Book Smart, But Not Street Smart
Over the last several decades, smart home upgrades have been all the rage in consumer society. Because it’s now technologically possible, standard appliances like refrigerators, toasters, and stoves have adopted touchscreen controls, AI-powered features, weather updates, voice assistants, and personalized greeting messages. While a few of these innovations are intriguing or luxurious, most of the web-based additions to historically internet-free appliances have been gimmicky and wholly unnecessary.
With all these frivolous, techy add-on features popping up on the market, it begs the question: Do we really need any of this?
Smart gadgets can certainly impress a boardroom, but when it comes to in-home use, there is a limit to a product’s functionality. Products are being innovated beyond their function, and smart home gadgets that depend on a new app, internet connectivity, or an entire IT crew to manage are overcomplicating a once-simple purpose. According to Stacey Higginbotham from Consumer Reports, “Consumers are spending thousands of dollars purchasing connected appliances, but in most cases, appliance makers don’t tell them how long their products will stay securely connected to the internet.” This means that those fancy AI features or tablets on the front of the family fridge may stop working, and the appliance itself rendered useless.
Take, for example, the overly fancy $2,500+ “smart” beds that have been storming TikTok tech influencer pages for months. A bed, by its very nature, is quite straightforward. Ranging from a messy pile of pillows to a Princess and the Pea-style mattress stack, most beds are ultimately just a place to lie down and fall asleep. But these next-gen beds are far from simple. They fold into different positions, have adjustable temperatures, and can pivot on their axis to make standing up easier for mobility-impaired or the extra unmotivated late-risers.
$60,000 Bed vs $5,000 Smart Bed Comparison
Via u/mrwhosetheboss
Influencers are cashing in on their channels by trying out all this new tech, repeatedly wowing their followers with futuristic appliances. It’s oddly reminiscent of the same fascination we had with flying cars back in the 1950s. However, before consumers consider buying any of the wares sold on TikTok, perhaps they should think twice about smart products that were 100% functional before the addition of a random tech feature. Even 70 years later, we still don’t have catastrophe-free flying cars on the market, which speaks volumes about modern smart tech advancement. Smart home gimmicks might need a little more time too.
“Smart” is Not So Smart
Home appliances aren’t the only industry affected by technological gadgetry. Smart cars are another common side effect of injecting technology into the consumer world. This, in particular, is becoming dangerous because it’s tempting drivers to glance at their flashy dashboards instead of keeping their eyes on the road.
Howard Tullman, a journalist from Inc. Magazine, has spent years delving into tech, business, and marketing topics, and is extremely skeptical about the technological additions to modern cars. In-dash video displays, windshield indicators, touchscreens, AI integration, and voice-to-text commands create a slippery slope, introducing more dangers than they prevent. Many car enthusiasts advocate for additional technology, hoping to captivate new buyers with futuristic baubles and contraptions, but Tullman argues that smart tech is distracting. “Just because we can do these things doesn’t necessarily make them simple, safe, or smart options.”
Via u/halfpoint
Cleverly integrated tech mechanisms are few and far between, yet the consumer market is flooded with millions of next-generation, Cloud-enabled smart features that we’ll never use. As part of a grand sales pitch and flashy marketing strategy, products are no longer being innovated for functionality, but for novelty.
May Grandma’s Fridge Last Another 100 Years
Consumers don’t need any more “smart” appliances, furniture, or cars. Secretly yearning for a return to analog, consumers fail to pursue simplicity, pushing marketers, businesses, and developers to inundate every new product on the market with AI integration, unnecessary touchscreens, or other smart technology. Alas, we don’t actually need weather-updated toasters, 20-inch control screens in our cars, or beds that change temperature like a thermostat. These things are unreliable, faulty, and frankly impractical, replacing a product’s efficiency with gimmicks.
When it comes to smart purchases, perhaps the truly intelligent choice is to stick to products that are tried-and-true and don’t require an internet connection, lest you become a victim of the next glitch in the matrix.
