Disconnected Room 101: QR Menus, Public Wi-Fi and the Bane of 2 Factor Authentication with Jen Campbell, Matt Webster and Jag Sharma - E119
In a world where every ‘modern convenience’ is inconvenient, what technological advancements would you actually delete if you could?
In this ‘Room 101’ edition of Disconnected, Jag puts Jen and Matt’s biggest everyday gripes on trial - from QR-only restaurant menus and broken public Wi‑Fi to two-factor authentication and self-service bag drop.
Join us in the debate as to whether some creature comforts have become unavoidable nightmares, and deserve to be banished to the realm of abandoned, forgotten tech…
This episode of Disconnected covers:
How ‘modern convenience’ becomes digital friction
Human interaction vs automation
Security vs usability with Two Factor Authentication
Digital inclusion and access to connectivity
Episode Highlights:
“These are promises of seamless modern updates… and they deliver nothing but friction, annoyance, and antisocial absurdity.” – 3:25 – Jen Campbell
“We’ve traded in the warm human interactions with: ‘Hang on a minute, I just need to type my credit card details in so that I can eat my dinner.’ I hate it. I hate it so much.” – 4:40 – Jen Campbell
“QR codes are a nightmare in restaurants because it’s the social interaction… I want the menu, I want to hold it, I want to pass it around. I want those weird, sometimes awkward conversations with the waiter or waitress as well.” – 6:35 – Matt Webster
“I had to scan a QR code, I had to put a password in, I had to scan my face and put in my password just to be able to purchase something from Nintendo…” – 16:55 – Matt Webster
“One day, the code generator app was accidentally deleted from my phone… Long story short, I now have a dead account on Facebook… all because I lost the two-factor verification code generator app.” – 18:35 – Matt Webster
“Two‑factor authentication exists because one piece of information shouldn’t be enough to hand someone the keys to your digital life.” – 27:35 – Jag Sharma
“I genuinely believe public Wi‑Fi is worse than no Wi‑Fi at all… There’s nothing more frustrating than public Wi‑Fi.” – 29:05 – Jen Campbell
Links & references:
Jen Campbell:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-m-campbell/
Matt Webster:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattwwebster/
Jag Sharma: