Going long stretches without something can effectively distill its value. Plumbing, electricity, gas, for example -- having experienced lifestyles without those services, utility bills never seem as outrageous to me as they might. Cost/Benefit = Easy. Plumbing and hot water being two of my most favorite things. How about a gas fireplace and a hottub? Yup, yup, yup. Not to slight ovens and fridges, furnaces and lighting. Luxurious conveniences all; worth every cent. And these days, best add wifi to the list.
Imagine life without internet connection. In one recent study, with subjects asked to do without one or the other for a year, smartphones beat out almost every contender -- eating out, vacations, sex. (Bathing? Hmm...) Shockingly, even pets were expendable. As technology exponentially escalates, what remains sacred? What becomes indispensable?
Exactly just how smart do I want my home to get? My car is already way, way smarter than necessary for road ranging requirements ... or so it seems, today. Expectations do alter insidiously, as one gets used to navigation, programmed controls and heated steering wheels.
But it never occurred to me that adjusting a thermostat or flipping a light switch, by hand, would ever seem a chore. What, go through the whole house, preforming these rote operations one at a time? Yeah, that. Old school! There's an app. Like it or not. All the comforts of home are now programmable. I could be in New Zealand and turn off my American oven (quite handy, if I'd forgotten). Conversely, given a hacker, virus or a glitch, my house could throw a party without me.
The options are out there -- a long, long way from clapping hands to turn off a bedside lamp.
Conceivably, with just one touch on the iPhone ... window shades open, music airs, lights come on, temperature adjusts, seats warm, the central vac sucks away any intrusive dust, the fridge calls in a grocery/deli order, and the bed covers turn down, seductively. (Will the bathroom clean itself? Because that ...)
Uhhh, WAIT. What if the optic reader is on the fritz? What if I forget my default password? Is manual override an option? Provided I recall how to manually accomplish anything. Such skill may burrow back deep into the gray matter that archives arithmetic without a calculator. And penmanship.
(Now, about those touch pads. Fingertips? What about those headjacks we've been promised? Come ON, technology.)
Or....radical idea....get a flatmate. They can do all those things, even the oven from NZ. But especially the house party. Their batteries do tend to go flat on occasion though
ReplyDeleteA battery-powered roomie might fill the bill -- provided it has an "off" option ))
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