The Internet of Things would allow us to become more efficient. In class we discussed how your house can be heated while you are headed home, so once you arrived it would be warm. I argued how I am still set on grabbing a sweater and a blanket. A smart heater would basically be just a digital financial reminder of how badly isolated my home is. A Roomba would stress out my dog most of the time, making him shed more, getting more hairs in the house, triggering the Roomba again, starting a vicious cycle. Still, it did make me wonder what my life would look like if the internet of things would help me live a more efficient life and how things would be better, considering I omit dogs, who dislike vacuum cleaners and the apartment, my landlord refuses to fix.
So I wrote this whole little setup.
I wake up and as I grind my coffee, the machine notices how there is only 40 grams of beans left, so it orders a fresh bag at my local coffee place and my bank sends me a notification about my payment. Meanwhile my agenda gets checked and I get the request whether I would like to get my package delivered in the evening or whether I want a reminder to pick up the coffee if I am nearby the shop. I choose the latter and walk towards the shower which is adjusted to my heat settings, but also only runs for three minutes, because its settings also include preservation of water.
Deep into my regular shower thoughts and having won a fictional argument the three minutes have flown by and I feel like I really haven´t had a proper shower, so I manually turn on the shower head. It refuses. I concede as I somewhere am led to believe my three minutes showers are me doing my part for a better climate while the meat industry gets subsidised.
After breakfast I take my bike to the station and my watch lets me know that given my current speed I am not going to make the 9.33 train I was aiming for and the 9.38 is delayed by five minutes. My watch waits for permission to turn on pedal support on my bike so it can go faster. Without having to pedal harder now, I manage to make it to the station in time, where the gates to the platform open as I near it. I get notified some of my contacts are on the train as well and who have seats available next to them and whether I would like to sit next to any of them. I decline. After departing I check which of my contacts got out at the same stop and when it seems none of them are nearby I turn on my headphones so I can listen to some music on my way to university without having to converse with anyone. My lectures I record and run through transcription tool which summarizes important information based on frequency. I still have to manually delete the quote-unquote’s and open doors from some lectures. After classes I return home ignoring the reminder I should pick up my coffee as I am nearing the vicinity and since I am cycling I am unable to respond to the text by my partner whether they should start dinner or whether I am still on the train. My phone deciphers the text and sends an ETA and live location. Once home they ask why I could not just respond like a normal human being and I dared say I responded like a smart, efficient one.
This entire setup has failed me miserably as I asked a friend with an entire smart setup at home whether there were things that turned out inconvenient about a smart house. Story after story followed about how much easier their life has been ever since the investment and to conclude they tell me how they once thought that they lost their passport and Google reminded them of a note they kept, cause they told Google where they were planning on storing it, knowing themselves well enough to know they’d forget. Apparently Google reminded them it was stored in a drawer. Now I could not bring this happy being down by reminding them this might have been an obvious place to go looking. I could only follow their joy for reducing panic to a second.
This is a great blog post and truly invites the reader to have an inner look as to what the future may hold. While all of this new technology seems to be invented to easily assist our daily tasks, perhaps the thought alone of their addition to our home creates unease. Much of your story portrays the technology attempting to make your life easier, however it also seems as if its presence creates more work for you than the task itself.
On another note, the train example you gave stuck out to me because of the live tracking. Knowing whether or not your contacts are nearby gives me an odd feeling. In fact, it even wipes the possibility of spontaneous interactions, which is such a joyful part of one’s day. All of these technological assists will most definitely change the way our society functions and how we interact with one another…… and not always in a positive way.
Cool post Vyas!
Beautifully written the, for some, major inconveniences of the internet of things. As it takes routine steps away, it also takes away the ease with which some like to step out of this routine. In my case, the slight convenience and stress relief of having automatised 90% of your home would be nothing compared to the stress you would get from decisions being made for you in advance, as well as the vulnerability of your home being destabilised by some hack attack. At least, when a burglar would enter, I can identify the threat and, when there’s no burglar in my kitchen, feel safe from home-invasions. Digitalized systems are a bit more clouded.