Watches
I never saw the point of them. I don’t see the problem with analog or digital watches. Everything is regressed to a tiny square of a screen, that you barely look at. I just find it as an unnecessary distraction.
Light Bulbs
I work in retail and I stock these things all of the time. We have light bulbs, that are smart now because why? They’re stuffed with wireless functionality, just so you can simply change a color or maybe dim it through phone. More unnecessary apps, more unnecessary functions just for cheap attraction.
Kitchen Appliances
I’m bundling them all here.
There is nothing you’re gaining an advantage of, when slapping a screen on any appliance and relying on some unsupported app on your phone for basic functions.
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- TVs (would rather have a tv box, not in built to the TV itself)
- Appliances (you mentioned it yeah, but this needed a second hey ho)
- Doors/Locks (do not digitize your locks are you stupid?)
- Cars (as an avid car hater, drivers do not need to be more distracted than they already are. Music/radio whatever but do they really need a fucking 24* in plasma TV in their dash??? (*satire on size))
- Vending Machines (saw some dumb people chucking AI into vending machines and that was a horrible idea)
- Security Networks (no thx on mass surveillance in any way esp ones that violate human privacy rights and use AI to ID people)
- Content (ai generated content or ai within content being video, images, blogs or what nots)
About all we can think of off the top our head. Probably more anti ai at the end but the smart features shoved down our throats have recently been ai this or ai that. Whoops ig lol
Maybe not smart but i hate touch buttons. Give us back the switches and buttons, why were they not enough? My bike light just broke because the annoying touch button barely works. And i hate turning on the light in my pocket.
There is nothing you’re gaining an advantage of, when slapping a screen on any appliance and relying on some unsupported app
Hah, my smart range has physical knobs for most controls!
…. And has a stupid app that alerts my phone at work when the cleaners clean the stovetop
They’re stuffed with wireless functionality, just so you can simply change a color or maybe dim it through phone. More unnecessary apps, more unnecessary functions just for cheap attraction.
I got to disagree on this here, my smart lights introduced me to self hosting through Homebridge. I was able to enable HomeKit connections for non-HomeKit enabled devices which then lead me to create automations.
I get home lights turn on, I close a door at a specific time lights turn off. It’s not as terrible as you may think.
I don’t have a problem with smart devices. I’m a tech head. I LOVE GADGETS. My issues are that smart devices tattle on me to their corporate daddy without my knowledge or permission. My issues are if they aren’t online they don’t work. My issues are if their parent company goes out of business, or stops supporting the devices, or decides I’ve violated a TOS the device becomes a brick. My issues are a lot of smart devices are perfectly pointless and exist solely for the purpose of data harvesting. My issues are I don’t own my smart devices, I’m leasing them.
Home assistant FTW
Uhh, damn near all of them. But, that’s an opinion coming from an able bodied person. A lot can be useful for those with mobility issues.
I was just sitting here thinking that yes, most smart appliances are just a tax on vain people, that have to have something extra to show off how special they are. But then I read your comment and got a dose of reality check.
oh yea like the samsung FRIDGES, washing machine,ovens, and people too ignorant/dumb to figure out you wont have this problems if you got a normal one. and the SMART MATTRESSES that malfunctioned.
Non able bodied person here. I’ll keep the dumb versions thanks.
Not to nitpick, but can you give an example?
I can’t think of any which don’t already have a better non-“smart” alternative.
I’m not claiming they are the best solution. Just that they can be useful. Smart thermostat, you don’t have to get up to change the temp, or deal with any small buttons/controls. Smart light bulbs. Again, don’t have to get to turn the lights on or off. They’re are a variety of ways to do this without smart bulbs though.
The list is gonna be similar reasons for most of them. If it’s difficult to get around, anything you can do without having to move can be helpful.
I disagree on the smart watches, but I know I’m in the minority in how I use them. They actually help me disconnect from my phone better because only select apps send notifications to my watch, so if I get a vibration on my wrist, I check, see if it needs action or not, then move on with my life. In my work I often get messages that need immediate action, but I’m often in situations where I can’t be distracted in the moment, so smart watches have been super helpful.
As for all the fitness features or app control, etc. etc, I don’t really care. It’s nice that I can control my music, I played around with using it as a remote for my camera, but really, all I need is good, controlled notifications on my wrist for ambient awareness.
