Tired of Apps Fixing What Wasn’t Broken

No wonder our hands are tired of clicking and hungry for clay.

🥤 This is a four-minute read.

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I saw this unfortunate advertisement the other day:

“Imagine never having to ask, ‘What should we do tonight?’ ever again.

Can you? Because I cannot.
How boring it already is to have machines to solve problems that don’t even exist everything all the time? I want to do my stuff! Please stop filling every gap with technology.

I love to ask what we should do this weekend, what we should eat for dinner. Do you have plans for the weekend? Shall we plan something? We have to go to this restaurant a friend told me about — they have banana chips that remind fried bananas my mom makes. OMG, the deep-fried corn!

Thinking about Hills Dumpling, btw.

If setting up fun programs becomes a burden because you’re the only person coming up with ideas and plans, then, sorry to be the one with the hard news: the problem is the people around you, and you should absolutely not solve it with an app. Instead, find people interested in sharing life with you — I know how insanely hard it is, but it’s the right thing to do. Sorry. Really. Sorry.

And the ad continues:

“Our app is built for Helsinki locals and tourists who are tired of the city feeling boring. Bringing hidden gems and all your favorite places together in one place, ready to book in seconds.”

This part it’s okayish. It means they are building a recommendation app for people who feel bored in Helsinki. Possibly something that we could get from Google Maps and sites such as MyHelsinki, Stadissa, or hel.fi. I’d guess with some AI and a friendly interface, so we could instantly book recommended events, restaurants, etc.

So, why okayish?

I’ve been disagreeing with the existence of these apps that do all the job for us. They make things easier, yes, but also more artificial, less human, less connected, less communitaire. Maybe it’s an exaggeration to say they make us lonelier, but we can affirm they foster a behavior that doesn’t take a communal direction.

Instead of asking a neighbour for an egg to complete my recipe, I just pick up my phone, open Wolt, and wait for the delivery guy to drop it by my door. No contact.

Does anyone still introduce single friends to each other, or do we just let them battle it on Tinder?