If These Walls Could Talk...Back

If these walls could talk back, what would they say? Ask Alexa. My husband has decided that our 1860 home needs to become part of the latest and greatest "smart home" trend. Why? A furturistic, state of the art, 19th century home that holds a place on the national registry of historical places...why not?

But I digress. For Valentine's Day, Anthony bought me a gift. It came in a nice Amazon bag, you know, the kind that you get when you choose the "wrap as a gift" option. So what was in the nice blue bag? Alexa...my first foray into the "smart home" world. At first, I wasn't too sure about the whole "Alexa" thing. As a mother, wife, and teacher, the last thing I need is one more thing talking back to me. Then we struck up a conversation and I got to know Alexa. I now ask her questions about weather, music, recipes, and so on. I do have to say, she is much more pleasing to talk to than Siri, whom I feel gets an attitude with me every now and then.

I had no idea how widespread Alexa had become until I began talking to my friends about my Valentine's Day gift. Just last night, I was spending time with a few of my close friends when our discussion turned to the topic of Alexa. They begn telling me about how handy Alexa can be. Of course many of my friends own a Roomba...I am still not there. Thus proving how far behind the power curve I am of even the most basic "smart home" knowledge.

So here we are. Looking at different products and solutions that will allow me to turn off and on my lights, and check the front door all from my cell phone. I hope Siri isn't the jealous type. Some products even follow your patterns of thermostat use and can make assumptions about what temperature to keep the home at certain times of the day.

So what's the verdict? Well, I had been talking to another one of my friends about the smart technology, and she asked me if I had ever seen a movie called "Smart House" that was on the Disney Channel a few years back. The gist of this movie is that the technology manifested itself into a "mom" figure of sorts and wanted to take over the running of the house. I think this was relayed to me as a tounge-in-cheek cautionary tale. However, the more I think about it, if this technolgy decides to become self-aware and takes over all the household chores and duties, then I am sold.