Pebble watches have always been the best and I’m eagerly awaiting my Pebble Time 2
Definitely agree on the bulbs though. Having color control or a dimmer is great but doesn’t need to be an app.
They is exactly my philosophy for my watch. And it got rid on the phantom vibration I used to have from my phone in my pocket. Thinking I had notifications when I didn’t.
Let me know I have a notification, and then I can decide whether to deal with it now or ignore and leave it for later without having to get my phone out.
Also sleep tracking. But that just requires a basic accelerometer with Sleep as Android anyway, nothing special
The original Pebble was perfect.
Agree, my smart watch has stopped me grabbing my phone all the time and helps me get less distracted.
Pebbles were the best. Having one taught me a lot about the best tech not having all the bells and whistles. It’s better to have only what you need done well.
I disagree on the smart watches, but I know I’m in the minority in how I use them. They actually help me disconnect from my phone better because only select apps send notifications to my watch, so if I get a vibration on my wrist, I check, see if it needs action or not, then move on with my life. In my work I often get messages that need immediate action, but I’m often in situations where I can’t be distracted in the moment, so smart watches have been super helpful.
This is the way. Filter what comes to your wrist. Text from my wife? Absolutely. Ebay badgering me to buy more stand mixers because clearly if I bought one I need 17 more? Fuck off.
I agree with this, but I do have to ask, why do you not just disable notifications by default. I have my phone disable all notifications unless I actually care, then I still filter to only messaging based notices on the watch. Also love the example, Ebay was so annoying at that, it lost its permissions to give ad based notifications awhile ago, it only can do shipment tracking now.
As someone with ADHD, I 100% agree about the watches.
Personally, I have an old Garmin and literally all I use it for is; telling the time; alarms; notifications of messages (Signal, WhatsApp, SMS, and that’s it) and calls; and counting my daily steps. That’s it. And that’s all I need it to do.
If I had to take my phone out every time it buzzed with a notification, I’d lose at least 15 minutes to scrolling. Instead my watch buzzes, I see who the message is from, and then either take my phone out and reply/answer, or ignore it to look at later.
I’ve had an iPhone and Apple Watch in the past, and was never really able to work out much of a use-case scenario for spending that kind of money on one, but to each their own, I guess.
Vibrators. I don’t want to use a fuckass app. Include a fucking remote control in your product.
Isn’t the fuckass app for use with the smart buttplugs?
Yes, that too.
All of those have uses.
They add convenience in various ways. It’s kinda neat that my fridge can text me to say the door is open or the filter is due (but I don’t have it connected).
Smart watches have barely anything to do with telling time; they’re remote terminals for your phone for communication in both directions. Think like not holding you phone while exercising, checking if a text is urgent, tracking your steps, or dismissing timers. I don’t have one.
Smart bulbs let you have much more control over your lighting. Have 6 overhead lights over your TV room? Shut the opens over the screen, dim the rest. You can’t do that with a normal switch on a single circuit, like most homes will have. Best you can do is dim them all together with a dimmer switch. Sure, it also let’s people be extra lazy by not getting up at all. I don’t have any.
It’s really easy to see how these smart features add convenience. I hate them because they usually come with atrocious security and privacy flaws. Worse, many are specifically sold as spying devices under the guise of convenience. THAT is why when smart devices are the only/best option, I don’t connect them. And if setup seems to demand connectivity, I change my wifi password, connect and setup, then change it back.
Yeah, the post reads like a rant from someone who can’t put themselves in the shoes of someone else, so it has to be completely worthless.
I guarantee you dont need 95% of “smart” (I fucking hate that term) devices.
Its wasteful, anti security, and gives corporations more control than they should ever have.
The sole reason they exist is because we peaked in the ways corporations can make money. You CANT make a good washing machine that lasts and does it’s job in capitalist society. It must make quarterly profits either by being un repairable and forcing the owner to buy another, or harvesting data, or forcing subscriptions for shit the device already has built in.
Smart bullshit is just the 2010 version of shoving ai slop unto every possible thing that doesn’t need it. No difference.
I’d actually add that one of the biggest uses for so many “unnecessary” devices is opening up ability/convenience to people with various disabilities. Practically every worthless “as seen on TV” gadget has a niche use for someone. Jar openers help arthritis. Pouring gadgets help people with reduced motor control. Smart bulbs help people who are in pain whenever they get up.
