Life is tough for technology users. Inventors didn’t stop at the spinning wheel, did they? Next it was the loom, then the power loom, sewing machines, air conditioners, cars. One thing after another.

And PCs. Personal computers have operating systems that keep getting improved too. Consider Microsoft’s new operating system, Vista. It boasts better security than the XP o.s., more spectacular visual efforts, better filing, sorting.

Sure, some people complain. Not about Vista’s features. Microsoft’s products have never lacked critics or fans, but the critics I’m talking about are upset that Vista was created at all. These are folks who never run out of things to denigrate if they’re made by humans and make the life of other humans easier.

The Green Party in the UK worries, arguing Vista will lead to hardware upgrades and older PCs being thrown away. And that’s bad because . . . well, it’s very bad.

Derek Wall, a Green Party spokesman says, “Vista requires more expensive and energy-hungry hardware, passing the cost on to consumers and the environment. This will also further exclude the poor from the latest technology, and impose burdensome costs on small and medium businesses. . . .”

Well. There’s a point here somewhere. After all, cave men weren’t throwing out PCs all the time whenever a new operating system came along. Right? Right! No, they never did!

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.