Text Your Friends, Family and Now Your Appliances!

I know I’m not alone (in the 50+ age group) when I say that I wasn’t one of the first to text other people on my phone.  Actually, I was quite the hold out, and still am, when it comes to our changing technology.  I had a flip phone when most people had iPhones.  I began to text years after most people did.  I joined facebook only because my job required it.  So how long will I hold out on the latest technology?  Beginning this year, we’ll not only be able to text our friends and family, or in other words, people, but our appliances, as well!

That’s right.  Appliance maker LG now has appliances that you can text.  Why?  So you can control them remotely via your smartphone.  Yes, now you have the ability to communicate with, control and monitor your washing machine, your refrigerator and your vacuum cleaner.  You can start and stop your washer, and get a notification when its job is done.  You can change the power settings on your refrigerator and upload photos to the refrigerator display panel.  When you’re away from the house, you can vacuum the floor with a robotic vacuum cleaner.

Really?  This is all “Jetson” like, but is this something we need?  You do realize, I hope, that because these features will be on the appliances, we’ll end up paying more for the product to cover the cost of the technology.  Plus – sorry for the cynicism, it’s just something else that can go wrong and will cost me an arm and a leg to get replaced.  Yet, I suppose that if this is something you truly want to have, you deserve the right to have it.

But for me?  I’m ready to get nostalgic with the old refrigerator from 60 years ago that weighed a ton and lasted for at least 40 years.  Give me back my simple electric washing machine from 1980 that got my clothes clean and endured wash after wash for 15 years.  Heck, I still prefer using a manual can opener and a hand-held toothbrush.  To me, those things are technology enough.