The demise of the gadget

[issybird]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

The definition of 'Luddite' sure has changed

Touché!

I'll add that I'm a cheapskate, which means that none of my stuff is cutting-edge or late-model. Hence, a Luddite!

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

The definition of 'Luddite' sure has changed

As for the demise of the gadget, the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot, the Ring doorbell and the Nest thermostat tell me gadgets aren't going anywhere (unless I have a misunderstanding of what is defined as a 'gadget').

No, you don't misunderstand.

Just add in Amazon Dash barcode scanner and button, Roku and FireTV video streamers, generic Android STBs, stick PCs, connected external drives, internet connected dolls, connected door locks, connected thermostats, connected home security and garage door openers, connected fridges, washers, and who knows what. The whole Internet of things is a tidal wave. We're surrounded by connected gadgets, all entirely new products, most from companies hardly anybody heard of just a few years back.

The author of the article clearly doesn't get out much.
Kinda typical for his employer.

[JAcheson]

I don't think there is any shortage of new gadgets. Gadget websites, on the other hand, need to be thrown out and replaced fairly regularly.

For myself, Gizmodo is long deleted, and Engadget should probably follow it soon.

New sites I like: Gadgetsin .

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

And look at all the kitchen gadgets. Big and small. Or don't since they all take up real estate.

...and that's just at Cin's place.

i just have a plain jane style of refrigerator and freezer combo, but you can get them with built in cameras and bar-code readers and the ability to tell you what you are running low of and what is about to expire and make you sick! TVs keep getting smarter as do nearly every household device. And of course we can talk to many of our devices these days without being carted away to a padded room by the guys in white jackets. When I was growing up the coolest gadgets were from Ron Popeil and his Ronco. Now they are from high tech firms.

[dwig]

Originally Posted by jswinden

No, I don't see a gadget apocalypse. ...

Agreed, the zombie... er, gadget apocalypse is a pigment of their indigestion.

All of yesterday's gadgets will or have vanished from the view of the casual observer. This is because they have either lost any use or, far more often, have either evolved into new gadgets or merged with other old gadgets to form something that seems new. New gadgets keep appearing, replacing the few old ones that actually die out.

The old office calendar and Rolidex merged and evolved into the DayRunner which evolved into an electronic version, the Palm Pilot, which then merged with the cell phone to become the "feature phone" which then evolved and merged with the "netbook" to become today's smart phone. The Phillips portable cassette player evolved into the more portable Sony Walkman and then evolved to using CDs and then MP3s before cross breeding with the feature phone leaving its DNA to be inherited by the smart phone while still keeping it own evolutionary line going (though now dying out). Even those "antique" ball ended pens where office secretaries (mostly women in those ancient times) used them dial phones without breaking their nails have left progeny in the form of the pen with the rubber stylus tip for poking at smart phone screens.

But I'm probably too old now to live long enough see the Jetson's household gadgets, though we have come a long way toward reaching that point.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by jswinden

But I'm probably too old now to live long enough see the Jetson's household gadgets, though we have come a long way toward reaching that point.

I think we are almost there.
Note: I do not own the programmable crockpot.
With the correct gadgets, you could make a meal in under 15 minutes.
Why don't we do a pot roast, with homemade bread and coffee to be ready at 7pm.
At 7 am,wash the potatoes and carrots, get out your veg-o-matic, thick slice the potatoes, carrots and onions. Put them in the programmable crockpot. Season if desired, Throw the roast on top and set the timer. Season the roast too if desired.
We are now at 7:05. Put all the bread ingredients in the bread machine. Close lid and set the timer.
Now go over to your programmable coffee maker and put in the coffee and the water. Set the timer.
There now you have a quick dinner with less than 15 minutes work.

Note: The veg-o-matic is very handy for French fries and evenly sliced potatoes and carrots.
Use baby carrots to save even more time.

Not even close! The Jetsons merely had to ask their voice activated food generating device for such and such for the meal, and the device magically created it. No grocery shopping, no slicing and dicing and rinsing, no dishes to clean up afterwards... No Rosie the robot either, not even close. Nor do we have my favorite Jetson gadget, the conveyor belt that takes you through and gives you a shower, dresses you, then sends you on your way! Well no flying car in a briefcase either.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Not even close! The Jetsons merely had to ask their voice activated food generating device for such and such for the meal, and the device magically created it. No grocery shopping, no slicing and dicing and rinsing, no dishes to clean up afterwards... No Rosie the robot either, not even close. Nor do we have my favorite Jetson gadget, the conveyor belt that takes you through and gives you a shower, dresses you, then sends you on your way! Well no flying car in a briefcase either.

That was because Rosie did the dishes.
Think of it this way, when the Jetsons came out, dishwashers and microwaves were in their infancy. So we have come a long way.
Though I doubt any here will live long enough to have actual Auto Chefs.
If I remember correctly, blenders were the wave of the future when the Jetsons came out.
It appears I was wrong on my last statement since the Osterizer blender was around in 1953 according to the copyright date on a manual I just found.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Not even close! The Jetsons merely had to ask their voice activated food generating device for such and such for the meal, and the device magically created it.

On the other hand, the Jetson's meal would be in the form of a pill (depending on the episode), so thank goodness we aren't there yet.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by jswinden

When I was growing up the coolest gadgets were from Ron Popeil and his Ronco. Now they are from high tech firms.

But really, have any of them bested GLH, aka Hair-In-A-Can, aka spray paint: https://youtu.be/2GeF7A05zQ8

[ZodWallop]

Speaking of new gadgets, I keep seeing commercials for Xfinity where they show people talking to their remote control, like it's some kind of great advancement. I don't know. Maybe it is. But I would feel like such a tool.

[fjtorres]

The original article makes a big deal of the demise of Pebble.
ZDNET has a more specific (and realistic) explanation that doesn't rain doom upon the idea of gadgets in general:

http://www.zdnet.com/article/why-peb...96500774529668

Simply put they were a small fish in a small pond crowded out by two bigger fish that don't fit in the pond themselves. I.e., there isn't enough of a smjartwatch market for both Apple and Samsung, much less those two and somebody, anybody, else.

[FizzyWater]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Though I doubt any here will live long enough to have actual Auto Chefs.

Have you transitioned from the Jetsons to Eve Dallas? Or have I forgotten that the Jetsons had an "autochef"?