This is a great time to be an electronics enthusiast. Electronics
are relatively inexpensive, readily
available, and focused on just about
every aspect of life — from home to
work to play to health. However, in
this time of technology abundance,
it’s also easy to over-indulge in what
you want versus what you may need.
I was reminded of this fact in the
process of upgrading my sound
system. Years ago, when I installed
my previous sound system, I added
RF chokes to the power and signal
lines of my amplifier, receiver,
preamp, and speakers. I had RF-proofed everything as a carryover
habit from my early ham radio days,
when direct and rectified signals from
my homebrew CW rigs had a habit
of making their way into AM and FM
radio as well as TV signals. In fact,
the chokes were an unnecessary
expense and didn’t add to the
signal/noise ratio of my previous
sound system. My new cables are
standard off-the-shelf cords, and the
sound is superb.
With that realization, I started
exploring my home and office for
additional signs of over-indulgence in
technology. In my spring cleaning
effort, I came up with a box full of
technology that I should have never
purchased, ranging from cable
adapter kits that I bought “just in
case” to fitness tracker devices that
have maybe a couple hours of use.
Sure, everything I tossed into the box
was a deal when I bought it, but I
clearly didn’t need it. I would have
been better off saving my money and
either putting it toward a better
bench top DMM or other gear that I
use on a regular basis, or expanding
my investment portfolio.
Hindsight is, of course, 20-20,
and I’d like to think that I’m a more
thoughtful consumer of technology
today. Still, when I start exploring a
new area of technology or revisit one
that’s changed significantly in the
past few years, it’s hard for me to
know what’s necessary and what’s a
waste of money and time. For
example, when I first started working
with drones, I ordered several multifunction testers for the battery packs,
electronic speed control (ESC)
settings, and motor performance.
Turns out that all I needed was a
simple meter to tune the motors, and
a smart charger to monitor the
batteries. At the time, I didn’t want to
get caught without a critical piece of
test gear and then have to wait
weeks for delivery, so I spent (i.e.,
wasted) the extra money.
I narrowly avoided a technology
binge when I upgraded my smart
home system to add remote video
monitoring to an installed base of
remote lighting and temperature
control technology. Still, I was torn
between erring on the side of too
much technology rather than
purchase a system without
capabilities that I might want in the
future. It helped that in selecting
remote lighting, I went through
several generations of smart lights
before I found a technology that
exactly fit my needs. Although I
enjoyed the process, I felt guilty
wasting perfectly good LED bulbs
with decades of life remaining. I
wasn’t going to repeat the mistake
with a smart alarm system.
My current challenge is with
smart home appliances. Take a
refrigerator. Beyond keeping food at
a constant low temperature, current
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by
Bryan
Bergeron,
Editor DEVELOPING
PERSPECTIVES
Superfluous Technology:
Avoiding the Binge
6 November 2016