That's completely fair. Hopefully you've had technology help you. If so, more power to you.

The main crux of #2, for me, is that there is many technologies people push or suggest to me. They are often short lived, or buggy, or help in a handful of cases but not enough for me to rely on it and make it part of my patterns.

What tech have you found reliable and beneficial? Specifically I'm interested in new tech that has actually panned out in your estimation.