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Except for phones and some online stuff, you can basically pick and choose how much tech you want. If you don't want a smart thermostat, you don't have to buy one.
Technology is phenomenal in exploring, researching, and getting information. It's made life so much more efficient in that you know what you are getting without having to have experienced it first. I don't have to have driven by a place to know that you can hike there now, trail app tells you it's there and what it's like. I can get a VRBO in the middle of nowhere. I can find that random ethnic restaurant tucked away in some strip mall. I moved to my apartment without ever physically visiting and I got what I thought I was going to get.
Listening to my parents stories of vacations years ago, they had so many screw ups of not being able to get hotel rooms or driving around a lot looking for stuff. They went to the spots they knew and didn't explore much because of this. As us kids have now taken the vacation planning helm, we've explored a lot more different, yet still closeby locations. We spend more time doing, less time driving. We're almost always away from the crowds and we can still get good places for a reasonable price. We hardly ever visit a restaurant we don't like. That's mostly all due to technology and knowing how to use it.
Technology is absolutely fantastic for travel. You no longer have to have that map with you at all times to remember how to get someplace or to get out and ask for directions when you get lost. I also feel much more comfortable traveling alone as a woman. It’s not even for longer routes. I will use it when on my bike too. I like to try restaurants in the places I visit, and it’s easy to bring up what is around.
It’s also pretty good for safety as well. I no longer feel I have to sign up for some ridiculous security system contract. I can just get some doorbell cameras and an inexpensive subscription along with it to see what is going on around my home.
I like other smart devices too- I like to be able to stream on the TV and not be able to pay for cable. I have a Kindle and am happy with that instead of having to lug 5 books with me on a trip. I like to be able to download a podcast or audiobook on my phone to occupy myself on drives.
That’s not to say I like every aspect. I am not big into social media and I certainly don’t post pictures of myself doing stuff all over the place.
It depends, not all technology marketed as "Smart" seems to improve the user experience (nor is desired by users - NOR are many of the so called savings passed on to the user, so the tech improvements are primarily driven (and heavily marketed) to improve the corporations margin and revenue stream.
Here's an old post that gives examples of some tech improvements I like and others I don't. See post #6
Certain things marketed as "Smart" tech, under the auspices of letting people not have to think about what they are doing, (IMO) are creating a 'disconnect" to how things work in society. You could make analogy to what China is now doing to limit the youth in society's use of Computer time for entertainment.
It's akin to the crowd who having been removed from the whole cycle of how food gets to their plate (however they consume it) - get grossed out when they realize what all had to be done (animals plants et al) to render what they consume.
In other realms, it can be fancy marketed tech which has no, or even less efficiency. Here's a video of a well known professor of Building Science from 2010 talking about 'green' building. You can get the gist of it from the 1 to 5 minute mark.
My life is definitely worse due to technology because technology has singlehandedly allowed this pandemic we are all experiencing to be dealt with as it has been whereas in the past people never would have been masked or locked down or forced to watch their children or themselves vaccinated against their wills or told what they may or may not do from morning to night day after day for 18 months with no end in sight. We would have lived as normal.
Technology is a minor asset or tool which has made a very few very wealthy while oppressing most beyond measure and they don't even realize they are slaves to it.
My freedom is worth far more to me than the technology that has destroyed it..
I liked it better about a decade ago. I think of it as a "means to an end". It is becoming more than that. I don't like that. What was once a "tool", a way to communicate, a way to research, a way to be safe (cell phones), is becoming an "end" in and of it self.
Instead of communicating, people are distracted from those in their presence. Instead of an information source, it has become a cesspool of misinformation, conspiracy theories, and "alternative truth". Instead of connecting people, it has become a place where white supremacists, anti-Semites and other hate groups spread their vile views.
People read less. Intellectualism is the object of ridicule, worse than ever before. Substandard for profit "universities" ply their useless degrees. People are, in a broad sense, less physically active and socially engaged.
Today, however, I am one of those holdouts who have not accepted a Smartphone or SmartTV or electronic banking into my life and I don't intend to ever do so as long as there is any way to avoid it other than death or committal to some institution.. Imo, those inventions are not creating a better quality of life, and with the talk about using Smartphones to track people for various reasons*, I am now wondering whether, in the opinion of MOST people, if "Smart" technology has made life better or worse?
I'm with you there.
Smartphone - don't need it
Ebanking - don't need it
The "smart technology" is actually making people stupid & lazy.
IE: A family member wanted to find out the hours/phone number of a store across town. So they went to their "smart phone" and talked into something like: "What are the hours for XYZ store?
I felt like I was standing next to Scotty from Star Trek.
All they needed to do was open their Google Maps, which locates their current position. Then just slide the map to the stores location and tap onto it. It would have brought up all the information that they needed: Address, Hours, phone number, etc. Which would've taken 1-2 minutes.
