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Lost PINs, Passwords and Battery Chargers Among Most Common Tech Gripes

by Amar Toor on May 19, 2010 at 10:50 AM

frustrated with technologyAs much as we love new technology here at Switched, we also sort of hate it. No matter how cool, innovative, or flat out mind-blowing a new device may be, it's equally frustrating when our gadgets, for whatever reason, fail us. But what are the most common issues people have with technology? According to a recent report, they're pretty basic.

Consumer Reports recently surveyed over 13,000 of its subscribers in an attempt to highlight the most common problems plaguing tech users today, and, on a very general level, their findings aren't likely to raise any eyebrows. Among those who had purchased a computer within the past five years, 95-percent had encountered some kind of problem, while 80-percent of cell phone users had faced similar difficulties over the same time period. When it comes to specific user complaints, though, the breakdown becomes more interesting.

The most common complaint, in fact, was perhaps the most simple; nearly two-thirds (63-percent) of respondents said they'd forgotten a PIN code or password, topping the list of most common gripes, while 57-percent cited an "incomprehensible computer message" as their biggest tech problem. Finding cell phone reception remains a persistent problem, coming in as the third most common difficulty, while the rest of the list features a few more specific issues (resetting time on a device clock, inability to take a picture due to lack of battery charge).

Based on these figures, then, it appears that most people simply have difficulty getting things done. As we've expanded our arsenal of gadgets and high-tech toys, perhaps we've stretched ourselves a bit thin. In this survey alone, for example, respondents reported having a median number of 17 different password-protected accounts -- which explains the preponderance of password-related problems. Over the course of the past three months, 15-percent of consumers said they'd lost at least one charger. So it's not like the majority of people are complaining about trying to pull off complex tech maneuvers and falling short. We're probably just overwhelmed by choice, and frustrated when that choice prevents us from pulling off first-order operations. In a world in which we've come to expect everything to just work, that's an entirely understandable gripe to have. [From: ConsumerReports, via: Unplggd]

Tags: battery, BatteryLife, CellPhone, chargers, complaints, computer, ConsumerReports, password, passwords, PinCodes, problems, tech, technology, top, tv, users

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