Oliver Grant

About the author

Oliver writes Contoh's opinion pieces on technology, business and modern life.

Gift Cards Are a Lazy Present, and a Risky One

Gift cards feel safe, but the value depends on one store staying open and on you remembering to use it. Here is what I’d give instead.

Give Me a Real Delivery Time, Not an All-Day Window

Delivery companies know where the truck is. Customers should not have to wait all day to find out.

Unsubscribing Should Take One Click and One Day

Gmail already makes bulk senders offer one-click unsubscribe and honor it within 48 hours. The federal rule still allows 10 business days. It’s time the law caught up.

Every Customer Service Chatbot Needs a “Talk to a Person” Button

Bots are fine for package tracking and password resets. But when something really goes wrong, customers deserve a visible, no-tricks way to reach a human.

Let Me Check Out as a Guest

Forcing shoppers to create an account before they can pay costs stores sales and leaves more of our data lying around to leak. Put the guest button first and ask for an account afterward.

No, I Will Not Rate My Experience

Every purchase, delivery and phone call now ends with a request for stars. When everything asks for feedback, the feedback stops meaning anything.

Your Smart TV Should Ask Before It Watches What You Watch

Smart TVs routinely track what you watch unless you dig through the settings. Two TV makers have already agreed to ask first in one state. Everyone should get the same courtesy.

Stop Making Me Download an App to Park

Parking apps are handy, but making them the only way to pay trains drivers to scan whatever QR code they find. Every meter should still take a card.

Every Gadget Should Come With a Software Expiration Date on the Box

We get a nutrition label on cereal and an energy rating on a fridge, but no clear answer to the most important question about a smart device: how long will it keep working? That should change.

Bring Back the Paper Menu

QR code menus were supposed to be a temporary fix. Somehow they stuck around, and diners are the ones doing the extra work.

Password Rules Are Making Us Less Secure, and the Experts Already Said So

Forced resets, symbol requirements and no-paste fields go against federal password guidance. It’s time websites caught up.

Opinion: Stop Asking Whether AI Will Take Your Job. Ask Which Parts of It Should Go

“Will AI take my job?” is the wrong question. Most jobs are a bundle of tasks – and some of them deserve to disappear.

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