Showerthought: My dad's old 'write it down' password system made more sense after a talk with my niece.

She asked me how to make a password for her new school email, and when I started explaining special characters and password managers, she just said, 'But Grandpa keeps his on a piece of paper in his wallet, and no one has ever stolen it.'

3 comments

3 Comments

lee81mo ago

I mean, it's like we're adding digital locks so complicated we lose the keys ourselves. My building's laundry app needs a new password every 90 days and I swear I've spent more time resetting it than actually doing laundry. The simplest system you'll actually use is always better than the perfect one that locks you out.

danieljenkins1mo ago

Man, that reminds me of the time my bank forced a password reset and my new one was so complex I locked myself out immediately. Had to call them and wait on hold for an hour just to prove I was me. Sometimes the old way, like your dad's paper, just avoids a whole lot of pointless hassle. We get so obsessed with perfect digital security we forget about real world logic. That kid's got a point.

the_ben14d ago

My credit union did the same thing last year, made me create a password with 14 characters, two capitals, and a random symbol I couldn't even type on my phone. I tried three times before it locked my account, then spent 45 minutes on hold listening to elevator music. Makes you wonder if all this "security" is really just making our lives harder for no good reason.