We are living in the future. It may be a different one than what we fantasized on television with flying cars and personable A.I., but a world of voice-activated microwaves and wall clocks that set timers for themselves is in many ways just as revolutionary.
Recently, Amazon unveiled a series of household appliances adding to their new smart house trend, according to CNET. In preface and in fairness, we already have digital refrigerators and speakers capable of adding items to a grocery list to be charged and delivered through one’s Amazon account. But a voice activated microwave may be too far.
Some of the products Amazon has set to release soon are voice activated microwaves, clocks, security cameras, security camera installation and smart lock installations, with most of them functioning through WiFi. But voice activated devices may not be in our favor when it comes to the future of technology.
This is where privacy will take a decline. There is a slow transition into a new transparent world where each and everyone wants to fully project their life online and adapt to the appealing appliances that seem to make tasks easier for them.
This is also where the start of invasion of privacy truly begins. The Amazon company has knowledge of every item ordered using their Amazon Echo (Alexa) system, as items automatically get added to the cart when demanded, almost like security recordings of a person’s lifestyle.
Turning your house into a smart house does have its benefits. After all, having a home security system is the largest reason for creating of a smart home and cloud technology. Having the ability to see who is at your doorstep is revolutionary from a safety perspective.
Laura Heller of Forbes reports that although it brings safety to your footsteps, it may potentially bring danger to the cloud, where most of a person’s information is stored.
The idea of a safe and smart home sounds ideal, but ultimately, not knowing what we are putting into our homes could affect our privacy. There could be hacking of the cloud where the tapes are stored, glitches or even wear and tear due to time itself.
If safety and efficiency is the number one reason to incorporate these items in our everyday life, we must take the time to fully read into everything that we buy. That being said, according to CNBC, Amazon has already teamed up with Lennar Corporation, a home construction company, for the modeling of the first fully functional smart homes.
The more advanced the products are in the technological world, the more that consumers want something new and different. Perhaps having a smart home isn’t the route we want our reality to take; that television is not as it is cracked up to seem.
Consumers have watched a fake reality for many years that use these appliances, but are still unaware of the harms that this could have on society. Companies express to us that products are a must-have in the household or everyday life even if they hold the power to threaten modern society.
Of course, people want to keep up-to-date with the latest gadgets, but not everyone needs to be unison when purchasing the same items.
As we continue to make these decisions on whether or not we want a smart home, we must be smart of our choices of what we choose to reveal to technology versus what we don’t. It is worth remembering that technology has the power to take over our lives.
