The demise of the gadget

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Speaking of uniquely 21st century gadgetry:

http://www.zdnet.com/article/hololen...96500774529668

Augmented reality is a big game-changer.
Might come to ebook reading, too.

That is awesome.

[Cinisajoy]

On the subject of home gadgets, I had to giggle. I got the manual for my microwave. The top 6 buttons are called AutoCook.

[Sydney's Mom]

I love gadgets. I am a single purpose one, too. Just saw the Nucleus intercom (gadget) was on sale through Alexa (gadget) and I jumped. Saves me from going downstairs, to my husband's lair, to tell him dinner is ready. I was looking at the Sprocket for my daughter for Christmas, but I like gadgets, she doesn't.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

I was looking at the Sprocket for my daughter for Christmas, but I like gadgets, she doesn't.

I so badly wanted to say "Now is zee time on Sprockets when we dance!" and post a .gif. But no. I restrained myself.

[ZodWallop]

To stop derailing the conversation: Has anybody used a Ring doorbell yet?

I got one last year for Christmas. I wasn't able to hook it up directly to our home's electricity, so I have to rely on the rechargeable battery. I haven't recharged it yet because, while it is a nifty device, the motion detector seemed too sensitive no matter how I set it. My phone would go off a couple of times a day to show me that wind was blowing in front of my door.

[Sydney's Mom]

I was looking at that at Costco, but since I am home all day, it really wouldn't be that useful. Except we got a door with no frosting, and sidelights the same, so I can't see who it is before they see me.

[fjtorres]

Not only are gadgets not going away, they are going into some...unusual...places:

https://www.cnet.com/news/gatebox-vi...g-short-skirt/

https://www.wired.com/2016/04/the-sc...ut-our-future/

And some less unusual:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30460737

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/fo...aff-costs.html

Welcome to the 21st!

[Sydney's Mom]

Oh, that second one is creepy!

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Not only are gadgets not going away, they are going into some...unusual...places:

https://www.cnet.com/news/gatebox-vi...g-short-skirt/

https://www.wired.com/2016/04/the-sc...ut-our-future/

And some less unusual:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30460737

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/fo...aff-costs.html

Welcome to the 21st!

On the second one why didn't they just contact a particular doll maker and then add robotics.
Oh wait, never mind I need brain bleach.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

To stop derailing the conversation: Has anybody used a Ring doorbell yet?

I got one last year for Christmas. I wasn't able to hook it up directly to our home's electricity, so I have to rely on the rechargeable battery. I haven't recharged it yet because, while it is a nifty device, the motion detector seemed too sensitive no matter how I set it. My phone would go off a couple of times a day to show me that wind was blowing in front of my door.

We already have the ultimate gadget as doorbell!

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

We already have the ultimate gadget as doorbell!

Truly we are living in the future!

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

I was looking at that at Costco, but since I am home all day, it really wouldn't be that useful. Except we got a door with no frosting, and sidelights the same, so I can't see who it is before they see me.

Even so, it can still be useful as it's a video intercom. You can see who's at your door before you decide if it's worth walking across the house. You could avoid ever having to receive a Watchtower again.

I liked mine quite a bit. It's just too sensitive. Maybe I'll recharge the battery this weekend.

[fjtorres]

Here's a new age gadget sure to spawn a horde of late night infomercials.
Get yours while the getting is good:

https://www.cnet.com/news/pooperch-d...t-kickstarter/

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Here's a new age gadget sure to spawn a horde of late night infomercials.
Get yours while the getting is good:

https://www.cnet.com/news/pooperch-d...t-kickstarter/

Here is the ideal gadget to go with that gadget.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N9HWAYA/

[Prestidigitweeze]

Yet the "gadget that does everything" is still a gadget.

The NYT writer seems to be conflating two ideas: That gadgets are becoming less popular, and that gadgets have become passé. The second idea is more plausible than the first, but it, too, seems to confuse fashion for evolution.

The technofetishist allure of smartphones will continue to dull over time, as did laptops' luster, but both devices remain ubiquitous. By contrast, portable CD players are rarely used, but that's because they have become media-unwieldy and limited, not because they were created long ago or are too specific. If those were the criteria, then headphones would be obsolete.

I also think that our interest in smaller and smaller devices is partly a response to overcrowding and the demise of houses as standard dwellings for working people. Mobile access is key, but so is the reclamation of space.

For those reasons and others, I doubt that gadgets will lose their market in our lifetime unless disaster limits our access. Instead, we'll watch the same reactions recur: failed attempts at renouncing gadgets and boredom with the commonplace (however the commonplace is perceived).

Gadgets do become relics in the wake of other gadgets, or their function (as the NYT writer underlines on a massive placard) gets consolidated into the evolving repertoire of what later gadgets do well.

Of course, miniaturization makes redundancy inevitable -- i.e., laptops, tablets and smartphones that do many of the same things -- but use is often size- and hardware-specific, just as pieces of furniture that serve roughly the same purpose are used in different ways.

In that sense, gadgets are furniture sets for the mind (among a cluttered mansion's worth of other things).