What's the point of 'smart' and 'connected' objects? Are they supposed to help us get through menial tasks more efficiently, or have the capitalists figured out a clever way to perpetually profit off the objects we use on a daily basis? Sometimes it feels like the latter. When your printer holds your ink cartridge hostage because you haven't paid your monthly printer subscription, I think it's safe to say you've been swindled by the 'Internet of Things.' And technology itself isn't necessarily to blame. We'll never get to that fabled techno-utopia as long as 'innovation' prioritizes profit rather than usefulness. Until then, we get to clumsily navigate this boring dystopia of connected crap, eternally updating the firmware on our smart trashcans.
internet of things
Ever look around and get the sense that we're living in some sort of techno-dystopia? We get it—sometimes it's cool to have lights that you can dim from your phone or a watch that tells you how many calories you burned, but maybe the 'Internet of Things' has gone too damn far. Once you start connecting every single object in your home to the internet, you become pretty vulnerable when, say, Google is suddenly down, or your WiFi router malfunctions. Sometimes a doorbell should just be a doorbell and a toothbrush certainly shouldn't require regular firmware updates. And who the hell actually wants an Amazon surveillance robot literally flying around their house 24/7?
Anyway, we've got a bunch of examples of bad 'smart devices' from Twitter that might make you reconsider that bluetooth coffee mug purchase.
