For me it’s anything I have to download an app to operate.

Except for public transport :-D

If you are willing to put in a fair amount of effort, you can have a smart home without accounts anywhere.

Most of the account based stuff is based upon open specs.

But you have to be somewhat technical and patient.

The health stuff is a bit overblown anyway. On a day to day level it’s just junk data.

There’s so much variation between both between people and also for one person just depending on how they feel that you can’t tell what a particular number means.

There’s some argument that heart rate is useful for high-end cardio, where you want to keep track of exactly which heart rate band you’re in to be sure that you’re at capacity but still clearing all the lactate from your system. However, given how much these numbers can vary if you haven’t slept fully or you have a bit of a cold, or you overate, you’re probably better off learning to pace yourself.

The health stuff on the Apple Watch is basically just for entertainment at this point. Which isn’t to say it can’t be useful, I definitely know people who have gotten more active because of the “gamification” of things like the activity rings.

If your watch reports say, a single atrial fibrillation event in any otherwise healthy individual, it doesn’t do a whole lot for you. Even if you bring that information to your doctor, they can’t be expected to do much with it. They could strap some additional monitors on you, but if it is a very rare event there isn’t much chance of it recurring when they are actively looking at it. In some cases, the anxiety caused by worrying about it can actually cause more issues than just not knowing.

I actually like my watch a lot, but more for just a notification device/convenient payment interface rather than a health tracker.

Same. I refused to connect it to the internet.

I sent my bother a text the other day. I got upset that he didn’t immediately respond, because I knew he had a smart watch.

I realized that I was getting upset for a condition neither of us set. I eventually heard from him and his watch didn’t really matter.

I also think the health monitoring is kinda creepy.

I love my smart watch for checking a notification that I can’t pull my phone out to check as my hands are usually wet and gross from my profession so it only makes sense to me.

Also, they work great as fitness trackers these days too, if you’re into that kind of thing otherwise a mechanical watch will work perfectly fine.

I needed to keep track of the time and I don’t always have my phone on me so I got a mechanical watch instead. It’s great! No having to charge it, no chance of it tracking me and I got a new hobby/interest out of it.

overpriced. limited utility. inferior to smartphones.

Same. Except I still occasionally use reddit, just not as much as I used to.

I only use FB messenger as it’s big here for communication and FB to post photos of my kids for my family to see which has only been recently, since I had kids. Before that I didn’t even touch FB.

Other than that, social media doesn’t interest me at all.

Only thing I left on in my newish car is the lane change/blind spot warning and the “you are about to ram someone” alarm. Can’t remember the official names. They rarely actually help, but when they do, it can mean avoiding a collision.

It depends how you use car assistance devices. It you drink Musk’s cooldaid about the autopilot it’s bullshit. People who use these technologies to do something else/let them get distracted are idiots and tbh, should be punished severely.

But there is ample scientific data that e.g. radar based speed control/adaptive cruise control does reduce injury rates as it let people stay focused for longer as less concentration is used.

Basically you have a (individual )envelope of concentration/focus that you can stay reasonably focused. The time limit how long you can do so is influenced by ones general mental condition, experience, individual constitution on that day, driving circumstances, time, etc. On average it is around 2.5h.

With well designed assistance systems this period can be prolonged by up to 1h, 45min on average and cases where we have a bad day profit more. And as we are all idiots who think we can drive 4h/5h/6h/+X straight the time we are not concentrated enough is reduced significantly.

And of course there are pure security oriented systems that simply do things better than humans - automatic obstacle recognition and breaking systems are a good example. There is literally a kid not being injured or dead because my car has one (as it is the European law by now) - crossed a inner city street without looking, between two large vans parked on the side… No chance to see the kid. And even with 30km/h a full front collision can kill. The car was brought to a full stop before I even recognised what happend.

Source: one of my best friends is a researcher on that topic for a major university.

Try not having a smartphone with you when you leave the house. Actually many starting returning back to basic phones just for calls and SMS.

You don’t think you’ve used the freed-up brain capacity on other skills that are still useful?

They’re useful if you have kids, otherwise I haven’t found them really useful.

The only tablet I can recommend is any iPad with pen support. It has been a lifesaver in my uni life, by taking notes digitally I saved dozens of notebooks and otherwise wasted paper, plus the convenience of having my digital books that can be taken everywhere saved my back. I think that for a university student the base 128gb (or even a 64gb one) iPad and a knockoff apple pen for 20~30€ is a worthwhile investment.

I can see it a whole lot better in bed, or around the house. The phone is too small. I only use the phone outside of the house when I’m mobile, except for hotels, then I’ll use the tablet.

I have only very recently come around on that. When voice commands first came out, they were absolute garbage. I am still conditioned to never expect them to work, and am always pleasantly surprised when they do.

To be fair, I largely only use them for things like setting my alarm, because I still have an engrained expectation that they won’t work otherwise.

Voice typing long messages is IMO faster than using a phone keyboard, even with gesture typing.

Most smart watches go too far but I love my Garmin Instinct. It feels like a modern digital. Just enough cool tools and features but still black and white. With the o2 sensor on it lasts nearly two weeks, a month with it off, before it needs charging. I can track hikes and bikes. Gives me exact coordinates with a push of a button and no subscription or additional monthly fees to use it. If I could afford a mechanical watch for the price I paid for my Garmin ($130 used) maybe I’d own one.