I don’t own a single smart home device — am I a dinosaur?

I obviously own some smart devices. i have one smartphonewhich is somewhat important in this work and often convenient in life. I also have a smart TV – you might have to look hard to find any other kind of TV. But that’s it. I have nothing but TV smart home devices. I don’t feel they are necessary in my life.

Before you get into the comments section, I’m not preaching to you. Many people love their smart home devices, especially my coworkers. I’m happy to admit that a lot of them are pretty cool. If you told 11-year-old me that I could unlock a door with my fingerprint and have the lights turn on, I would have been shocked. Some smart home devices can actually be useful in the right circumstances. But everything is in balance, and the marginal benefits I personally can gain from a smart home are not enough to compel me to join this revolution.

Am I just a fossil, fighting against unstoppable technological progress? You are welcome to be the judge, but hear me out first.

Just to prove that I’m not a complete smart home skeptic, I’m happy to extol the virtues of certain devices. I will also mention why these advantages did not add value to me personally.

I think security is where smart home devices are most useful. A video doorbell allows you to see who is outside through your phone. Not only can smart cameras give you a live feed of what’s going on in your home anytime, anywhere, they can even identify who should and shouldn’t be on your property. Smart light bulb Can be programmed to see you at home when you are thousands of miles away. The list goes on, but the point is that I am happy to advocate the use of smart security options in many scenarios.

But it’s not just security where smart home devices can add real value. A smart thermostat can make your commute home cozy and cozy, while also saving money on your energy bill. A robot vacuum can keep your floors spick and span, as long as you do some tidying up first and open all the doors (reducing the impact of smart thermostats on room-specific temperatures.) Smart display You can easily make video calls, stream media, and control other smart home devices. Many of you will find these features to improve your lives.

But all of our situations are unique. I am lucky enough to live in a safe apartment complex in a warm and affordable country. I don’t need a security setting or a thermostat, and a nice lady comes by every week to give the apartment a quick cleaning. It’s a small expense, but a robot vacuum is a significant investment in its own right, and its cleaning capabilities are limited to its floor space. I couldn’t communicate with it either.

We could check out every smart home device on the market, but I feel like there’s no one device that’s going to bring me the most bang for my buck.

Now that we’ve covered the useful smart home devices I don’t need, here’s a quick look at the devices I think almost no one needs. risking confrontation Android Authority Rita El Khoury, smart home super fan, I feel like some devices are more attractive for their novelty value, although they offer some functionality, or are more trouble than they’re worth.

My most controversial target isn’t a specific product, but the overall element of the smart home: voice activation. Of course, sometimes your hands are occupied, or your phone just isn’t available. But this won’t be a big deal for most people, and for the most part, using the phone won’t be much of a hassle. The rest of the time, you only save a few seconds compared to picking up your phone. If your command is understood correctly. When your smart speaker mishears your request once or twice, a few taps of the screen might be faster.

You are also talking to objects. I’ll admit that my younger self would have thought this was cool – I was fascinated by Captain Picard’s request for a cup of Earl Gray tea from the water fountain on the wall – but I now find it a bit weird. Maybe this is me.

While I agree that voice activation has its merits, I will never be convinced by the idea of ​​smart blinds. I’m sure I’m going to draw Rita’s ire for this, but hanging traditional blinds is no easy task, and smart blinds also have to be connected to a power source – or if they’re battery powered, need to be charged. Once you’ve completed this important step of syncing your blinds to your device and creating a schedule, you’re all set…all you’ve done is save yourself having to walk across the room to open or close them The number of tasks per day. I suppose you could make more of a case for blinds on windows that are out of reach.

Now, you can guess what I think about devices like smart toasters or coffee makers. In my opinion, anything that requires interaction before and after use will never feel smart enough. Unless these devices achieve Wallace & Gromit-level automation and serve me a fully prepared breakfast without my intervention, I’m not interested.

For every question I raise above, I’m sure there will be a legion of smart home enthusiasts ready to call me naive. That’s fair enough, but all of my device-specific opinions are outside the broader context of my lifestyle. I like to keep things simple. This doesn’t mean living in a cave looking for food, but I like to focus on what’s important to me with as few distractions as possible.

Even though I would never invest $1,800 in a high-end robot vacuum, I don’t have a particular problem with the cost of smart home appliances. It was all executives who were in conflict with my lifestyle.

If I want a smart home, I have to study models and think about how they interact with the ecosystem I build. I had to buy them, understand how they worked, and then install them—power for the smart blinds, water for the smart mop, and so on. Some of them require my regular attention and if they malfunction I have to fix them. If I can’t solve these problems, I need to find someone who can.

Do they need software updates? Do I need to upgrade for any reason? Do they require a manufacturer’s account to function properly? Are there privacy concerns? I may have exaggerated it all, but I have enough to manage. I don’t want to be the custodian of more devices, even if they are trying to make my life easier.

Again, this is all personal preference. Millions of people are happy with their smart homes, and if I visit a friend who has all the smart kit, I’ll happily appreciate their features, just like I’d enjoy playing with my friend’s dog without having to do all the maintenance. Dog’s mission.

I also admit that I was disappointed that I couldn’t find more enthusiasm for smart homes. We didn’t have rocket boots yet, but otherwise we lived mostly in the future I was promised as a nerdy kid, and I felt like I was betraying my past self by opting out of it. But that kid also envies the freedom adults have to roam the candy aisles of supermarkets and stay up late. He never imagined that I would be stocking up on vegetables and looking forward to bed early as an adult, but here we are.