Chris Berube

They're supposed to make things convenient in our lives.

But in fact, they are making things really frustrating.

Like, why does my fridge need to be smart and talk to me, right?

Today, though, we're going to talk about how this phenomenon, it can be more than just annoying for a lot of people.

Because there are times when the digitization of pretty much everything is actively making people's lives worse.

And so to demonstrate this point, I want to talk to you about the design of tractors.

Very little, if I'm being honest.

I know there is a company called John Deere that makes tractors, and they have green hats.

I assume there was probably a guy named John Deere at some point in the past.

You would assume?

Mm-hmm.

Not too much else, but I learned quite a bit for this story.

So there's one thing that's been vexing farmers that really surprised me, and that is the software in their tractors.

So like a lot of things, modern tractors are now run by a computer operating system.

And one of the farmers who's not happy with the software in his tractor is a guy I spoke to for this story, a farmer in Missouri named Jared Wilson.

So Jared runs a family farm.

You know, he's deep in the trenches of this world.

And he told me something I did not really know about farming equipment.

Tractors, harvesters, spraying machines, you know, all of these vehicles that are critical to farming today, for the most part, they are run by computers.

I am sure if you're a farmer, this is all incredibly obvious stuff.