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Most Irritating Technology Problems

Technology has transformed the way we live. Twenty years ago, people had to ask for directions or carry a map to get around. Today, all you have to do is look down at your phone to find the location of every spot you wish to visit. However, this level of convenience did not come without a price. According to an Asurion study, around 80% of Americans get frustrated with tech issues every day. In the UK, a Wiztek poll suggests that one in eight Brits have broken a gadget in a fit of rage.

Sources of annoyance range from dealing with common tech limitations to bugs in newly downloaded software. Such as the recently reported problems with DraftKings mobile apps.  Whatever the reason, tech exasperation is real. Below we look at three frequently reported issues that cause people to fume with anger.

Wi-Fi Keeps Disconnecting

Nowadays, internet access is a necessity. There are few jobs one can do without having to answer emails or hop on video calls. Particularly given the events that unfolded in 2020. Therefore, one of the most irritating things that can happen is needing to use the internet, but your Wi-Fi is either unavailable or incapable of maintaining a decent connection.

If you are at home, the problem usually boils down to your router continuously shutting off due to a hardware failure or an environmental issue blocking easy signal access. Meaning, your router location or the materials used in your home are affecting your Wi-Fi signal strength. Other common troubleshooting answers include updating your Wi-Fi driver and router firmware, as well as checking for a problem with your internet service provider. If you are using public Wi-Fi, there may be a network overload in play, which can happen in super-crowded areas where multiple people are online at the same time.  

Pop-Up Ads

Pop-ups are the most dreaded form of online advertising. They have been the bane of all internet user’s existence since the mid-1990s when this invention began to get public traction. Ethan Zuckerman, who now leads the Center for Civic Media at MIT, gets credited for inventing this ad-based business model. He wrote the JavaScript and the server-side Perl to launch the world’s first pop-up. GeoCities, Yahoo’s web hosting service, was the first to utilize pop-ups.

Nowadays, these ads are an inescapable part of any internet browsing experience. Ad-blocking plugins became a thing in the late 2000s and provided quicker loading times and cleaner-looking pages. However, over the past decade, websites have gotten savvier. They now restrict access to those who refuse to view ads. Even if you utilize such blocking software, sites can still prompt you to access their offers or sign up for their newsletters, which is super annoying, as these windows spring on-screen seconds after pages load. Sadly, pop-ups are not dead, as they still boast an average conversion rate slightly above 3%, which is decent. Plus, those that rank in the top 10% best performing pop-ups have a conversion rate above 9%.

Software Updates Causing Instability

Everyone wants to be up-to-date. However, tech users know that updates often cause more problems than they solve. There are three possible outcomes when it comes to installing new versions of existing software. Things run smoother than before, there is no noticeable difference in operation, and a working system gets crippled by a previously non-existing problem. The latter is why 60% of mobile users hesitate to update apps.

The main reason why new versions of software produce problems is that development teams rush them out without adequately testing them first. When you fix one issue with code, you can cause many others. Quality assurance is of paramount importance in software development. 

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