

But do all these apps make us more productive? More creative? More in control?

A few of mine do. Maybe 10%. The rest? Just clutter. Noise. They have features (and bugs) I never asked for and don’t need.

Meanwhile, old tech—most of it clunky and disconnected—suddenly feels liberating.

A dedicated MP3 player just plays music.
A dedicated camera just takes photos.

These “old school” gadgets and gear do one thing, and they do it well. No need for logins or updates. No need for yet another subscription.

Maybe what so many of us are craving is focus and simplicity.
And less friction between purpose, intention, and action.

I’m not saying we should all throw our smartphones in the ocean and move to the woods (though I do appreciate the appeal of Walden more and more every day).

But maybe it’s time to ask: Do we really need an app for everything?

What if progress isn’t about adding more complexity and options but about focusing on fewer bugs and redundancies? What if the future of tech is about subtraction, not multiplication?

I have loved technology well since before floppy disks and dial-up modems. And I am definitely not anti-app. I’m just pro-purpose. And right now, it feels like the pendulum is swinging toward a quieter, more deliberate relationship with our tools.

“New and improved” isn’t always better. Sometimes, less really is more.

Maybe it’s time we remembered how to enjoy tech again…

Keep calm and carry on!
Clint 🌈✌️

COLLIDE PRESS is a reader-supported publication.
Please consider becoming a Paid Subscriber or Patron.

Thanks for reading COLLIDE PRESS!
This post is public, so feel free to share it.

FOR YOUR (SUBSTACK) CONSIDERATION

• Review: Daniela Forever (PalCinema, Television, & Music)

• How We Create One Problem To Avoid Another (Undividing with Karl Dunn)

• 545 Miles, Two Friends, and a Whole Lot of Love (David Begor 🏳️‍🌈)

---

ON THIS DAY = JULY 31

BIRTHDAYS

• 1847 = Ignacio Cervantes = Cuban pianist and composer

• 1860 = Mary Vaux Walcott = American painter and illustrator

• 1867 = S. S. Kresge = American businessman and Kmart founder

• 1875 = Jacques Villon = French painter

• 1889 = Nels Anderson = American sociologist 🌈

• 1901 = Jean Dubuffet = French painter and sculptor

• 1911 = George Liberace = American violinist

• 1914 = Louis de Funès = French actor and screenwriter

• 1916 = Bill Todman = American screenwriter and producer

• 1921 = Peter Benenson = English lawyer, activist, and Amnesty International founder

• 1923 = Ahmet Ertegun = Turkish-American songwriter, producer, and Atlantic Records founder

• 1929 = Don Murray = American actor

• 1931 = Kenny Burrell = American singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1932 = Barbara Gittings = American activist 🌈

• 1932 = Ted Cassidy = American actor and screenwriter

• 1935 = Geoffrey Lewis = American actor and screenwriter

• 1939 = France Nuyen = Vietnamese-French actor

• 1939 = Susan Flannery = American actor 🌈

• 1940 = Stanley R. Jaffe = American film producer and director

• 1944 = Sherry Lansing = American film producer

• 1947 = Ian Beck = English children's illustrator and author

• 1947 = Richard Griffiths = English actor

• 1950 = Richard Berry = French actor, director, and screenwriter

• 1956 = Michael Biehn = American actor and filmmaker

• 1958 = Bill Berry = American drummer and songwriter

• 1958 = Mark Cuban = American businessman and media personality

• 1962 = Wesley Snipes = American actor and producer

• 1963 = Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim) = English DJ and musician

• 1964 = Jim Corr = Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1965 = Ian Roberts = Australian actor and former rugby player 🌈

• 1970 = Ben Chaplin = English actor

• 1978 = Zac Brown = American singer-songwriter

• 1979 = B.J. Novak = American actor and filmmaker

• 1998 = Rico Rodriguez = American actor

EVENTS

• 1703 = Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers.

• 1790 = The first U.S. patent is issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.

• 1948 = At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.

• 1965 = Frank Kameny leads the first organized gay and lesbian and gay protest of The Pentagon. Twelve male and four female veterans of the armed services picket the Pentagon to protest discrimination in the military. Coverage airs on CBS in Washington that evening.

• 1969 =The first meeting of the Gay Liberation Front was held in NYC.

• 1992 = Hang 'Em High is released in theaters.

• 1987 = The Lost Boys is released in theaters.

• 1992 = Death Becomes Her is released in theaters.

• 2012 = Gore Vidal dies in Los Angeles at the age of 86.

HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES

• National Avocado Day

• National Chili Dog Day

• National Intern Day

• National Mutt Day

---

PORTRAIT + QUOTES OF THE DAY

GORE VIDAL AT AGE 23 BY CARL VAN VECHTEN

“We are the United States of Amnesia, which is encouraged by a media that has no desire to tell us the truth about anything, serving their corporate masters who have other plans to dominate us.”
Gore Vidal

“History is nothing but gossip about the past, with the hope that it might be true.”
Gore Vidal