TECH FIX

Four Resolutions for a Healthier Tech Life in 2022
The tech world delivered many unpleasant surprises to us in the pandemic. We can learn from them.
By Brian X. Chen

The coronavirus pandemic has been packed with plenty of nasty tech surprises.

We ran into the problem of a perpetual scarcity of hardware, like game consoles and graphics cards. Apple this year announced a major change to its data practices, including a tool to scan iPhones for child pornography, which critics labeled an invasion of privacy. And many of us who tried ordering high-quality face masks to protect ourselves from the coronavirus had to swim through an ocean of fakes.

Yet there was a silver lining to all this: valuable lessons to improve our relationship with tech for years to come, like becoming savvier online shoppers and taking control of our personal data.

Think of it as New Year’s resolutions, but for tech. Here are my top recommendations.

Resolution #1: Invest in infrastructure first.

The coronavirus pandemic has been packed with plenty of nasty tech surprises.

We ran into the problem of a perpetual scarcity of hardware, like game consoles and graphics cards. Apple this year announced a major change to its data practices, including a tool to scan iPhones for child pornography, which critics labeled an invasion of privacy. And many of us who tried ordering high-quality face masks to protect ourselves from the coronavirus had to swim through an ocean of fakes.

Yet there was a silver lining to all this: valuable lessons to improve our relationship with tech for years to come, like becoming savvier online shoppers and taking control of our personal data.

Think of it as New Year’s resolutions, but for tech. Here are my top recommendations.

Resolution #1: Invest in infrastructure first.

When people spend on technology, they generally buy gadgets before all else. Electronics like video streaming sticks were among the top-selling items on Black Friday, according to a research report published last month by Adobe.

But we should spend on infrastructure before devices. One-fifth of consumers hold on to their routers for more than four years, according to a survey this year from Consumer Reports. That’s cutting it close, since we should upgrade our Wi-Fi routers every three to five years, wireless experts say. New routers introduce new Wi-Fi standards that improve speeds and techniques to mitigate network congestion, making it easier for multiple devices throughout a home — like laptops and game consoles — to get a robust internet connection.

If your router is fairly new and your connection remains subpar, look to your internet service provider. The broadband plan you subscribed to many years ago may no longer be sufficient, so consider investing in a faster plan. If your household streams lots of video and plays games online, shoot for roughly 40 megabits a second.

Resolution #2: Check before you click the buy button.

If you tried buying a high-quality face mask online in the pandemic, you probably ran into a fair number of fakes. Counterfeiters have flooded the market with poorly constructed masks, a problem that still persists today.

While fake goods online have long been a problem, the pandemic has made the issue potentially life-threatening with masks. Amazon and other retailers have policies to ban sellers of fake masks, but new sellers with phony masks constantly emerge. It has become a game of whack-a-mole.

The lesson? Always vet before you click the buy button. Read buyer reviews. Check the seller and if it’s an unknown brand, research its reputation. Some online tools like Fakespot can scan a product page to look for signs of phony products and fake reviews.

Be especially careful when buying anything that can affect someone’s health, including vitamins and dog food. When in doubt, buy these goods at a reputable brick-and-mortar store.

Read the rest of the article at NYTimes.com.