Help! Too Much Technology

Does this scenario sound familiar? Prices on HDTVs have fallen to a place where you think, "Let's do it. We can always save money by installing it ourselves!" Only to find several hours and many frustrating rants later that it's not as easy as you'd hoped.

If it rings a sad little bell, you're in good company. Dr. Donald Norman, an enormously competent engineer who helped set up the technical standards for high-definition TV in the United States, didn't even try to set up his HDTV by himself. He hired professional installers. Technology changes so fast and the competitive pressure is so intense, Norman says in this CBS 60 Minutes episode called Get Me the Geeks, that many electronics products are pushed quickly to market before engineers have time to simplify them.

"Someone complained to me, you need a degree, an engineering degree, from MIT to work this damn thing," Norman tells 60 Minutes. "Well, I have an engineering degree from MIT, and I couldn't work it."

Sometimes, the technology we crave (and hope will make our lives better) is, simply, too much. We often get more than we need, want, and can easily figure out on our own with each new device we bring into our lives. Even after we pour through inch-thick manuals, and give it to our kids to tinker with.

Tell the truth: Do you really know how to work all the settings on your newest digital camera? Or do you point and shoot 98 percent of the time? And do you honestly know all the things you can do with your sleek new cell phone besides make calls, send text messages, and take photos? Tech manufacturers are doing a great job of marketing all these must-have add-ons, but often fall short of making all the functions intuitively easy to find and use.

I've got a Palm Treo 700p, and I make calls, get my email, surf the web, and record calendar items on it. But I know I haven't come close to mastering its full functionality and using all that I paid dearly for.

In the 60 Minutes segment, New York Times columnist David Pogue theorizes that many tech troubles often can be traced to the fact that there are so many cooks in the tech kitchen. Different companies make the computers, software, and drivers that need to work together for your one camera, for example. So odds are, there will be trouble at some point, followed by frustration.

Where are you on the too-much-tech meter? Have you gotten caught in a vortex of complicated tech setups and troubleshooting sessions? Or is all the new technology you've added at home and the office truly making life more fun and work more efficient? Step right up and unload your tech frustrations below!