It's in everything now. It became like a museum exhibit to me seeing the most wild things. Wifi toaster WHYY? Like I knew about smart fridges but I was seeing like overly technical smart phone connectable kettles and like some griddle made for just bacon?? Whyyy
I'm just gonna start buying every single "dumb" appliance I see at goodwill thrifting from now on. I'll make a little collection and gift some to friends who want out of the techno hellscape too. I keep thinking about the absurd amount of lights and screens on things that have no reason to have one and how fast they'll likely break. All that shit will be in landfill in like 10 years max
There are some massive issues with IoT, like what you have pointed here and what I have said in my comment. But if you do the research to get the right product, you can probably have a house full of smart devices on entirely open source firmware. I am fortunate enough to have the ability to make my own smart devices with cheap electronics and some 3d printed parts when the need arises even, because of open source projects like esphome. There are people working to crack all of these devices open and keep them running and secure for years to come.
If it's any consolation, nearly every kitchen 'gadget' you see in an infomercial or in the kitchen section of sharper image was originally designed to help the elderly or disabled. There is a long history of products being pushed on the abled-bodied so that it's profitable to make them for the disabled.
there is sadly just no middle ground in capitalism most of the time. we're in the golden era(lmao) of smart devices becoming a functional and useful feature for many people and at the same time it's constantly skewing towards a more idealistic and less functional device. Strides are made while we also take multiple leaps backwards in functionality. progress is definitely being made but what i saw today was a gross way to force so much pretend advancements in appliances, it just made me really annoyed to think this might truly be the future of household items.