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Smart Appliances Are Dumb. Help!
We have been conned by the manufacturers
I am 77 years of age, reasonably tech-savvy, and of sound mind. Dealing with so-called smart devices may change that, however. No matter how smart devices are marketed and how they are glorified, manufacturers and retailers have yet to convince me they are truly smart. The following definition is from the online Oxford dictionary for a ‘smart device’: “ programmed so as to be capable of some independent action.”
Independent action huh? I don’t think so. My wife and I have a so-called smart TV. We both have a smartphone as well and a laptop each. Attached to our smart TV is a DVD player, a stereo player for our collection of CDs, a soundbar, and a PVR / cable channel device supplied by our friendly cable company. We also have 3 remote controls. One for the PVR, one for the TV and one for the soundbar. We had a remote for the DVD player but it died and I have yet to find a replacement as the unit is somewhat old.
Our PVR unit comes with a universal remote control. If I wanted to spend the time reading through a very large and complicated user manual, I could incorporate the DVD player, the soundbar, and the TV operations into the…