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Your Email Inbox Controls You, Not the Other Way Around
And other lessons about how technology sometimes makes our lives harder
Sometimes, I wonder who is in charge: me or the gadgets? “You’re running low on storage,” my devices tell me, “An update is required. Your battery is low. Review your security settings. This version is no longer supported. Secure your account with two-factor authentication. Backup your recovery codes.” On my desktop, there’s an image of an overflowing bin that needs emptying. It would be quaint were it not such an on-the-nose metaphor for the list of computer chores I need to do. I spend a lot of time being nagged by tech.
I’m pretty diligent when it comes to looking after gadgets. I keep my software up to date, clean my screens, remove dust from the fan vents, and clean my keyboard (pro tip: don’t do this on a full stomach.) These physical tasks are something we have to accept about possessions: The richer we are, the more things we have to dust. As Caity Weaver says in the New York Times about a ridiculously overpriced T-shirt: “The thing about a $590 T-shirt is that, upon acquiring one, you immediately become the human assistant to a $590 T-shirt.” The same is true of my devices. I have a growing list of errands to run for my digital pseudo-employers. These tasks aren’t big or taxing, but they keep coming and my devices chase me until I do them.
The emails I receive from humans are a tiny fraction.
There’s tending to the email inbox, of course. We think of emails as being written by people, but the vast majority are from computers. There are the ones from shops confirming order details or offering deals. There are emails from systems nagging me to come back because I need to do or see something. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and so on. Jira is a particular power hose, sending me five emails every time someone even looks at a ticket I’m involved with. There are newsletters, and terms and conditions updates that I can’t opt-out of, and emails telling me a site I don’t remember signing up to has been hacked and my password has been exposed and now it’s up to me to go and change it. That’s before we even get to spam and unsolicited email. The emails I receive from humans are a tiny fraction. I’m deluged by…
