CES 2017: Hands-On With a Smart Ring, Smart Shower, Smart Shoe, and Smart Everything

[faded_glory]

Smart device = one of two things - either (another) nagging voice, or endless popups and pinging noises to inform us of the new popup. Intrusive-tech.

I don't need bluetooth trousers telling me they need washing, or bluetooth socks telling me I walked further last week than this.
How about a bluetooth refuse cart (garbage truck) that tells how much tonnage of needless packaging the supermarket inflicted on us this month? Or a bluetooth Tax Office that tells us how many schools, hospitals, roads and bridges will go unfunded because of Corporate tax avoidance? Or a bluetooth legislature that tells us how many representatives either didn't attend or were asleep during important debates?

 

[cube]

Forget everything, where are the 3D TVs ??

 

[lowendlinux]

No guys I don't want to send everything to your server via the internet.

 

[44267547]

They really should rename the IoT to something like IoU internet of useless.

Smart ring, smart shower? Really I love technology but this stuff is getting insane and ridiculous.

It does seem somewhat Ludacris now, or just wait a few years, this will likely be excepted and implemented into many homes and lifestyles.

Ten years ago, autonomous vehicles were completely off the grid and only heard of with the TV show Knight Rider. Now look where we are with technology with Uber and Tesla.

 

[Bacillus]

Am I the only one sick of everything having to become 'smart'? We've survived pretty well with a lot of dumb stuff up to this point. Does every product/gadget we own have to be connected to the internet?

No, Apple is with you.
They don't think any further than the over-expensive HomeKit that the industries at CES seem to ignore

 

[crsh1976]

Am I the only one sick of everything having to become 'smart'? We've survived pretty well with a lot of dumb stuff up to this point. Does every product/gadget we own have to be connected to the internet?

The trouble is they all make fine tech demos, because technologically it's nothing short of awesome, but in practice not a great deal of people are seeing any of these "smart" devices as the solution to a problem they have.

It wouldn't be such a buzz-killer if it didn't mean buying a $2k fridge or a $500 watch that doesn't work without a $1k smart phone, at least.

 

[AdonisSMU]

I find all "conveniences" which eliminate memorizing will create a future issue with brain training and neurons connecting.

People grab for calculators to add 2 + 2, or have tip cards to figure out 10% of anything LOL, don't know phone numbers by heart and just don't check their work for mistakes. They blindly trust their electronic devices without even reasoning if what is on the display makes a little sense.

It also blocks problem solving. I have to laugh when you can't buy anything at a store, because the system is down. The clerk looks helpless and doesn't know whether to accept my cash and just write me a hand receipt or note for him/herself.

My parents used to make me memorize the lotto numbers when they showed up on TV. (At that time many moons ago, there was no internet , nor would these numbers get repeated a lot, in store screens etc) These would then stay in my brain until the next drawing.

Over 50 years later I still remember what our teachers drilled into us:

In 1525 Martin Luther married Katherina von Bora , a nun. Talk about useless info still in my brain.

And yes, I used to walk uphill to school both ways, in the winter, no shoes and had to carry my sister on the back and the books up front. Come to think of it , I was probably also naked and being chased by dogs, and...........

People memorize stuff... they memorize sports stats or chart positions of popular records or what a politician said to them etc... I think its just a shuffling of what people remember.

 

[russ99]

Some of this stuff could become truly useful. There's no need to shun smart devices as a group.

For example, my smart thermostat. Don't think I could ever go back to the old way.