Rise of the smart appliances
7.50 am, breakfast
I just ate two pieces of prata and settled on the sofa, with the TV on while waiting for my coffee to brew. Weather was a little bleak in the morning; sudden gusts with grey clouds hinting on a thunderstorm or a chance for a passing shower. You can’t be sure if you’re living in tropical Singapore, where weather is totally unpredictable.
There wasn’t anything on. Channel NewsAsia was showing some of those infomercial gadgets about Sony’s latest point-and-shoot camera and some peek highlights on the future technologies that might reach our shores.
One of it is about a fridge, with touch screen capabilities equipped with net-surfing.
The scene goes like this:
A setting in the kitchen. Mom was in her office attire, looking like she was in a hurry for work. Father and daughter was casually eating their breakfast, going about their morning.
Mom took a swig of coffee, bids a quick goodbye to everyone and left in a haste.
And then, the attention to the shiny new fridge. The daughter, figuring that she didn’t really say a proper goodbye to her mom heads over to the touchscreen and customise a message; She drew out a heart and some sweet sentences for her mother.
[Piano interlude for about 3 seconds]
Mom was in the backseat of a cab. She got the notification and opened up the message from dear daughter. She smiled.
That’s a nice touch. I thought to myself.
But why would I get this? In fact, there’s nothing special about the fridge.
“It’s just a touchscreen slapped on the front. What’s so innovative about this?” I wondered.
And then it dawned on me. Like it our not, our daily appliances are getting “smart”. There are so many worrying issues I see headed for us in the future.
Why can’t the mom simply spend a minute with her daughter before heading out of the house?
“I miss Mom. You know what? Let me get the fridge and send her an e-mail.”
While the message is about using technology to improve our lives, it also portrays a subliminal undertone on our reliance to technology:
- That face to face connections are no longer seen as a popular way to communicate especially for the working executives. It is easier to reach someone, or anyone, anywhere with our devices.
- No one will think you’re insane if you rather communicate with your kitchen appliances than your kids.
- Everything you own will probably be smarter than you. Even my fridge now has a self diagnosis which can be connected to a freaking handphone ( I think they are communicating right now as you read).
For thought
If the near future is about connectivity, (looking over my shoulders) will we cease to find any privacy?
“We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology” -Carl Sagan
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