If you’ve been living in 2025, you’ve undoubtedly been subject to hours of lectures and doldrums extolling the vague “potential” of artificial intelligence. Much has been written, even in this very paper, about the ramifications of an AI-led future, and I think that behind this societal hyper focus on AI is a never-ending desire people have to enter the future.
The prospect of a Jetsonian future of commodities is alluring to those who yearn to be part of major innovations in history. It doesn’t matter to them that ChatGPT is just an inconsistent Cleverbot; if it feeds into an ultramodern fantasy, people will eat it up.
I mention this perceived phenomenon because it permeates many of the inefficient systems that plague our daily lives under the veneer of “efficiency.” Namely, the needless separation of menial tasks into various apps.
In just 8 weeks at Fairfield, most students likely have downloaded at least 4 apps: Fairfield University Guides, Duo Mobile, Wepa Printing, GroupMe and others, depending on your classes. I could include the Fizz social media app, but the last thing we need more of is asinine takes on social media. After all, what do you think people still use X for?
Some of these applications have undeniable utility, like how the guidebook app straightforwardly helps navigate events. Duo Mobile is less immediately useful, often feeling like a needless impediment to signing in to Blackboard five times a week, but if it protects from potential identity theft (not that I know what a hacker would do with my Workday account), it’s probably worthwhile.
The likes of GroupMe and Wepa are where everything begins to feel overly commodified. There are about a dozen apps everyone already has on their phone for the sake of group communication (WhatsApp, Discord or just the Messages app), making the addition of a GroupMe tiring. Since I commute, I print documents out at home instead of through the app, and thank God for that. Stories of Wepa malfunctioning and wasting students’ money have thoroughly scared me away from it. At my high school, you just needed to add the printer to your computer to print. Why can’t it be that simple?
Of course, Fairfield is far from the only institution compartmentalizing simple tasks across various apps; it’s a trend across society as a whole. The advent of on-the-go streaming was a watershed moment, so vast in magnitude that it effectively killed physical media. Nowadays, entertainment is spread across so many different platforms that the days of Blockbuster seem convenient in comparison.
If you want a comprehensive catalog of film and TV by subscribing to Netflix, HBOMax, Apple TV, Paramount+, Amazon Prime, Disney+ and Peacock, it runs you a total of $77.93 a month. For perspective, the average theater ticket in Connecticut is $16.29. Given how mercurial these platforms’ collections are, it almost becomes a hassle to use.
Tasks you never would’ve thought to create an app for are being sold as ingenious new tech. KeyConnect is an app with at least 70,000 mostly positive reviews that serves as a replacement for your car keys. It’s difficult to think of a design less in need of updating, yet this app shamelessly offers a $19.99 premium option for this worthless commodity.
Even more mystifying was a 2017 Indiegogo campaign for Smalt, an app-controlled salt shaker that forces the user to measure the exact amount of salt they wish to dispense. It’s worth noting that without WiFi connection, users of these products cannot access their keys or season their food. Smalt appears to have been quietly removed from app stores, but desperate attempts for products to appear newfangled continue.
These contraptions receive such overhype for a variety of reasons, like the capitalistic need for infinite profit, and that tying everything to your cell phone makes your data easier to sell – but you didn’t hear that from me. However, beyond these lies a far more psychological explanation; it makes people feel included.
Imagine, if you weren’t there, how incredible it must’ve felt to witness the moon landing or the first feature film with sound. The world often feels like it’s verging on collapse, and seeing these accomplishments can reinvigorate hope for the future. As times get increasingly bleak, some have resorted to rather paltry notions of “innovation”.
We must look past the window dressing and recognize that these supplements don’t improve our lives or thrust us into the future; they simply occupy our time. If one truly wants to create something impressive, it should come from passion, not apathy.
