March 20, 2021

Technology.

I am all for advancing technology. I’m excited about the technological future and I want to do any and everything I can to help bring our technological musings into fruition. Our new home in Tucson will probably have a lot of gadgets that seem futuristic, so when I see something out in the world that appears to be advancing technology, I get excited.

This touchscreen fuel pump does not excite me.

You know the drill. You put your credit or debit card in the slot (or tap your smart device against the reader that has a 10% chance of actually being there), type in your zip code, and select your octane.

First of all, what are we accomplishing by converting from buttons to a touchscreen? I’m sure many tests were done, but do we think a touchscreen in the middle of a Chicago winter will be super responsive to user inputs? And let’s talk about that. I could barely get the touchscreen to work on a surprisingly mild March day, I can’t imagine how it would be with gloves on a sub-zero January morning.

Aesthetically, the physical device is pleasing. The interface is a little too modern and simplified for my tastes and I could do without the ads, but it’s not awful.

I just don’t get why we needed it.