Sixhaven and appification

South Pacific Familyadventure 2008
Claes Brodin
Tue 3 May 2022 20:45
It took us 6 hours to cross Markenmeer (the next large man made lake to Amsterdam) and pass through the Orange Locks entering Nordzeekanal. Only 20 minutes from the locks is the very small and narrow entrance to Sixhaven Marina were we had a place reserved.
This marina has an excellent location with only a short ferryride direct to central station and the centre of the city. After unfolding the bikes I went for daughter Carolinas ID card forgotten on a restaurant in central Amsterdam (biking here is much more challenging and dangerous than crossing the North Sea) and Mercedes went for the laundry of the marina. To run the laundrymachines one needs an app and it took Mercedes hours to have the system up working . Asking for help from the harbourmaster he said he knew nothing about it. 
I couldn`t resist getting provoked by this accelerating "appification" of the western world.
My 89 year old very healthy mother and her friends have given up driving in Stockholm. The "appification" of all parkingplaces have made parking impossible for old people-the ones who built our country. "Appification" of the banksystems have made it very difficult also for old people to manage ordinary bankissues like paying bills.Buying bustickets can be a nightmare  (in Sweden most public transportation demand apps) In Spain old people have been demonstrating in the streets against the banks and their demand to have customers do all bankservice by themselves -"We might be old but we are not stupid" it says on their posters. In Sweden bankcustomers do almost all bankwork themselves as well today. At the same time it`s getting more and more complicated in the name of "security and to complicate criminality".Three of our four major banks have been involved in moneylaundry for the Russian mafia. Security ? Complicate crime ?
Today no one can survive without a smartphone but when did the parliament ever legislate the need for a smartphone ?
No doubt there`s lot`s of money to be made in "appification" and who doesn`t want to follow the crowd and be modern ? Who wants to be accused of backward looking?
But is "appification" making our lifes easier ? Sometimes perhaps,but many times it`s just making things that used to be easy much more complicated.

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