ton of automation and ‘convenience’ being sold is terribly thought out or makes life more complex than not having it.

People burning alive in Teslas because we don’t want those unsightly door handles comes to mind.

I have smart switches, mostly because I’m a tinkerer and build and repair things for fun. I work in IT, so I don’t trust any of this. But the switches work like normal for people not used to it. While I also have a button that turns all the lights off in the whole house at once.

My main automations are basically timers. They turn lights on and off at sunrise/down. And one that turns on my backdoor lights when my garage door opens.

As for cars, I totally agree. Adaptive cruise control is the extent of the smart I want in a car. I’ve had too many false positives where the car will automatically apply the brakes when it didn’t need to. And not once where I was in danger of crashing. Once on a bend in the road where a car was parked on the side and another where an RV had pulled to the side on a turn out to let people pass and the car freaked out because it didn’t realize the road turned.

I’ve also had it nudge the wheel too often when I’m purposely hugging one side of the lane because there is construction or a car on the side of the road.

I think automation in general has been in an awkward stage for a while, maybe analogous to adolescence or puberty. At some point our immediate world will become truly automated, able to sense what we need or want and provide it with very minimal setup and instruction, like a cocoon of personal convenience. Right now it’s more like a 19th century vision of a house of the future with pulleys and wires everywhere - we haven’t gotten rid of the pulleys and wires, we’ve just moved them into apps.

A ton of automation and ‘convenience’ being sold is terribly thought out or makes life more complex than not having it.

Yeah, not EVERYTHING is an internet controlled dishwasher that locks up when updating so no one can hack it.

Smart bulbs are way more work to set up than they are worth for me, a light switch works fine.

Not everything is Philips Hue™®© overcomplicated overpriced nonsense with hubs and accounts and crap. Off brands are much easier. I love being able to just switch the light off from my phone without having to get up, and turn it on without needing to reach for a switch in the dark. Or better, have them turn on automatically at times I’d be needing them. Or have motion controlled lights that only turn on if motion is detected between sunset and sunrise times.

Cruise control is nice, but lane assist drives me nuts with all the false positives.

My electric scooter has that, and I don’t use it, seems too risky especially in an area where people without cars are hated more than literal terrorists.

Generally the overwhelming number of chores comes from just having too many things in the first place.

Not entirely wrong, but everyone manages to overcomplicate the simplest chores possible.

Fewer, simpler operating things are more enjoyable for me than a lot of complex automated things that don’t do what I want them to do.

The best automation solutions are the non-electric ones. It can be as simple as having an easy routine like only scooping cat litter whenever you use the toilet.