Forget Smart Appliances and Buy Dumb Ones
In 1988, the New York Times published an article about “smart” appliances. They weren’t called “smart” back then – in fact, they didn’t exist yet – but the writer was predicting they would make life easier for us in the not-so-distant future.
The article said that someday we’d be able to use our car phones to tell our home appliances to do things that would then be ready by the time we arrived home.
Things like defrosting a steak, heating up a pie, filling the bathtub with hot water, turning on the air conditioner, etc.
About 30 years later, very few homeowners have that type of technology. But we do have smart microwave ovens and smart phones and smart TVs… all of which are expensive and are out of date in a couple of years. Or they break and it’s too costly to fix them, so you have to buy another one.
The question is, do we really need “smart” products that can think for us? Or at least do things we think of and tell them to do?
Do we really need a smart meter that can tell us exactly how much electricity we used yesterday compared to the day before? Or do we just need one that can tell the utility company how much to bill us for?
Do we really need a smart oven that can suggest how many spices to add to a pot roast, or do we just need one that can cook the darned thing?
Do we really need clocks with 15,000 features on them for giving us reminders to call our mothers, telling us what the temperature is outside and advising us which clothes to wear that day? How about one that just tells you the only thing you really need to know – the time?
Does anybody really know what time it is? (Sorry, I had to throw that in there, and if you’re 55 or older, you’ll know what I mean.)
Do we really need a vacuum cleaner that can move around the house by itself, or a microwave oven with 300 different settings or a car that can parallel park itself? (Actually, that last one is pretty cool. I wouldn’t mind having that.)
But the point is, all of these new bells and whistles that are supposed to simplify our lives end up costing us more time and money. And it’s always too expensive to fix them.
By the time you figure out everything it can do, it’s obsolete or it breaks. Then you have to add it to what must be an enormous “smart landfill” that has probably overwhelmed an entire Pacific island by now.
Just give me the dumb appliances. Give me a clock that tells me what time it is, an oven that cooks my food and a phone that allows me to make and receive phone calls. And, oh yeah… that car that parks itself. Then I’ll be happy.
No smartphone, no smart house (locks, monitoring, temp control, etc), no smart appliances, no internet connected tv, no DVR or streaming services, no ip cameras, or smart doorbell, no drones, no robot vacuum or robot lawn mower, no smart car. Hackers can do all sorts of things through IoT – Internet of Things. Big Brother isn’t the government, but private business that knows more about us because we let them in to spy on us.
I don’t want other people to have access to my home or life and don’t need to have the machines do most of my work for me. I want control of my life, and make my own selections.
I have a feature phone with GPS turned off, but it can still track my movements. I have debit cards which track my spending habits, but prefer to use cash most of the time. The year end ‘how I spend my money’ report is insightful, but probably more useful to the demographics DB and companies they sell my information to.
Big business is slowly merging from thousands to just a few, there are 11 consumer goods companies that own the majority of the brands available on the market today. There are less than 50 companies that own controlling interest in most media companies (movie, tv, radio, streaming content), there are less than 25 pharmaceutical companies, that control most medical products. Less than 500 people that own 98% of the world’s financial wealth and most of the surface of the planet.
I work in technology, but don’t embrace it in my personal life, other than to advance my knowledge and career, and hopefully slow the advance of the industrial revolution that will destroy most jobs in the next 30 years. People are being made redundant by automation and technology, and we are helping them along, by accepting the intrusions, and innovations, driverless cars, drone deliveries, self-service anything (cashiers, ordering), buying online is killing retail stores, and jobs.
Ted K, the Unabomber was right with his message, but dramatic with his approach. Tech will be our downfall. Only by teaching our young NOT to embrace it, to be wary of it might we slow down it’s progress and retain some of our privacy and individuality, and future job opportunities.
I remember when I went to the 1964 New York World Fair and saw the future world. In the homes, everything was push button. Fifty three years later, now everything in our homes is talking back to us. A refrigerator can tell you if you need to buy more milk or have a shopping list made out for you. You can see who is at your door ring the bell while you are at work. Your washer and dryer talk to one another all the while telling you that you need to add your detergent or softener. Shoot even my lights can be turned on or off by using my cellphone.
But all it takes is people with bad intentions to mess it up for everyone. They think it is funny that they can intrude upon your private life and create havoc. Their reason – because they can. When will people grow up and stop making a nuisance of themselves? Is it human nature to destroy what another has build? It is because of these spoil-sports that people feel that having the old stuff is best. You know what you get when you deal with old technology. People my age/our age feel comfortable with our old stuff. We know how it works and we are use to it. Whats more, we like it and prefer it. In fact, keeping our old stuff is often cheaper and better than the new stuff that they sell. There is something in knowing how things were and how they are now that you can pass on to your grand kids. (Try explaining The Beatles to your grand kids and why they are so important to music and you will understand what I mean.) :-)
But sooner or later progress will come to us all. Most will make the change, others will prefer to stay behind and others still will refuse to move at all. Where will you stand?
I do not even own a “dumb’ or “smart” dishwasher!..I think some of the technology is too tempting for people to hack into it and spy on you..and I think there have been cases where it has happened (web cams on computers and who know about your “smart” tv/fridge etc…could they be hacked -I bet they could! I will stick to the most basic stuff I can still find and be happy :-)
Washing machine. Freezer. Both have been ruined with “improvements”. Buy older good used and they actually work and can be fixed. Bty, remember when you could live through the extremely dangerous experience of ….lifting the lid of a running washer….
I am with you but shame on you … I have Chicago songs stuck in my head now
There are worse things to have stuck in your head than songs by Chicago, right? :)
Waiting for the break of day 25 or 6 to 4 25 or 6 to 4.
With all this “Smart Technology” available and more to come, I am very concerned for future generations. Are they going to know how to survive if all that technology disappeared one day? Would they be able to start a fire, cook a meal, grow food, or at the very least know how to find or filter water? Some catastrophe happens somewhere in the world a couple times a month. Will future generations know how to deal with them? My children know how to live off the grid. Very few of their friends know what that means.
Ah, the good ol’ days !
Amen to that, Hunter. I asked my grandkids if they knew what what “tugs” were as pertaining to a team of work horses. Not one of 12 knew the answer. Makes me feel old, but maybe wise?