I used to have my lights change color when I had motion in the driveway, and dim at night.
I also had a button for bedtime, it would turn off the main lights, turn on dim red lights, then it would turn on the TV. When I was ready to sleep I had one button that turned the black lights UV light on for a minute, then it turned off the TV and the red lights. Then I would sleep with glow in the dark stars.
I gave up on smart watches. Pain to charge them constantly and I feel it’s another spying device.
Everything is regressed to a tiny square of a screen, that you barely look at.
This is precisely why I love my smartwatch. With the watch, I get a notification, I look at my wrist and read it, 95% of the time it’s nothing important and I dismiss it, and then I go about my day.
Without the watch, I’ll get a notification on my phone, 95% of the time it’s nothing important and I’ll dismiss it, but now I have the entire fucking internet just sitting in my hand so why shouldn’t I look up how tall Greg Davies is?
I find that a smartwatch helps me to mitigate distractions, rather than introducing new ones. It’s honestly been one piece of tech that I could actually still recommend to people these days.
Fun fact: Greg Davies is actually only 5’11". He looks taller because Alex Horne is so short at only 5’5".
That can’t be true, I refuse to believe it
Wikipedia:
Greg Davies has been noted for his height of 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m), which often plays a role in his comedic performances.
Pfft, as if Wikipedia is a reliable source. Do your own research: go and stand next to Greg. He’s just a little fellow.
I prefer to have dumb, discrete devices in near all cases. TV, appliances, bulbs AND switches. Watches (mechanical only, please). I don’t connect any game consoles to the internet. I can’t think of any devices that actually need “smart” features.
Smartwatches are mainly used for fitness tracking at this point although I do like my Pebble and Fossil Hybrid watches quite a lot
My smartwatch has literally changed my life. I got it because I needed to keep track of blood oxygen on a regular basis for a medical condition, and while the finger clip reader was okay I wanted something I had on me all the time. But the mere fact that I could see, on an ongoing basis, how many calories I was burning was extremely motivating to my adhd mind, and I started exercising, then tracking calories and dieting, I’ve built muscle, lost fat, and actually changed my lifestyle in general. And don’t tell me I could have done those things without a smartwatch— years of empirical evidence contradict that statement.
I feel stupid for not getting my one several years sooner.
people rely too much on the heart rate, blood pressure hting its very inaccurate. apparently they otc for CGM for your blood sugar, again that is super inaccurate compared to the Rx version, its also pretty much useless for people dont have TYPE 2 diabetes.
I don’t think people should be using it as a replacement for medical devices but it’s a convenient way to collect semi accurate health data if you just want general trends
Watches
Smart ones can be useful. It’s nice to be able to check which app a notification came from and get a short preview without having to take your phone out of your pocket, which can also help people who suffer from the classic case of “I picked up my phone to check a notification and now I’m on TikTok”
Light Bulbs
I agree these don’t usually need to be smart, but there’s also good reasons for them. Changing lights/rooms while you’re away so it looks like someone’s home, setting them to slowly dim throughout the evening so you more naturally get tired on schedule, and the colors can be nice if you need to theme a space. Good for people who often host parties.
Kitchen appliances
Yeah I got nothing here, make 'em all dumb again 🙏
There is still a lot of good uses of “smart” tech, it’s just you’ll find most companies would rather cram it in everywhere rather than just where it’s most useful. For example, it can be good to have smart appliances like your water heater, if you want it to be able to adjust when it pre-heats water based on when it gets used the most, adjust based on the current cost of energy from the grid and output from home solar, etc.
Can also be good to have in something like a thermostat, or electronically connected blinds. You can have them raise and lower automatically based on the angle of the sun to automatically adjust the temperature in your house before relying on a more costly appliance like a heat pump.
Not all smart tech is bad, it’s just that most of it is.
That’s funny. I actually think screens on some appliances are useful, like coffee/espresso machines. There are so many setting on some that it’s much easier with a screen. I guess it also depends if you use additional features or not. E.g. schedule something to do something with specific settings
I’d like a smart kettle that I can turn on from a distance. Even better, a dumb kettle that turns on when the power goes on, and turns off when it’s boiled. That way a smart plug can do the smart thing and no smarts are required in the kettle.
Cars, and while we’re at it, ditch the touch screens as well.
