There's a quote from Douglas Adams - "Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things"; in the decade and a half or so since h

There's a quote from Douglas Adams - "Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things"; in the decade and a half or so since he wrote that, things seem to have moved even faster, and now I would possibly restate that to twenty-five. Recently I've been reconsidering my outlook on new things, and though I dismissed Alexa as a fad, I now own two Dots, a couple of Hue bulbs, and some smart outlets. They solved some basic issues really well: - No ceiling light in the living room, which is my apartment's entry, "Alexa, turn on floor lamp", beats walking across the room in the dark to find the foot switch - My bedroom lights didn't have a dimmer, being able to say "Alexa, set bedroom to 35%" - I have Sonos in most rooms, so I like to leave music for the dogs when I leave the house, "Alexa, play jazz music in living room", beats using the app on my phone - "Alexa, what's the news?" to get five minutes of news from NPR in the morning is more enjoyable than looking at my phone Anyway, my point is that a small investment resulted in me having some tech that, though minor, does improve my life. And this re-evaluating new things idea makes me feel less like an old curmudgeon (of thirty-eight).