And the other half are probably in denial

I think the problem is that things that once did not require and realistically shouldn't require apps (like the toilet example - which I can't tell if hyperbole or not) are now "app enabled" by default.

Sure, you have taken the time to curate your mobile experience and silence things but a majority of the people in the world don't do that as it takes more time and effort than they are willing or able to give (why silence things or uninstall apps when you can browse instagram or tiktok for 2 hours). These people are the most affected but don't often know how inundated they are.

The example could be hyperbole, but Home Depot and Lowes both offer a wide selection of "smart toilets" and if we think "oh this is just a weird niche thing that will never catch on" let's remember how difficult it is to not purchase a Smart TV when television shopping these days.

Most appliances have "smart" features now, it's getting hard to avoid. But I've never enabled them. My dishwasher and my clothes washer have both bluetooth and wifi features but I never set them up. I just use the controls on the device. I have no interest in getting information about my appliances when I am not physcially in front of them.

Yes, but the controls on the device cost the manufacturer a couple of cents that they will be happy to not pay as soon as they can get away with it. First it'll be (in some cases already is) the advanced or rarely used functionality. Eventually you'll be expected to connect the damned thing before it can be used at all.

I cannot envision what a traditional, but smart toilet may do.

By traditional, not Japanese or anything of the sort. I'm sure it's also not taking medical samples.

So what on earth could it do?! Report the flushes!?! Why? Are you going to magically decide not to crap as much?

Just baffling.

It is kinda funny that “smart” is the branding we’ve converged on for these devices that have unnecessary computer features. Most engineers would, I guess, call it pretty stupid to add a computer to the BoM of your toilet.

Auto-flush, seat warmer, scheduled seat warmer, cleaning cycle, scent dispenser, "you haven't been going as often" sensing, auto high/low flush depending on time on toilet...

Just off the top of my head, and I'm no toilet engineer. I'm sure there are lots of possibilities with just a sensor or two.

There are smart toilet devices that have cameras, so, it's about as bad as one could imagine.

Probably connected to your wi-fi and with a default password, as is customary for IoT.

I could see someone trying to sell a toilet that reduces the water amount depending on your business as an eco feature.

Or one that automatically ads cleaning products and notifies you on your phone when you need to refill them.

Gastroenterologists generally categorize feces into ~7 categories. They can be indicators of a variety of dietary deficencies, including dehydration or insufficient fiber intake. Others can be indicators of a variety of medical issues, up to an including colon cancer. Ubiquitous smart toilets scanning and categorizing our feces would move the needle of overall public health and well-being.

Yes indeed they would, all the issues with sensor longevity aside.

But, that's not now. So why the app now?

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call enshittification!

The whole point of the label "smart" is to fill in vague positive thoughts for the customary "..." that comes right before "profit" in the standard /. business plan. And the real problem is that it works.

> I cannot envision what a traditional, but smart toilet may do

"I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't flush that".

I recently visited both and could not find a single smart toilet... strange.

> I think the problem is that things that once did not require and realistically shouldn't require apps (like the toilet example - which I can't tell if hyperbole or not) are now "app enabled" by default.

It's ridiculous how often & where tech is required these days where it really shouldn't.

One example: recently I discovered that on the (main) train station in the province capital near me, going to the toilet requires a bank (ATM/debit) card. What?!? FYI: we're talking a city with ~100k inhabitants.

Decades ago, you could just use a toilet. Done.

But ofcourse it needs cleaning, and personnel costs money. So, they'd put up a bowl where people could drop a few coins.

That didn't last long lol. Next: some small mechanism attached to door handle. Insert coin, open door.

Of course, some acts of vandalism & theft later: do away with the cash. And because 'everybody' around here pays with card+PIN 'everywhere' anyway, let's stick that onto the access-to-toilet.

On the surface, this whole progression seems 'logical'. But it's not! You've replaced something that shouldn't require tech at all, or at most a simple mechanical thingie, with something that requires electricity, internet connection, an electronic payments system backend, and may have the ability to track who used what toilet, where, when & bank account involved.

Insane! Issues like 'how to pay for toilet use' play worldwide, and this is the best you could come up with?

I used to do this a long time ago just because that's how my brain would process how I'm talking on AIM/ICQ. Though I wouldn't add the period at the end of each new line, that is weird.

Don't give the government any ideas

Hardly a new idea: Trumplestiltskin suggested during this term that we should start detaining Americans who expressed their dissent against the government.

I think it is because they are tied to Yandex (or used to be) which is Russian. I don't know how much it directly supports State funded terrorism but it is likely none.

You'd guess wrong, because modern Yandex is essentially Kremlin owned, so it is directly supporting it, not in a huge amount (on account of Kagi being relatively tiny company), but definitely not 'none'.

Also in the discussions about removal or at least asking to make it toggle-able, so users can make sure their requests and money are not forwarded to Russia have been shut off and ridiculed (including staff member saying "our views on the war differ" whatever that meant.

Sure, but there is enough tertiary information that google owns that explicit customer information isn't necessary. They can and will use this to "enhance" customer profiles. It'll cost them time and money, but those are things they have already.

Exactly this. Went into physics but the academic landscape is hell so shipped off to SWE.

I love this feature from Fastmail but I have used a few websites (smaller of course) that will not accept anything outside of the big few email domains.

Some of us get lucky and it is financially beneficial. I bought my house right before the housing market spiked so the value of my house almost tripled. It has since gone down a bit but it will be a boon if I ever sell. The rent at the apartment I was at was equal to my mortgage payment but now if I wanted to rent that apartment, it is 4x my mortgage. I also have an EXTREMELY low rate (2.5%) because of my credit.

I save almost 6 figures of money per year of owning versus renting just because of timing. I guess the moral is: get lucky or optimize your living situation for how you want to live instead of worrying about cost (unless it's huge)

Many people can make gains or even huge gains while still having the average real appreciation be negligible.

One shouldn't hate too much on self-improvement books. There are tons of good ones out there. Inversely, there is a lot of garbage psychology and philosophy material out there as well.

The key here should be to do research. Thoughtfully pick out what you should read to expand your mind in a positive direction.