It was 1999. I was 5 and still in my Disney channel phase. Watching the movie Smart House terrified me.
I was scared of the fact that the house was doing things for the family before they even asked then it went out of control.
I mean a house attacking their inhabitants?! I obviously didn’t think of it in so many words, but it was still a scary thought.
It’s actually the specific fear that made me refuse to get smart items (excluding my smartphone).
It also could’ve been the ADHD in me not wanting my life to controlled and so exact but who knows?
My ease into smart devices and automation
Since peer pressure, the actual need of a phone, and my interest in technology, any aversion to smartphones was eroded easily.
But I was still iffy on having a hub-like device guiding me throughout the day to optimize tasks.
I love spontaneity but I also need structure lol.
My first step into this was IFTTT. It some basically changing to my wallpaper to a Google Earth image because the megapixels on those were quality I love to look at.
Then I started learning how to use Google Assistant for mundane things like the weather.
After getting a decent sized data plan for the month (about 6GB at the time), I got used to asking for daily information since public transportation was my main way to get to work and school.
The infrastructure isn’t horrible as I have heard in other places but the shift from the urban areas to the urban/suburban mixed areas was ridiculously sharp. So it’s on me to keep up with timetables to an obsessive level.
Years later, I finally got my car and a better job so I could afford to have a bit more fun money.
So I thought about my struggle with keeping up with a schedule. Through therapy and the power of Reddit, I learned that I need structure desperately.
Looking into routines led me to things like the Echo Dot and Google Home products.
Never felt comfortable with Amazon’s jump from store to technology in general, so I opted for a Google Home since Android centric items made more sense for me.
Got a used one off Ebay for about $30 and made sure as hell I factory reset it lol. Subscribed to the subreddit r/googlehome to get help from the wiki and set up in less than an hour.
I had a morning routine and a makeshift evening routine.
Then 2 months passed. Then I started realizing the faults.
I needed paid services for some things like YouTube music (I wanted to make a music alarm from a playlist) or have my podcasts play after announcements (which it would then play the wrong episode or shows I wasn’t subscribed to).
What was my breaking point was when it told the same shitty dad joke when I asked for one…
My search for a solution
Then I found out about that Apple devices have an app called Shortcuts to enable automation with the Apple suite of products.
But unfortunately, Android didn’t have something like that from what I could see until the amazingness of Reddit dawned on me.
Someone recommended Tasker as an alternative.
But it’s basically Google Routines found in the home app or through Google Assistant routines but third party.
It seems that there is a learning curve associated with it but that never stopped me…at least with tech.
This post is just a view into my feelings about smart tech of this nature and what I’m going to try out in order to help get my life in a little bit more order.
