First came smartphones, then smartwatches, then smart TVs, and now AI has taken over the ‘smart’ label, proving to be all-pervasive and invasive. I’ve noticed that many people are turning away from so-called smart devices (AI is another subject altogether), useful though many of them are. Analogue and vinyl have come back for many, although I can’t see a return of audio cassette tapes or VHS any time soon. Oops, I was wrong! Audio cassette tapes are making a comeback, but then I was also wrong about flared trousers and mullets a few years back.
Dumb Down Your TV!
Last month we bought a new 55″ TCL TV, which of course is ‘smart’. Also, all remote controls come with streaming service provider buttons – Netflix, Prime, YouTube, etc., for quick access, and I assume those providers pay TV manufacturers for that perk. We now have two ‘smart’ TVs, both of which I dumbed down by disconnecting them from the internet and using them simply as TV/monitors with a mini-PC connected through HDMI. This may seem like a terrible waste, but ‘dumb’ TVs are now an extinct species.
The reason for this dumbing down is to give me more control of what we watch, especially if geolocation kicks in, when a browser can easily fix that problem.
I Dumbed Down Our Audio Too!
A couple of years ago I bought an Amazon Echo Dot because I was impressed with the sound and curious about telling Alexa to play a particular song and to ask her questions about the weather. It was novel at first and quite fun, but after cancelling Amazon Music and signing up to YouTube Premium, I began to use the Echo Dot purely as a dumb Bluetooth speaker, but it wasn’t dumb. Every time I connected my phone, Alexa would announce “Connected to Marc’s Galaxy Note 20 Ultra” as if I didn’t know that in the first place! I am the one who instigated the connection after all. Much investigation revealed that this stupid feature cannot be turned off, even if the device isn’t online, so I unplugged it and persuaded my lovely wife to buy me a JBL Flip 7 for my birthday.
I’m not an audiophile by any means, but I know what I like, and I definitely don’t like robot assistants telling me which device my phone is connected to. The Echo Dot has been dispatched to a shelf in my den, and the JBL now plays our music when we need it, and boy, the sound is amazing for such a small speaker. Furthermore, it doesn’t talk back, which is always a bonus!
I’m certain that I have dumbed down in other ways, so I’m sure I’ll be back with other ideas, so please comment below.
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