http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/17/technology/connected_everything_mwc/index.htm?source=cnn_bin&hpt=Sbin
I found this article that is talking about how by 2020 companies are expecting to have developed the technology to be able to do your own laundry with your smart phone. Electronic devices, like washing machines, are going to have electronic chips in them that can connect to wireless internet, and then you can use the phone to do the laundry.
I don't really understand the purpose or even the possibility of doing your laundry with your phone. Your phone isn't going to be able to load your clothes into the machine, add detergent, bleach, or fabric softener and then be able to transfer the load to the dryer. It might be able to start and run the machine, but if you have to do everything else whats the point on even having this technology? It's amazing how many different things can be done with cell phones these days but there is a point where it's just too much. I applaud companies for finding new ways we can use technology to better our lives but there are somethings that are just better off left alone.
Another function of smart phones described in the article was that chips are being placed in medicine containers that can detect whether or not you took your pills and your phone can receive messages that remind you to take your pills in case you forgot. This technology on the other hand it quite useful and could help save lives.
Smart phones seem as though they are becoming smarter than most of the users who own them. There's practically no such thing as a basic cell phone anymore so when people have to go to Verizon or AT&T to get a new phone, they have no choice but to pick out a smart phone and pay the extra money every month to have a data plan. Companies keep adding more and more features to their phones, but not much of it actually gets used.
ReplyDeleteApplications which allow you to do your laundry are not going to be useful to 99% of the people who have the capability to use it. Personally, I see it more of a marketing strategy towards middle aged women and housewives because it is something that they would see as being useful. I agree with you on the fact that it doesn't help much because you still have to manually load and unload the clothes, put the bleach and soap in and so on.
Things like this are giving people another reason to sit around and not do the work themselves. I've seen things online and in stores where you can set your car alarm on your phone, which I see as being much more useful.
Technology is taking over our lives, but it shows no signs of stopping.