Against Convenience: Embracing Friction in an Age of Endless Ease

We live in a world addicted to convenience. Countless tools and innovations fill our daily lives, allowing us to swipe, tap, click, and subscribe without a second thought: ordering groceries to your door, calling an Uber for a ride up the block, or scrolling the endless songs and TV shows at our fingertips. In theory, convenience can leave us with more energy and time to do what we want to do, save us resources, and complete tasks with less effort than before.

But what if we aren’t actually accomplishing any of those things?

Expert journalist Gabe Bullard reveals an entire hidden architecture behind the ubiquitous modern-day services and technologies that allegedly make our lives easier. At best, many of them aren’t actually convenient at all, and at their worst, they compromise our physical and mental well-being and lead to shallower relationships, lower quality life and art, and a degraded planet.