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Internet of Things

Written by Adam Walter | Oct 11, 2021

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In this day and age, you have lots of choices when it comes to the internet. These choices can be big or small, from choosing an online banking platform to deciding whether or not to get wifi-capable light bulbs. 

These decisions might not seem super important but, with so much at stake, you need to choose what you are allowing technology to influence. 

The main thing to look at is the specific value that technology is bringing to the table. It is not bad to embrace new technology or know more about what we are doing, but it’s important that you are getting a return on your investment by implementing technology more into your daily life. 

Take a smoker for example. Humans have been smoking meat for a very long time—longer than we’ve had the internet, that’s for sure. Smoking meat has always been fairly simple: you put the meat in and then you wait. It’s a no-fuss cooking process and the hardest part is just being patient. With technology, you now have the option to get a wifi-capable smoker. This allows you to check the temperature of the meat at all times and monitor the cooking process from start to finish. This is not a bad thing, but it seems a bit unnecessary. By opening the smoker and adjusting things or messing with the controls in general, you are making the smoker’s job or smoking meat harder. The best thing to do is just walk away from the smoker and let it do its job without technology messing with the controls.

Sometimes, the less that people know about specific things within their operations, the better. Take the smoker. If you are aware of the whole process and something normal happens that seems like a problem, then you might freak out and do something unnecessary like change the temperature. Ultimately, you are supposed to just let the meat cook and messing with the temperature might end up being the problem that ruins your meal. 

You now have more knowledge than before and you don’t know what to do with it. The internet of things provides a lot of features and data, but do you truly need all of that information? 

The simplest of things has now become complicated. Troubleshooting has become a whole different ball game with customization available for every single issue in the book. Although technology is important and it does advance our lives, there is not value in every item integrated with the internet. 

Here’s a good rule to follow: don’t make something web-capable that you rely on for your livelihood. Be smart about what you are enabling and make sure you know how to function without the internet of things. Also, make sure that it’s improving and enhancing your life and not becoming a distraction.