Software updates are important parts of technology that should be a quick and easy thing to take care of, but they almost always turn into a bigger deal than they should be. It seems like such an easy task at first. We get the notification that an update is available, and we’re given the option to install it now or wait until later. When we click “install,” we’re expecting it to just take a few minutes of our time and then move on. Unfortunately, that’s rarely how it happens.
Here’s how it goes: first, we’re in denial about the update. We convinced ourselves we don’t actually need the update right now, and we pushed it off until later. Sometimes it’s just inconvenient, popping up right when we’re in the middle of doing something important. Still, the software is relentless, popping up more and more frequently to get our attention.
Then, once we do install the update, we start to get nervous about it. It feels like time slows down the moment we click that button. We start to wonder things like will this delete those files I need for work and man, how long is this going to take? You start thinking of the worst thing that can happen, even though the worst takes place.
After that, we start to get impatient about it. We constantly check our phone, refresh our email and maybe even restart our device with our fingers crossed that it’ll make it finish faster. The process seems endless, and yet there’s nothing we can do but wait it out.
Finally, at the end, there’s the relief that it’s done. The update finishes, and our device restarts. Everything seems fine, even improved (though I begrudgingly admit that). Still, there’s this awareness in the back of our minds that this will happen again, probably when we least expect it to (like in the middle of an important assignment).
Software updates are more than technical tasks we need to get done. They test us on our patience and our trust that everything will be fine. They remind us that even in a digital world, we can’t control everything.
It’s a pretty funny concept, too, if you think about it. We’re so dramatic about the entire ordeal, talking about installation times in a completely overblown way. We exaggerate the wait, yet the exaggeration is part of what makes it entertaining.
In the end, updating software is tedious, stressful and occasionally funny. Still, it’s also necessary, a reminder that even in our fast-moving world, patience is still required.
