2025 and...

Again and again, I think to myself that certain things in the year 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 should by now actually work and be taken for granted. However, this is unfortunately too often not the case. So often that I will collect everything here that in 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 is still not as I imagine it to be.

It’s 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025, and…

  • there’s still no smaller alternative to RJ45 connectors.
  • Net neutrality is still (or again) a topic in (German) politics.
  • we can’t design advertising in a meaningful way, and now we’ve even managed to introduce mandatory pop-ups with the GDPR.
  • Linux can’t even coordinate the simplest things, but at least it’s getting better.
  • The EU and publishers (2) prove they still have no idea what this “internet” really is.
  • simple synchronization is still too much to ask for most things. (Although it’s slowly getting better)
  • files still have to be stored in folders.
  • a browser or operating system that just works is alien to us, and it’s getting worse with each year.
  • we haven’t learned anything from IPv4 and are squandering IPv6 addresses as if there’s no tomorrow, and we’re still not making significant progress in migrating to IPv6 because it just works™️, but only for private customers and not for organizations with complicated setups.
  • infrared remotes are still being sold, although not as prominently anymore.
  • emails are still being used and receiving is still opt-out (blocking) instead of opt-in.
  • on mobile, we sometimes only surf with 500 MB 3 5 GB (well, at least) of data volume per month and call it a flat rate.
  • we still click on attachments in emails like “Invoice ready for you. Pay now!1”.
  • GUI frameworks are a nightmare. (But it got better in 2020, and worse again in 2023)
  • JavaScript: new Date().getYear() =>
  • multiple monitors on a PC still cause pain especially when the resolution is scaled. (But it got better in 2022, and worse again in 2023 with 4K)
  • Banana software and the “Move fast and break things” mentality are still prevalent and are even gaining momentum.
  • The internet is now mobile-first, and doesn’t work properly on PCs, but at the same time is so overloaded with JavaScript that it doesn’t run on tablets and smartphones.

Some things we have actually managed to implement by now:

  • Browsers don’t natively support synchronizing tabs (in real-time) - This should now work in 2020 with Apple’s Handoff, Google’s data mining, and Mozilla’s Firefox. Yay!
  • simple problems with synchronized and shared calendars are the order of the day. - I think in 2020 we can actually say that this works “reasonably” well with Nextcloud and the like.
  • Passwords are still almost the only method of authentication. - Here too, thanks to Single Sign On and biometric authentication, it’s now at least easier to leak your data log in.
  • there’s still no official date picker in HTML5. - There’s been one since 2018, although it’s very ugly.
  • Opt-In is completely alien to people and companies. - One could say that this actually improved with the new GDPR.
  • Windows Explorer doesn’t know what a tab or split-view is. - Amazingly, there have been tabs since 2018! Unbelievable!
  • we haven’t managed to establish a universal digital payment method in Germany and still rely on “the Girocard”. They finally did it in 2024!