L.J. Reads

At my Brooklyn gig yesterday, I set up my client's new internet router. It'd come in the mail tidy and neat, all the parts included and clear, straightforward directions provided. However, the directions began with the instructions to download the phone company's app, which my client thought was necessary. Knowing better than to argue about it, I read on and got to the part where it said if you couldn't download the app, instructions for how to perform the necessary tasks were on the next page.

It's fairly unpleasant that the app's the default, and it's made more unpleasant that it's framed as the mandatory option. The instructions were basically to unplug the old router and plug in the new one. There's no need for an app in that kind of situation. I'm struggling to figure out why it's included in the instructions at all and "making it every customer's default option" is all I've got, which adds to the discomfort about apps in general. The instructions on the page after "download the app" included diagrams and illustrations, and given the text size my client needs on her phone to read messages, it wouldn't have been easy to read them there. But paper was fine.

At this point, I'm trying to be thankful they included printed directions. In any case, I got it set up in about fifteen minutes and absolutely delighted her with my tech-savvy capabilities. Also that I read the instructions.