Now that Spring has finally broke and the sun is beaming down out of flawless blue skies (hey, there are compensations for living in Auckland you know) and the enriched vitamin D is putting a spring in my step, I’m getting a little grumpy about technology.

Well, not technology itself but one thing that still, after all this time, doesn’t go together is sun and screens.

Yesterday I was stuck outside an industrial unit in the in some woebegone suburb waiting for a chap to get off the phone and for nearly half an hour I soaked up the rays. But what I really wanted to do was to take advantage of the touch-screen on my new mobile phone… which I couldn’t see because of the sun, of course. The thing is, even IN THE SHADE when you’re outside, it’s hard to see the picture on a mobile phone. I guess if you live in Invercargill the sky is never bright enough to stop you seeing everything you want on your mobile, but in bright and balmy Auckland…

The same thing inflicts us with computer screens. I wilfully work in the modern day version of a cave (at work) and a similarly “curtains-drawn” environment at home, because any stray shafts of light getting on my computer monitor completely ruins my ability to see clearly.

So much for this brave new world where everyone was sitting on beaches playing with their laptops. Hah!

The upside of this is that there are still places you can’t take your gadgets to and you just have to shrug your shoulders and get on with life. Yes, it does go on without the cell phone and the laptop. But I am quietly waiting for the day when someone comes up with a real outdoor-optimised bright screen that allows me to do my business on the hoof, no matter whether the sun is trying to shaft me or not. GARY STEEL