I do understand/appreciate tech and “smart” stuff in many facets of life. I just question the need/practicality of it being
everywhere, and possibly creating/introducing more issues than it ever really solves/improves.
Sometimes it feels like things veer that way, as time goes on. I’m sorry, I just don’t need my toothbrush, water faucet, fridge, vacuum, etc. all talking to/outsmarting each other. And making things I’ve done myself, for decades, a convoluted, complex chore or hassle…dealing with battery and connectivity alerts, updates, notifications. Making me lazy and a slave to some of this unnecessary, unasked-for stuff.
That’s not “progress” to me. It’s noise and needless complexity to things that shouldn’t have it. And I hate commercials that tout that stuff because they truly paint a horseshit picture that people blindly lap up and throw in with.
“If I just had a $4,800 smart fridge, my life would be so much easier…”.
You sure about that? Because if you’re truly too “busy” to count popsicles and yogurt, and check your milk level/date, I’m afraid no tech in the world is going to save you. Your problems lie elsewhere and aren’t gonna be fixed by beep-boop-beep and iThis and SmartThat. They'll probably just multiply and be a whole new set of distractions/juggling objects.
Maybe, instead, consider putting your damn phone down occasionally, quit overbooking your life (your kids don't have to play six sports and play four instruments, I promise), ease up on binge watching 5-12 hours of shitty fare (that you're paying extra for the privilege) and hop off InstaTwitTokFace and you’ll magically rediscover
hours of time you thought you lost.
Everyone is their own worst enemy with this stuff, I believe.
Tech has absolutely enriched our lives,
but it's also cuffed our wrists behind our back and bent us over a table. And given us a really warped sense of what "perfection" looks like.
Balance is probably the word. I think the pendulum needs to drift back the other way a bit, for many.