There, I’ve said the unthinkable, the unmentionable.
For someone who works in tech, I’m a secret Luddite. If my laptop does something funny, I’m as lost as the average Joe.
I get really frustrated when tech is used just because it looks cool. Worse when it actively hinders getting the job done.
I spent a few days away recently with an amazing bunch of folk (#wordsofmouth23 rocked!) and had the dubious pleasure of self-checking into my B&B. The email told me various codes for numerous English-named things. But all the onsite signage was in Welsh. As someone who’s Welsh but from South Pembs (proudly English-speaking since 1086, I’ll have you know!) I had no clue what was what so I just tried all the codes randomly. No joy – just further confusion.
The codes were accompanied by a video. In landscape. Gorgeous, evocative drone footage of the area sweeping up the estuary to the castle. Followed by slow instructions on how to park your car. With tiny, illegible captions. More than 5 minutes in, it took another two minutes to finally show that my room was the only one around the back.
Exactly what you need when you’re a pedestrian, on your phone, tired, confused, and just trying to check-in(!)
I get really frustrated when tech is used just because it looks cool. Worse when it actively hinders getting the job done.
I spent a few days away recently with an amazing bunch of folk (#wordsofmouth23 rocked!) and had the dubious pleasure of self-checking into my B&B. The email told me various codes for numerous English-named things. But all the onsite signage was in Welsh. As someone who’s Welsh but from South Pembs (proudly English-speaking since 1086, I’ll have you know!) I had no clue what was what so I just tried all the codes randomly. No joy – just further confusion.
The codes were accompanied by a video. In landscape. Gorgeous, evocative drone footage of the area sweeping up the estuary to the castle. Followed by slow instructions on how to park your car. With tiny, illegible captions. More than 5 minutes in, it took another two minutes to finally show that my room was the only one around the back.
Exactly what you need when you’re a pedestrian, on your phone, tired, confused, and just trying to check-in(!)
The video might have been a nice touch if I’d watched it on my laptop when I got the booking confirmation. But frankly, who has the time for that?!
What I really needed was an extra line in the email that simply said “Your room is in the stable/yr ystabl, accessed via the gates to the car park, around the back opposite the Bathroom Store”.
Sometimes all the tech you need is no tech at all.