I Don’t Want A Smart Home
How A Treadmill Became A Wakeup Call
We bought a fancy treadmill on Black Friday.
It was delivered in January, and it died in June.
The cause of death? A routine software update.
Months later, it still sits lifelessly in our basement.
This thing is truly amazing- a modern marvel. There’s an instructor on the screen right in front of you- an on-demand personal trainer. An integrated AI camera counts your reps and corrects your form! It connects to an Apple watch while you run and records your steps and heartrate.
Unfortunately, no amount of 45-minute calls to tech support or visits from 3rd party repair companies have managed to bring it back to life.
What good is an amazingly advanced piece of equipment if it is completely reliant on a solid internet connection and myriad computer components?
Not much, it turns out.
It’s not just treadmills either.
I visited my parents’ house recently and tried to log onto the internet. The network list looked a little something like this:
Sliding Door
Fan 1
Fan 2
Fan 3
Samsung Washing Machine
Samsung Dryer
Kitchenaid Oven
There were more appliances on the network than people in the house.
I can never turn the TV on when I go to my in-laws’ house because it runs off an IPad app I can’t figure out.
Every time I poke desperately at someone’s fancy Lutron switches, I mutter under my breath, “I HATE smart homes!”
When did we get to the point where everything in a home needs to connect to a network in order to operate?!?
When did we start believing that more smart features automatically mean a better product?
Do we really need our toothbrushes to connect to an app?
After the treadmill debacle, I’m beginning to believe we’ve traded convenience for dependence.
Moving forward, I don’t want all the bells and whistles.
“Oh, it connects to an app and can be controlled from your phone?
NO THANK YOU!”
For years, I’ve felt a strong pull toward living a simpler life in general.
Eliminating unnecessary technology from my daily routines has to be a part of that shift for me.
As part of my commitment to writing more this year, I purchased a typewriter.
It does one thing.
It writes.
There are no open tabs.
No text notifications.
Nothing to attend to but my thoughts.
And you know what? I am SO much more consistent and focused when I use it.
The click of my fingers moving across the keyboard feels good - all the way down to my soul.
I spend so much time considering the objects inside my house. The way pillows are arranged, the paint colors on the walls, the books displayed on the shelves. I try to be intentional about everything.
But I’ve missed something.
Now that I realize it, I know it’s time to start eliminating all the sneaky, unwanted tech that has wormed its way in.
They’re coming again tomorrow to try again; they’ll install a new screen that they think ***might*** fix my treadmill.
I hope it works, because it’s a really cool treadmill.
But if they can’t? Oh well.
There’s a great path that curves around the lake by my house.
On cool mornings there are dragonflies to notice and sunrises to soak up while I walk.
I’ll pass strangers with dogs on leashes and we’ll nod hello in passing.
I can watch the seasons change one day at a time and get my steps in.
That’s the kind of connectivity I want more of.
xoxo,
Suzette