Susan stood with her curtains open in her living-room, gesturing towards them. They refused to shut because they were awaiting an apology from her WiFi network for yesterday’s dropout. Her smart-home had gone rogue. It’s just the convenience charge we pay when our assistants believe they know more about us than our mothers. Read more now on intellifix
Alexa may be convenient, and she can play your favourite childhood tunes or dim the light instantly. However, what if they decide to ignore you instead? If you get nothing more than digital indifference, instead of being embraced with a virtual embrace?
John, let’s say. He messaged me once, panicked that his smart frigor started speaking in other languages. In the end, a simple upgrade to software was all that was needed! The manual looked like it was written in Hieroglyphics. This is like trying to translate Shakespeare when you really just want pancakes. Most people overlook just how tricky these fixes are.
“Have yo tried turning it back on and off?” I said. John’s sob was audible over the telephone. It’s the standard piece of advice which works in 70% of cases. Even savvier souls may not want to jump headlong into the electric vortex without a safety-net. There is chaos in the backround, an invisible technology circus that must be unraveled.
A smart home can make you feel like a leopard caught in the jungle. All the messages about cloud servers, synching devices, and updating can send a person into a tizzy. Most people envision their smart house as a choreographed dancing routine, until they discover that one of the partners is using the incorrect sheet music.
Lisa is a good friend of mine who knows a few things about Encyclopedia Britannica. But her smart front doorbell still had her confused. Debugging these gadgets feels like juggling a few eggs while on the tightrope. It’s best to have a mix of patience, and a little bit of madness. I told her “Listen your doorbell keeps secrets well; you may just need to learn how to be a tech-detective.” I swear over the telephone I heard a raised eyebrow.
Let’s not even begin to talk about smart locks. Imagine locking yourself out, because your front door needed some’me-time.’ You wonder whether it is a technical upgrade or an episode straight out a spy thriller.
These challenges call for more creativity and less complex tools. Imagine calling in a professional plumber because the AI-connected water closet is not working. Maybe your voice controlled oven believes it is more intelligent than Gordon Ramsay. Siri often gives us that error tone when we ask her a simple query. It’s almost like trying to communicate with a sarcastic 15-year-old.
These stories of digital mishaps are only the first half of the journey. It’s not just the machines that are at fault. Many problems can be traced to human errors. Michael, a neighboring IT expert, admitted to forgetting to charge his smart-speaker. The dead battery had led him to send it into an early digital grave. I joked about sending it a well-wisher card.
This tech obstacle race is a great opportunity to learn. It’s true, life is full of glitches. Your relationship with technology may require more patience and tolerance than you expect. It’s a romantic thought, isn’t? Makes you think.
You’re certainly not alone when you encounter a stubborn thermostat. Misbehaving intelligent devices can test your patience as well as your sense of humor. Do not forget to use your sense of humour, dear reader. This is often the best screwdriver you have in your toolbox.