Friction was a way of life. You’d wait in line to pay your electricity bill, wait three days for a courier to turn up, or circle around the neighborhood to look for a store that had your favorite snack. There were delays, little annoyances, waiting times, and we accepted them, largely because there was no choice. But Now internet has taken over our Everyday life.
But now there isn't.
Life goes more smoothly nowadays – too smoothly, in fact. You can get your groceries delivered within 10 minutes. You don’t have to go out to collect dinner, fill in bank forms, or even get a gift for someone. One tap. One swipe. One scroll. Done.
The rise of quick commerce, digital payments, and real-time everything has reshaped how we interact with the world. The smallest frictions – waiting, searching, standing in queues, carrying change, have been designed out of the system. And in many ways, this is progress. It’s efficient, empowering, and incredibly helpful, especially for people juggling hectic routines.
But it’s also fascinating to see how much of our existence has become a smooth transaction. We don’t get to feel the “in-between” moments anymore, the ones that involved patience, work, or a little bit of striving. The walk to the marketplace, the choice to make do with what there is, or even merely asking someone for assistance; all this is gradually being replaced.
Digital Transaction with Internet
Take payments, for example. Not so long ago, we used to have to withdraw money before we went shopping. Now, a UPI beep is the soundtrack of our lives. Pay bills in seconds. Shop now, pay later. No breaks, no maths, just smooth flow.
Even the manner in which we eat has changed. The time we used to take to decide what to cook or look into the fridge has been taken over by a notification: Your Blinkit order is arriving in 7 minutes. Within the space of a single episode of a programme, we’ve ordered, received, and eaten our meal, without actually paying attention to what we ate.
There’s also a change in how we interact with others. Need to call off a plan? No cringe-worthy phone call necessary, just a text. Forgot a friend’s birthday? No dash off to a store, send an e-gift card in 30 seconds. A lot of these shifts have made us more effective, sure, but they’ve also taken away the little frictions that used to result in connection, spontaneity, or even a second of thought.
The Disappearing Joys of Everyday Effort
Friction isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes, it’s what made the moment memorable, the unexpected conversation with a shopkeeper, the satisfaction of solving a problem, the joy of finally finding that item you were searching for. With all our smart systems smoothing over these bumps, we rarely find ourselves surprised anymore.
This is not to imply that convenience is bad. Not at all. It has democratized access, saved time, and simplified innumerable parts of life for millions. But in engineering out friction, we may be engineering out some textures of life, the pauses, the imperfections, the detours.
We’re not calling for a return to lines stretching out the door or counters clogged with cash. But it’s interesting to observe the drift. The manner in which the world is becoming progressively a realm where effort is voluntary and delay is the enemy.
Perhaps the next time your food takes a little too long to arrive, or your card loads a beat slower than usual, it may be more than just an irritation. It might just be one of the rare moments where life slows down – and makes you notice it.