I hesitate to this say, but it isn't the cost per se that's the biggest problem. It's the reliability. It's the hassle of having one more thing to baby. Sometime I'll tell you about the Bosch dishwasher I bought and the constant maintenance it requires.

I expected this futuristic world of ours to be "set it and forget it" more than "buy it and tinker with it constantly as though you were a German engineer". More often it's the latter. Moreover, researching products has become almost pointless when there's no consensus and nearly all brands and products have problems.

I was looking at an Epson Workforce until I saw many negative reviews on Amazon, though that's not so unusual anymore. Every time I think about inkjets I think about all the problems. I don't fax or scan much. I don't even know if copy machines are sold anymore, but I do need a copier and printer.

I loathe touch screens. I assume they are ubiquitous because they are cheap. I wonder if cockpits have touch screens. There's a thought that might keep me awake tonight. I've used them on vending machines. Tried to. It's easy to press the wrong number.