No SMART Crap For Me

I have a friend who bought a "smart speaker" and was enjoying using it. 

Then we told her she should have done her research first, because corporations never do the full disclosure that would allow consumers to make fully informed decisions about the "smart" things they are buying and using.

She did some online research of her own, then called us a few days later. She told us that her new smart speaker was disconnected and put back into its box. 

And the box was put outside under her deck in the backyard.

We laughed, but it is a serious issue. 

Smart speakers listen and learn everything to help "make your life better", but their main purpose is always to sell you more products and services. 

SMART does not mean what most people think it does. Hint - it doesn't refer to the opposite of dumb.

But manufacturers push products that the industry hopes consumers will think are intelligent. They give all the benefits in their advertising, but none of the risks.

I call it SMART Crap, and I will not have any of it.

- phones

- homes

- TVs

- refrigerators 

- appliances

- thermostats

- door cameras

- speakers

- neighbourhoods and cities

Some say this is the real meaning of the SMART label:

S - surveillance

M - monitoring

A - analysis

R - reporting

T - technology

That does not sound good to me. 

So how smart is it for us to have this technology in our possession?

With these products someone is always watching, listening, recording and intruding into the homes and lives of consumers.

That is way too much control in the hands of big business and their government partners for me.

The industry tells us SMART tech is "here to stay", but that is only true if consumers want to adopt this intrusive technology in their homes. 

We will decide through our shopping decisions. And we should decide very, very carefully.

They should tell us how much are we being spied upon. How about full transparency here? 

Or what about having our personal information harvested and sold to the highest bidder? 

And what happens when the power goes out? How "smart" is it all then?

Being connected the way we are becoming only enhances convenience and encourages serious couch lock. Why ever get up to do things? 

There is an expensive price to pay for such SMART convenience, and that price is your privacy.

Why encourage the surveillance state that wants to know and record our every move? 

What will we say when they want to monitor our very thoughts with brain implants? 

All in the name of "improving your life". And convenience, of course. What could go wrong?

Only DUMB stuff for me, thank you very much.

D - ditch the digital

U - usual stuff

M - manual (so low tech you actually have to get up off the couch and do something)

B - boring 

Maybe gather up all that supposedly smart technology, put it in a box, and set it under the deck in the back yard, like my intelligent friend.

Better yet, take that box and bury it in a deep, deep hole where it all belongs.