We Need Less Gadgets, More Humanity
Recent (by Andy): Digital Brutalism (Theme: efficiency is a lie) | Humaxing: How I met the real-life Yoda
Having just 'insulted' some modernism - the highest form of treason and a sure way to get oneself labeled a "Luddite" - let's examine what the average human being really needs other than a wrist watch (which does not need batteries by the way; many still use kinetic energy to work and decent brands last decades).
I cannot speak for others, but I can speak for myself. I quit wearing wrist watches over 2 decades ago, partly because the PDA could show the time and partly because there were many clocks everywhere, including on every PC. So the only "gadget" I still have is a PDA manufactured 22 years ago and I barely take it outdoors. For mnemonics and address books (or phone books) I can also use the PCs and when outside the house I very seldom need those things. Checking E-mails??? Who said you need to check E-mail messages in real time? I check E-mail once a day and sometimes less frequently than that. When I attended a hearing (2 weeks ago) I didn't check E-mail for 3 days in a row. Nothing critical was missed.
If people are being honest with themselves, many of the gadgets they claim they "cannot live without" are just excesses and distractions they could definitely leave behind. We have come to the point where companies sell us fridges with computers in them, watches that claim to "monitor health" (BS! Go see a physician, a watch cannot properly examine much except pulse), and so-called 'TVs' - or rather computers that can stream over LAN/Ethernet/WiFi - that say they need to have a camera for "ad targetting (which they insist is to better serve us).
"Gadgets maximalism" does not improve lifestyles. Costs aside, gadgets increasingly become tools of coercion, oppression, and mass surveillance. They're designed that way for someone else's benefit.
Mouths and ears are amazing interfaces that can last a lifetime. Use them. Not with a chatbot. █