If you work in a fast-moving industry, or have a pressured job, IT is an essential tool, and years of experience may see you confident at mastering technological challenge. But get a software upgrade and the stress soon builds. In the past few years I have watched generations of word processors, spreadsheets, and graphics packs transcend the useful and user friendly, to become fiendishly complex - from auto-spelling checks that irritatingly pop on to the screen as you type, to the graphics-by-questionnaire that realise the wrong format in five easy stages.

Application changes of this type beggar belief. Not only do they consume vast amounts of storage, they reconfigure commands, change names and locations, present a vast range of never to be used (or discovered) options that just confuse users.

Recently I embarked upon a self-inflicted experiment, simultaneously changing my platform, operating system, and upgrading all applications. My advice to anyone contemplating anything remotely similar, is - don't. What a nightmare. Everything was different - keyboard, mouse, screen, functions - everything. All visual, tactile and audio clues were changed - I was a stranger in a strange land. My output dropped to under 10 per cent of normal, and within an hour I had reverted to my old system to catch up.

My solution was to move platform and operating system and use my old application set. Then I embarked on a gradual step by step upgrade of applications. Why bother? Well, I feel duty-bound to live at the edge and try all the latest bells and whistles, but from an efficiency point of view I have to admit that I have not become one iota more productive. The only advantage is that of being compatible and up to date. And I must confess to a growing resentment at continually having to upgrade for no good reason.

It can only be that commercial considerations prevent us having a cut down and basic set of applications that are backward, forward and sideways compatible. Writing a letter, book, business case or report does not demand the capabilities of an entire publishing industry. Nor does a presentation pack need the capabilities of Hollywood, or for that matter, a spreadsheet the ability to predict the weather. Why not a basic subset that we can upgrade with modules we individually need? Alternatively, how about intelligent applications that customise the whole to our personal needs and way we work? Roll on the day - and a less stressful IT existence.

Peter Cochrane holds the Collier Chair for the Public Understanding of Science & Technology at the University of Bristol. His home page is:
http://cochrane.org.uk