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The Tech You Love

GPS, Spotify, Pokémon Go: Our readers tell us about the tech that makes their lives better.

Credit...Kate Dehler

By Shira Ovide

• Aug. 5, 2020

This article is part of the On Tech newsletter.

Everything in life has trade-offs. You can eat that delicious ice cream, but at a cost to your
waistline. In technology, the trade-offs can be dire. The cool and useful technology you
love might accuse the wrong person of a crime or enable four companies to have vast
influence over our lives.

But look, I’ve been writing a lot recently about the downsides to our (metaphorical)
waistlines from technology, and I wanted to indulge in a little ice cream.

So I asked our On Tech readers to tell us about the technology that makes their life
fabulous. About 100 of you had suggestions, from the universal to the obscure. One reader
waxed poetic about the thermos, which is not what I had in mind but I WILL ALLOW IT.
(A fancy Japanese travel mug is my favorite possession.)

Thanks to our On Tech editor Hanna Ingber for picking a selection of gems. They have
been lightly edited. Wave hello at Hanna through your screen.

—
The tech invention that makes my life fabulous is LiveBarn, a subscription streaming
service that puts remote-controlled cameras in hockey rinks around the country and in
Canada so that I can watch my grandchildren play whenever they are not local. — Max
Goldsmith, Newton, Mass.

I still play Pokémon Go daily more than four years after its launch. It gives me an incentive
to get outside, explore cities and find new places. I’ve made new friends while playing. I
traveled to Chicago last summer for the game’s annual festival. Most importantly, while
I’m playing I can’t be using other social media on my phone. — Jason Weill, Seattle

For me, GPS has to be the winner. Getting directions on my phone has
enabled me to see places I would otherwise never have seen, get places
I needed to with optimal speed, find family members and get them help
in record time in emergency situations. It even helped me find my car
in an airport parking lot. I find I go more places with confidence and
spontaneity when the downside risk of getting lost is eliminated. —
Linda Abraham, Tiburon, Calif.

I am a 73-year-old woman living alone with chronic health issues. Ever

since my first candy-bar phone, I have felt safer because help is just a phone number away,
even on the most deserted road. The confidence and self-reliance my phone affords me
cannot be overstated, but I think it makes my son who lives 850 miles from me feel better
too. — Barbara Sloan, Conway, S.C.

My favorite tech invention: the thermos. You put in something hot

and it stays hot; you put in something cold and it stays cold. But how
does it know? — Tom Schroeder, San Diego

As an avid reader, I was sure nothing could surpass the feel of a

paper book in my hands … until I experienced the ease of binge
reading an entire series over the course of a weekend without leaving
the house because I can purchase each new book instantaneously. —
Jen V., Cedar Rapids, Iowa

I became a paraplegic 15 years ago. Ebay and Amazon have been instrumental in allowing
me to be a fussy shopper without leaving my home. — Derek Porritt, Toronto

A little over a year ago I purchased a late model car that has blind-spot detection
technology, and it’s great! It has saved me (several times)
from being hit by drivers either trying to pass on the right
or from cars traveling in my blind spot in a left hand lane
that sped up when I put on the directional signal. — Steve
Filipek, Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.
When traveling to places where I don’t speak the language and people don’t speak English
I really appreciate having Google Images, because you can just show them a picture of
what you want and hand signs will fix the rest! This would of course work with any search
engine. — Zhuzhell Montano, Braunschweig, Germany

Online mobile device bank deposits are a terrific improvement over mailing in or going to
the bank to make deposits. — Robert Breuer, Berkeley, Calif.

Spotify, the streaming service that compiles any possible song I could want or think of, has
instrumentally improved my life, made doing chores easier, and provided the jams and
soundtrack for my most exciting nights and times. — Stephanie Christensen, Phoenix

I’m a widowed great-grandmother in my tenth decade, living alone. My family is scattered

all over the globe. WhatsApp, FaceTime, Zoom and Google Meet (with instant captions)
have been a lifeline for me. Seeing my children and grandchildren’s faces and talking with
them on a regular basis, sometimes daily, has made the lockdown and isolation bearable.
I’m aware of the nefariousness of Big Data. But this technology cancels it out for me. —
Blanche Korngold, Brookline, Mass.

HOMEWORK:
1. Read carefully the article ‘The Tech You Love’ by Shira Ovide
2. What is the testimony that most caught your attention? Justify your answer
3. Write your testimony about ‘The Tech You Love’. Complete your work with
an illustration