Ask Lemmy

It costs the same amount as overcomplicated lives. And if you're saving so much money by living on cup noodles and 4 hours of sleep a week, you wouldn't have much time to use it.

Probably because in most cases, doing so requires a tradeoff of some sort. Hardware, design and planning, upkeep, data privacy and reliance on external factors/services etc.

Then don't rely on external servers and shit. Don't get cheap unreliable devices. Don't use a smart speaker. If you want voice controls then buy a burner android and make an app that converts your voice to a string, and passes it to your smart assistant of choice. If you can text Alexa, you could do what I just described. Learn to code if you don't know how to literally tell a robot what to do.

So when it doesn't fit together and people don't even have any real source of help (not to mention enshittification) it should be no wonder that the existing way (or "live with it") is the only real option.

It's the most appealing option to people scared of technology who like to victimize themselves over their Hard Life instead of actually making it easier.

Also there is also the angle of some "easier" options that sound nice on paper but end up creating their own problems (or are just too expensive to be viable).

So having no sleep, no time to relax, and the same lack of money is better?

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.

Making the plan in the first place is difficult for a lot of people. Following the plan can be orders of magnitude more difficult, particularly if someone is entrenched in a routine.

Making a plan is effort, but you can make the plan as easy as possible. My plan for home living is to have zero chores throughout the week. Only one day a week I will do chores, and it'll be 1 hour (2 hours if I have animals). Imagine coming home from work and having absolutely nothing to do, so horrible ugh I should be cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping until it's time for me to leave for work. Having time to unwind, shower, and sleep is for tech bros 🙄

My view is that the perceived difficulty of changing your life is greater than the perceived simpleness of the current process.

Maybe there is some brilliant way to automate my most tedious chores. But then I've got to spend cognitive power directed at a task I find tedious. It might be easier to do things the way they've always been done rather than to think and try out new processes which don't always work.

Spend cognitive power once. Then "never" do it again. I'm never mopping, vacuuming, grocery shopping, or washing dishes. If I have animals I'm never feeding them, giving water, cleaning waste, grooming, or bathing them. All of that can be automated, so I'm automating it. Am I really going to spend my limited time on earth cleaning up dogshit?

Life is pretty hard though, and you can't change everything. I don't know if that means you shouldn't try, but I understand someone's desire to keep their head down

You could change a LOT. For starters, you really don't need to drive to Costco for groceries. You could spend those hours doing something much better for yourself instead of going into traffic to complain about the traffic, walking in a crowded store to complain about the crowded store, wait on a long line to complain about the long line, then load up the car while hopefully not being screamed at by some tiktoker about putting the cart away, then drive home in the same slow traffic that can be lapped by a toddler on a three wheel scooter going up a hill, then unload the groceries for an hour and spend more hours trying to fit it all into the overfilled refrigerator and freezer you didn't check before leaving, and then finally checking the time to see that you will be late for work if you don't rush and get dressed and leave in the next twenty minutes. That actually can change, and whatever extra costs are probably as high as the amount you spend on gas, car insurance, Costco membership, anti stress supplements, weed, and impulse purchases made to cope with having to pull all nighters every weekend. You could just, not, pull all nighters for one fucking chore.