It would have been astoundingly nice when I had my first bout of sciatica and *moving* was painful AF. Sometimes, smart features are for accessibility.
My house has a basement. To get to said basement, I have to walk outside and around the house. I have ADHD, is there real value in being able to turn off my basement lights from my living room over WiFi? Bet your ass there is.
It’s not there yet, but could a fridge with a barcode/nfc reader be handy for someone who was, oh, I don’t know, blind, & would like a warning the milk may be bad BEFORE they have to find out the hard way?
MAY BE
Smart things help w/accessibility.
Again, not all smart things are done well, the automotive industry is egregious here. But is the idea of being able to light off the seat warmers in your car, or remotely start it when it’s -10° so when you get in, it’s already warm a had idea? No.
A bad implementation of an idea does not make the idea bad.
Are smart things *necessary*? No, for the most part they aren’t. But is convenience worth paying for? If it means I don’t have to go outside just to turn off my basement lights in negative temps, absolutely. And it makes my ADHD life a bit easier.
Do I NEED a lock that unlocks automatically when I get close? No. Is it nice when I have my hands full so that it’s one less thing I have to deal with in the moment? Absolutely.
Like, not having to walk down and up two flights to tweak the thermostat when I’m perfectly snuggled into bed is kind of amazing.
Like relax.