Or they could have went to the stores website and gotten the information.
Instead they took over five minutes repeating the same question to their "Smart phone".
I've also seen too many people walking or driving all over with their eyes glued to the phones.
Many people have been or almost been hit by cars walking mindlessly into oncoming traffic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by phetaroi
I think better, but I also think it's gotten bizarre.
For example, is it really sane to pay $350 for a "smart" electric toothbrush?
Does anybody really need a $350 toothbrush to tell you how long to brush their teeth?
i am rewatching the series, Downton Abbey, and it struck me that I am a "Cousin Violet" in that I am VERY resistant to the changes that have taken place in the past 25 years. At the time of the series (1912-1926), there had been a radical change in society, not only a revolution in the English structure of class, but also in a relaxing of morals and many inventions that completely changed ordinary life (e.g., electric gadgets to make housework easier, the automobile, and the telephone). As far as I can tell, with very few exceptions, virtually everyone adapted to those inventions in just a very few years; and now, of course, I think we all accept those inventions as so much a part of our lives that I think that the great majority of Americans would find it very difficult to live without them.
Today, however, I am one of those holdouts who have not accepted a Smartphone or SmartTV or electronic banking into my life and I don't intend to ever do so as long as there is any way to avoid it other than death or committal to some institution.. Imo, those inventions are not creating a better quality of life, and with the talk about using Smartphones to track people for various reasons*, I am now wondering whether, in the opinion of MOST people, if "Smart" technology has made life better or worse?
I think a lot of it is better when it works. But some things like our WIFI enabled security-cameras, make me feel less than protected, because when WIFI goes out (just about every storm) we have no protection at all. Seems the old-fashioned hard-wired ones are better in that way. Also last night our smart thermostat came offline, and it took my fiance half an hour to get it to connect again. I wouldn't have any idea how to do that. Similarly our smart garage door opener won't connect to WIFI from outside the house depending on weather, so I then have to get out in the rain and use the keypad on the side of the garage. I will say when it works though it's great. I used to turn around maybe 10% of the time because I couldn't remember if I closed the garage door, but now I can just open the app to see if it's open or closed. Sometimes if I'm off, my fiance will mess with me if he sees me outside (because he gets alert that the garage opened) he will close it on me remotely just to be funny.
Can one imagine going back to life as a student when there were typewriters, and a professor did not allow errors on his/her students' papers?
People used a thing called "white out" back then to correct typewriter errors. Then, when electronic typewriters became available (and I remember what an amazing innovation that was!) it became all the more easier to correct errors. I also remember those little, round, metal balls that you could pop into your electronic typewriter to change the font of your type. Imagine having a small selection different fonts from which to choose! How cool was that? LOL
I laugh now when I look back on those days, and reflect on how much easier computer technology has made things for the student, writer, and everyone else wishing to express their ideas and communication in a "written" format.
A lot of smart features seem useless to me. My fridge beeps if the water filter needs attention and chimes if the door was left ajar. How is that inferior to sending me a notification on my phone, a system that took me half an hour to set up?
These are the instructions to make a grocery list using the smart features on a Samsung fridge....
Quote:
Make a virtual shopping list
There is no reason to carry around a little notepad with your grocery list anymore - you can create a digital one using the Family Hub panel or mobile app.
On the panel, tap Apps, and then tap Shopping List. To add to your list, tap My Shopping List. Tap Add Item, and then enter the name of your desired product (i.e. bananas, bread, etc.). When your desired item appears in the search results, tap it to add it to your shopping list. The list will automatically update and sync to the Shopping List in the Family Hub mobile app.
When you've purchased an item, simply tap on it to cross it out and remove it from the list. To permanently delete an item from the list, select your desired shopping list, and tap More. Tap Delete, select your desired items, and then tap Delete again to confirm.
If you ran to the store but can't remember what groceries you need, you can view your Shopping List right from your phone. To do this, open the Family Hub mobile app, and then tap All. Tap Shopping List; from there, you can view, add, or edit your list the same way you would on the panel. Any changes you make will be automatically synced to panel on the fridge.
Seriously??? I have a pencil and paper magnetized to the side of the fridge which takes a fraction of this time. And I saved $1000 by not buying all this technology I don't need.
A lot of smart features seem useless to me. My fridge beeps if the water filter needs attention and chimes if the door was left ajar. How is that inferior to sending me a notification on my phone, a system that took me half an hour to set up?
These are the instructions to make a grocery list using the smart features on a Samsung fridge....Seriously??? I have a pencil and paper magnetized to the side of the fridge which takes a fraction of this time. And I saved $1000 by not buying all this technology I don't need.
I agree. I don't need an app to make a grocery list. An index card works really well.
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I'm with you there. 
