Appliances that need TLC

I rarely read paper-based articles these days, but one weekly ritual is combing through the Sunday paper. This weekend's paper had one article in particular that spoke to me. It's written by Lori Borgman and is entitled "Appliances can't live without me". The title says it all, but the article itself is worth a deeper dive.

If you haven't figured it out from the title, the article is all about appliances and gadgets that were designed to be easy to use and maintain, but that are instead requiring some serious care. I won't spoil the article but will grab a quote to set the stage:

"My nighttime routine used to be to tuck the kids in bed, now I run around tucking in electronics — plug in the cell phone, connect the USB to recharge the iPod and turn off the computer monitor. Nighty-night."

I can totally relate to almost the entire article, which is pretty rare. It's definitely true that as we add more gadgets and electronics to our lives, that we also add more responsibility. In the end, I'll take the tech and the responsibility--it's well worth the price for convenience. That said, my gadgets have gotten smarter through the years, and my nightly routine, while involved, is far more streamlined than it ones even just a few months ago.