Maybe it\u2019s that I had just \u2013 that very same day! \u2013 read an\narticle about how smoke detectors don\u2019t last forever. Every \u2026 I don\u2019t know, I\ndidn\u2019t pay close attention \u2026 9 or 10 years you should replace them, it said.\nGet new ones because they wear out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHmm,\u201d I thought deeply. \u201cI wonder what I should have for\nlunch?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that would have been the end of it \u2026 IF THE DANG-BLAST\nSMOKE DETECTOR HADN\u2019T GONE OFF THAT NIGHT FOR NO APPARENT REASON!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No smoke. No fire. No fine powder floating through the air.\nNo, it was as if \u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
IT WAS READING MY MIND!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you have another explanation? Some other plausible reason\nwhy such a thing could happen? Just mere coincidence? No way! It\u2019s further\nproof \u2013 I have more, people! \u2013 that our appliances are conspiring against us.\nUp to no good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not the regular ones. The old fashioned ones that cook our\ndinners and make our ice. The dutiful, hard-working devices that salute and\nserve. I\u2019m talking about the connected, WIFI-enabled, Smart-home branded,\nAI-enhanced gadgets and gismos we\u2019ve come to rely on to tell us the weather and\nbuy us groceries and impress our friends who will think, \u201cGee, I never realized\nhow much better life is when you can say, \u2018Alexa, please flush the toilet.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, man, that\u2019s pretty cool, but I\u2019m telling you. I think\nthey\u2019re taking over. I think they\u2019re coming for us. I think we are full-on\nfacing the \u201cAttack of the Electronic Zombies.\u201d (Trademark pending.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Need more proof than a smoke detector that could read my mind?\nHow about the wireless Bluetooth speaker in my bedroom that decided to beep\nrandomly in the middle of the night. Two deep, bass-heavy beeps. Then nothing.\nPerhaps, thinking I wasn\u2019t awake, it was trying to talk to the smoke detector.\nOr what about the Amazon Echo downstairs that started playing Chet Baker on all\nthe speakers throughout the house. Clear indication of hive intelligence? A\nzombie army linking up in preparation for their electronic apocalypse? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everyone is so worried about whether our electronic devices\nare listening and recording us. Stealing our state secrets and videotaping us\nas we bend over to put on our shoes. Hey, we all have a little plumber\u2019s crack!\nIt just happens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But do I really need to worry about a virtual assistant\nrecording my stale dinner table conversations (Me to my daughter: \u201cAnything\nexciting happen at school today?\u201d Daughter: \u201cUgghh! I hope the Zombie\nElectronic Apocalypse comes soon so I don\u2019t have to do this anymore!\u201d) <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe it\u2019s a sign it\u2019s really happening. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or maybe it just signals our electronic addiction. Our over\nreliance on anything with \u201capp\u201d or \u201cvirtual\u201d or \u201csmart\u201d tucked onto its name.\nThat we hold them too high in stature. Expect no problems, mistakes or miscues.\nBelieve in their perfection, and put all of our trust in them, even above\nourselves. And maybe most frightening, how much we\u2019ve come to depend upon them.\nBecause, seriously, what would we do without them? I mean, how would I play\nmusic?!? Come to think of it, I don\u2019t even know how to play music anymore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
AHHHH!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember days of dropping CDs \u2026 I mean cassettes \u2026 I mean\nrecords onto a player and hearing what you want? A time before electronic\nautomation and algorithm-based, streaming playlists? When you did things with\nyour very own hands? What was that like? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe we\u2019ve just come to rely on them too much. Believed in\ntheir infallibility. Given up too much of our own responsibility for running\nour households. Might be time to take some of it back, before the zombie\nelectronic army really has time to assemble. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oh, and maybe I shouldn\u2019t give my mother such a hard time\nwhen she calls to complain that strange voices in her computer are talking to\nher. Could be she was right all along. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Maybe it\u2019s that I had just \u2013 that very same day! \u2013 read an article about how smoke detectors don\u2019t last forever. Every \u2026 I don\u2019t know, I didn\u2019t pay close attention \u2026 9 or 10 years you should replace them, it said. Get new ones because they wear out. <\/p>\n
\u201cHmm,\u201d I thought deeply. \u201cI wonder what I should have for lunch?\u201d <\/p>\n
And that would have been the end of it \u2026 IF THE DANG-BLAST SMOKE DETECTOR HADN\u2019T GONE OFF THAT NIGHT FOR NO APPARENT REASON!!!<\/p>\n
No smoke. No fire. No fine powder floating through the air. No, it was as if \u2026 <\/p>\n
IT WAS READING MY MIND!!!<\/p>\n
Do you have another explanation? Some other plausible reason why such a thing could happen? Just mere coincidence? No way! It\u2019s further proof \u2013 I have more, people! \u2013 that our appliances are conspiring against us. Up to no good. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[576,563,559],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2020-nutshells","category-houses","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2038"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2039,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2038\/revisions\/2039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}