Technology that you avoid

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  • DigForVictory
    DigForVictory Posts: 11,906 Forumite
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    OhThankHeaven - I'm not the only person to absolutely Not Trust
    Smart meters & Smart home control. (I mean, hello, Security, anyone?! I love the house in Eureka but that's Fantasy.)

    Listed building so not allowed solar panels & anyway, Lancashire. (This current blip is just that.)

    I avoid Twitter, in part because while I can see it's useful, I can also see other people making right idiots of themselves - cofeve anyone?

    If I could get rid of headphones, I might. My children are functionally deaf preferring their soundtrack to the family one...

    I love tech, but I trust it within a very tight radius. If a thing is smart enough to chat online without me, it's smarter than I trust. (The offspring are different.)

    When I get too old & fragile to be allowed to live solo, I may have to share with all sorts of digital things & up to a point I'm OK with that so long as I know where the Off Switches are, and can use them.
    I don't mind the kettle telling an enquiring child that I brewed at 5.40 this morning, but I'd rather only the family & the emergency services could get answers to that info, not anyone with internet access.

    If anyone does decide to build a companion for the elderly but awkward, I'll have a Big Hero 6 thank you. I like hugs.
  • onomatopoeia99
    onomatopoeia99 Posts: 6,964 Forumite
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    buglawton wrote: »
    I have a list of things Ive so far intuitively dodged. The list might shorten 10 years after the manufacturers show they truly understand the issues.

    My list

    Smart meters
    Keyless cars
    Smart home control
    Smart TVs (streaming boxes are fine)
    Phones without earphone socket
    Solar panels

    Anyone else got a list?


    Do you also still drive a car with a carburettor and points and condenser ignition?
    Proud member of the wokerati, though I don't eat tofu.Home is where my books are.Solar PV 5.2kWp system, SE facing, >1% shading, installed March 2019.Mortgage free July 2023
  • RumRat
    RumRat Posts: 4,789 Forumite
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    coffeehound wrote: »
    Even for the adverts for voice-controlled assistants they apparently can't think of a practical use. I prefer to be about a decade behind the cutting edge and wait for the early adopters to pay for the beta testing.

    A decade???:rotfl:Good luck...
    Drinking Rum before 10am makes you
    A PIRATE
    Not an Alcoholic...!
  • Debbie_Savard
    Debbie_Savard Posts: 430 Forumite
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    Anything prefixed 'eco' or marketed as 'green'
  • buglawton
    buglawton Posts: 9,235 Forumite
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    Yes I should have added voice controlled assistants to my list. I don’t like everyone to hear what I’m searching for or me dictating text. One could be useful on my iPhone when driving but it would fail to do what I want: Control the iPlayer Radio app precisely and also my rather bespoke podcast solution app which just a web downloader/media player. And I’d want that assistant to deactivate as soon as i stop driving.
  • Tigsteroonie
    Tigsteroonie Posts: 24,954 Forumite
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    Whilst the keyless entry to our car can be useful, we didn't ask for it or pay for it - the car we chose comes with it as standard. Personally I'd prefer to have a real key.
    :heartpuls Mrs Marleyboy :heartpuls

    MSE: many of the benefits of a helpful family, without disadvantages like having to compete for the tv remote

    :) Proud Parents to an Aut-some son :)
  • motorguy
    motorguy Posts: 22,473 Forumite
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    edited 7 July 2018 at 3:23PM
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    If i can see a benefit in it for me - such as makes my life easier, then yes, i'm in so usually not "technology for the sake of it".

    I dont use Fakebook or Twitter but use Whatsapp as its easy to keep in touch with my wife when i work away from home and my son in Australia. To give an example of that my son WhatsApp called me recently to my mobile phone when i was in my car and my phone bluetoothed that through my car so i was able to talk to him hands free. Quite amazing when you think of it and all free.

    I like the music streaming services, particularly Amazon where you can have pretty much your own station or Rock Station or Megadeth Station or whatever where it plays that artist and similar stuff you might like, all advert free and all can be bluetoothed through your car.

    I do like trying the latest tech though. The latest is an Oculus Go VR headset. I think we'll see that market grow.

    Smart TVs are a god send. Absolutely amazing. Saves us a fortune compared to a Sky setup.

    We've our house heating zoned for every room so we can program a temperature in any given room, which is nice. Also have solar water heating and use a Biomass burner as our primary heat source.

    Love new tech in cars too but as per above, i dont want to pay a disproportionate amount for it - both our cars are keyless but that was standard.
  • coffeehound
    coffeehound Posts: 5,674 Forumite
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    motorguy wrote: »
    The latest is an Oculus Go VR headset. I think we'll see that market grow.

    What for though, just gaming? It's a classic example really: in the 1990s you saw people wearing VR headsets waving their arms around on TV and we were told it was the future. Fast-forward 20 years and exactly the same views of people wearing VR headsets waving their arms around. In 20 years they hadn't found a use for it. (And they make you barf.)
  • motorguy
    motorguy Posts: 22,473 Forumite
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    coffeehound wrote: »
    What for though, just gaming? It's a classic example really: in the 1990s you saw people wearing VR headsets waving their arms around on TV and we were told it was the future. Fast-forward 20 years and exactly the same views of people wearing VR headsets waving their arms around. In 20 years they hadn't found a use for it. (And they make you barf.)

    Games, Netflix, internet, theres Oculus Room chat functionality where you can chat with your friends who have a headset too, various VR immersive experiences (Disney / Star Wars, etc).

    The gaming experience is very good. You do get the impression of being "in" the game rather than just playing it.

    The constraints of VR from decades ago was

    (a) The resolution - fairly naff so not a believable experience
    (b) The weight of the headsets - much lighter now
    (c) The interface itself was poor
    (d) The requirement to have it connected to a PC gaming console
    (e) The processor speeds werent great.

    The Go is standalone. The hand controller and the interface itself are excellent. Makes a big big difference. Its not perfect but i think its a game changer as it gives you 90% of the capability of say, the Oculus Rift for half the price and in a standalone unit.

    I think its only now the technology is really starting to catch up with the concept.
  • Nebulous2
    Nebulous2 Posts: 5,116 Forumite
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    Smart meters annoy me because of their loss of functionality when you switch.

    I don't want Alexa or her peers.

    I rarely watch TV, so don't want a smart one, we have a dish and a humax box and I don't get any complaints about what it does and doesn't do.

    I do have hive, heating control and while it's a bit gimmicky I like it.

    I'm looking to add a live-streaming camera into the mix, I just can't make up my mind whether internal / external or doorbell.

    I'm awaiting a new set of intelligent cycle lights which I bought on kickstarter.

    I really like banking apps, with about 6 of them on my phone.

    So I pick and mix. I buy something I want and see a use for, which isn't extortionate and which has shown it works.
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