“I’m so sorry, sir. Technical difficulties.”

Desperate, she did something she’d never admit to her boss: she opened Internet Explorer. The ancient blue ‘e’ sat on her taskbar like a fossil. She pasted the link, allowed ActiveX controls, and—miraculously—a window appeared. Mr. Azevedo’s face materialized in blocky, pixelated glory. He was stroking his beard.

She was trying to close a multi-million-dollar deal with a client in São Paulo. The client, a gruff but fair man named Mr. Azevedo, only did business face-to-face—or what passed for face-to-face in 2015. Priya had spent three weeks preparing spreadsheets, translating contracts, and rehearsing her pitch. Now, with five minutes to go, the browser had decided to betray her.

She stared at it for a long time. Then she picked up her phone, dialed Mr. Azevedo directly, and asked if they could switch to a new platform—one that didn’t require a relic from the digital graveyard.

Priya exhaled. She watched Mr. Azevedo’s square vanish from the browser window. The plugin’s green icon winked once, then disappeared. She closed Internet Explorer and vowed never to open it again.