ING chief executive Jan Hommen recently responded to the cyberattacks on his bank: “Let’s not exaggerate: all the systems worked normally 99 per cent of the time.” In my view, this was a level-headed and welcome response to a wave of criticism, fuelled by social and traditional media, that had become somewhat disproportionate.
Of course, a bank entrusted with people’s hard-earned money should do its job properly. But things can occasionally go wrong: behind the servers, cables and screens are fallible human beings. That is particularly relevant to ING, which was facing a deliberate external attack. Customers’ account balances may briefly have suffered an identity crisis, but their savings themselves were never at risk.
To me, the grumbling about an ING service that works perfectly well 99 per cent of the time is typical of a society in which so much is possible. It is a glass-half-empty attitude that is often unjustified. An online banking system may buckle under a cyberattack, but look at everything it makes possible. If you want, you can manage all your banking without leaving your armchair.
Then there are the complaints about smartphone manufacturers that have not included the very latest features, or whose digital shop lacks one particular app among thousands of others. Not to mention delayed trains, slow internet connections and online shops with an item out of stock. These are all small drawbacks in a world bursting with technological possibilities.
Just look at the products and services our clients offer. Robots that clean your house at the touch of a button. Smartphones that effortlessly guide you in the right direction. Rugged USB drives that can even survive a deep-fat fryer. Software that can retrieve a single email from terabytes of data. The ability to meet face to face with someone in Alaska or Australia. The list goes on. We benefit from a world of possibilities every day. Now we just need to learn to enjoy them a little more, even when something occasionally goes wrong.
Erik
More news ›