Will Household Gadgets Become Too Smart?
January 18, 2006 by Maricar
Filed under General Housekeeping and Homemaking
I just spent a considerable amount of time tinkering with a new computer. All I wanted to do was create a setup disk, and the smart little gizmo won’t let me.
I got stuck when it asked me to choose which drive I wanted to use to create the disk. It would have been easy if only I was given an option I could actually use. But, instead of the obvious CD-RW drive, the options were all special media readers, for digital camera memory cards and such.
It used to be that I could type in the name of the drive I wanted and the computer would tell me if it was unavailable for whatever reason (no disk in the drive, etc.). But these smart new devices think they know better. And they’re impossible to override, at least by someone not especially tech-savvy.
I wonder what will become of me when common household gadgets someday have imbedded smart computers in them. Fast forward to the future…
ME (talking to a voice-activated refrigerator): “I’d like some ice, please.”
REFRIGERATOR (in a voice designed to be both friendly and cool): “Please choose what type of juice you want with your ice.”
ME: “Just ice, no juice.”
REFRIGERATOR: “I’m sorry. I did not recognize that option. Please choose from the following… orange juice, grape juice, cranberry juice, apple juice. You can also choose to make your juice carbonated.”
ME: “I just want ice!”
REFRIGERATOR: “Please choose from the following options… orange juice, grape…”
ME: “No juice! Just ice!”
REFRIGERATOR: “Fruit juice has been proven to contain antioxidants and important vitamins. Please choose from the following options…”
ME… just going to the tap to get cold water.
