The world is leaving the elder members of our society behind. Technology baffles many and there is no easy way around it. We now have phones that will do everything but change the baby. Items of our everyday life have become more complicated instead of more helpful. Why? The simple answer is that we can. We can make computer chips that can handle many different functions and just because they can, we make them do it.

Why can't Fuzzy buy a work pickup truck that has vinyl seats and rubber mats with a simple AM/FM radio? Why can't I get a TV with a remote control that just turns the set on and off, changes the channels and the volume? There is just too much crap out in the world that instead of making life simpler, it is making it more complicated.

Technology is rushing us headlong towards disaster. Cash registers that calculate the change has caused many of our young people working in the retail sector to lose the ability to add and subtract.  Without the machine, they just can't do it. You go into a store, restaurant or any other public place and have to listen to others private phone conversations as they continue their call as they try to order. We are becoming very rude to one another.

There is hope on the horizon. There are companies who are beginning to realize that simplicity is needed in our lives. Fuzzy has found a cell phone for his 89 year old father that he can actually use. No longer does he need to push and hold a button to turn it on, just push the on/off button. It has three large buttons to call the operator, home or 911. It has a voice dial phone directory and simple yes and no buttons to operate it. It makes him safer out in the world and eases Fuzzy's mind.

This is just one example of a company who saw a need for something less complicated and acted to produce a product that is simple and easy to use. On the other hand, this approach can also run amok if taken to extremes. We now have voice activated controls in our cars that are coming off the assembly lines. You can place cell phone calls or order up your favorite music, call a barbershop, pizza delivery and a myriad of other things, all of which diverts the drivers attention from the primary task at hand which is driving the car!  We have already had to outlaw the use of hand held phones and texting while driving because some of us think we can do multiple things at the same time. I wonder if that guy texting on his phone as we hurtle down the highway could shave and brush his teeth at the same time?

Fuzzy's answer to all of this is just because we have gadgets that can preform multiple tasks doesn't mean we need to use them. There was a saying that was popular in the engineering circles of the 70's and 80's. We even had placards with it on them. It was a focus point of many design review meetings. We surely need to resurrect it and bring it back to the forefront. What you ask is it? Very simple, KISS " keep it simple stupid".