Was it different? Better?
Huh? Yes it is.
I was surprised at how complicated the electric range is in my mom’s retirement home.
Digital with push buttons.
I miss the simplicity of a knob for bake/broil and a thermostat knob.
It wasn’t noticeably different as far as I can remember.
Seems like ordering two pizzas would solve this dilemma.
Copying a long list of numbers printed on a sheet of paper to a computer without making a mistake.
When you have to sign and give back a receipt in a drive thru.
Combining the complexities of food with the complexities of religion. Well played!
Things which should be simple, but which are not
Getting out of bed.
Giving a shit.
I like to compare things to driving a car. I get in my car, turn the key, put it in drive, and go. I get home, park the car, and walk away.
Compare this to my desktop computer. I turn on the power strip, turn on the computer, sign in, wait 5 minutes for it to update, click on something, do work. Click on the turn it off button, wait 5 minutes for it to finish installing updates, get bored, turn off the power strip, walk away in anger knowing that next time I want to use my computer I will have to wait for it to finish the updates.
Who would buy a car if they knew that when they wanted to go somewhere they had to first wait for 15 minutes before they could start the car because it was “updating”. And when they got to their destination, they couldn’t turn the car off until it was done installing the updates.
So basically turning a computer on and off should be as simple as turning a light on and off, but instead it takes forever and you have no choice about what the computer is doing.
Just don’t turn it off.
Here’s another one -
Clothing. This is a concept that, in its essence, is purely utilitarian, but in virtually every society ever, is so much more complex… and without immediately obvious value being added.
Simple sex is boring sex.
Buying something you’ve already chosen to buy should be simple. The closest department store to my house is K-Mart. I hardly ever go there because the act of purchasing my items, the act of giving them my money, is painfully difficult. Their process to complete a transaction is slow, they ring up slow, they ask for personal information, products are poorly marked. They keep the minimum number of cashiers open, so there is always a line, even if the store isn’t busy.
I’m a vegetarian and I don’t drink. Convincing some people that you don’t want any meat or alcohol should be a simple “No, thanks.” It ain’t.
When we order pizza at my job, they order a ham and pineapple “and make sure to have just pineapple on two slices. No ham. And a diet soda.”
With one’s spouse/partner/better half - “Where do you want to eat tonight?”
Splitting a check when a group goes out to eat. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve paid the whole check because somebody resented that his GF didn’t drink any of the pitcher of beer…only soda from the pitcher of that we ordered.
Seriously. The guy is paying $8.00 for two shares of pizza and drinks and is pissed off because he thinks it should be $7.50?
I refuse to go out with my wife to have lunch with her friends because they do exactly the same sort of thing. Out of five people at the table, only three had any of THIS specific appetizer. “Really…I only ate the free bread, so I should not have to pay that extra 84 cents!!”
Wait a minute. I thought you worked for a store owned by Jewish people. Why would they order a pizza with ham? 
Oh shit, Columbo is in the house.
Not always. But I get your point.
Printing your files ought to be stone easy. But first you have to find printer drivers and the right cable and determine whether that “low ink” message is true or just a bug in the printer.
What the heck is that supposed to mean?