So, the new Samsung Fold phone launched this week to the tune of over US$2,000 for one unit.

I think I’ll wait a couple of years when the price becomes more consumer-friendly before I jump on the wagon. Like every other electronic device out there (except maybe for some Apple products), these things usually start dropping in price after the first year, thanks largely to competition releasing their own versions (come on, Huawei! Get over those US sanctions already…). And as I don’t have that burning need to be a ‘first adopter’ with every new piece of tech that comes out, I can afford to wait when these initial bugs have been fixed.

For now, I can keep trundling along with my good old Samsung S7 — a real workhorse of a phone that I’ve owned for three years now and still does everything I need a phone to do well. So why upgrade?

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Is going ‘smart’ really smart? 

Of course, the reason why so many people would probably want to upgrade to this latest technology is that it will support so many other functionalities in the Samsung eco-system. Running on the ubiquitous Android OS, the new Samsung Fold will easily work with smart devices running the same system: watches, tablets, TVs and fridges are just some of the machines that one can now ‘pair’ and integrate, giving the user full ‘remote control’ privileges over them. The user’s data and preferences will be shared across these devices, supposedly leading to a smoother and more convenient way of living. These machines sharing data and ‘talking’ to each other facilitate the M2M (‘machine-to-machine’) learning that underpins the promise of the new ‘smart’ (i.e. convenient, safe, easy) world.

But how much more convenience do we really need? And at what cost?

Take the case of smart fridges for example. Do I really need a fridge that can talk to me  when I need to start shopping for eggs or when a milk carton is nearing its expiration date? Sure, there’s the hassle of checking each item individually and needing to make my own grocery list from scratch (as opposed to the smart fridge just emailing me the list it compiled based on the contents of my fridge). But so what?

I’ve always wondered what the ultimate goal of pushing technology like this is. Everyone is always talking about how automation and robotics will ultimately lead to the displacement of the human worker. But what about the human being itself? When we can’t even be bothered to manually turn on the air-con ourselves when we get home (as opposed to programming it remotely from our office via our smartphone therefore ensuring the room is perfectly cooled by the time we get home rather than waiting for it like a loser), what exactly are we gaining? Are the few minutes we shave off really worth giving up our data to companies and thus being at the mercy of their updates, or worse, the malice of hackers who may one day have access to all these systems?

What is the ultimate goal of technology? Are we all meant to just sit around while machines dictate our grocery list, place the order automatically online and deliver it to our door via drone or driverless car?

I know, some of these smart functions are meant to make us more efficient and productive by eliminating what can be seen as menial tasks. But can doing such ‘work’ be so bad?

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not exactly turning into a luddite here. I must confess I love the convenience of being able to use voice search on Google or voice commands to tell my phone when to set an alarm. But I still won’t invest in an Alexa or even a Google Home device that can theoretically link to my Android smart fridge, TV, air-con, etc. if I ever have them, thus giving machines more control of my home life, and companies like Samsung, Daikin and LG more access to my personal preferences and data.

But aside from the little understood consequences of data breaches, I’m also personally wondering and worrying about the as-yet unseen outcomes of our ever more convenient lives. What seemingly insignificant yet vastly consequential effects on our health and wellbeing are we actually trading off?

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Tsk, tsk…kids these days…

Over the weekend I was chatting to our weekly cleaner, Joan. And as is now usual for people our age (mid-40s), we started complaining about how much our bodies have changed and how much harder it was to shed the kilos off our midsections now. We bemoaned our days as skinny, and quite possibly, malnourished, teenagers and twenty-somethings when downing three plates of white rice daily didn’t even add so much as an inch to our waif-like Asian frames.

Joan shared however, that her own nieces back in the Philippines, don’t have the same toothpick-like figures that many young people of our generation had and took for granted. In fact, many of them now appeared obese. She cited the proliferation of more sugared drinks and treats, and most of all — fast food — that led to this strange phenomenon of teenage obesity. Which is true. When we were kids, imported chocolates like Hersheys, Reese’s and Ferrero Roche were a lot harder to come by. We didn’t have Dairy Queen, Burger King, or even Starbucks with all their muffins and quiches on every corner. And while we had indulged in local desserts like halo-halo which were all the rage during the summer, or bibingka during the Yuletide season, these treats are now available all year round. You only need to hit the nearest SM (which is practically on every corner as well these days) to get your fix when the craving strikes, regardless if it’s the middle of the typhoon season.

But most of all, her big observation which stayed with me (and why I’m taking issue with the ‘smartification’ of everything in our lives) was how inactivity was also contributing to the problem.

“Kids don’t play outside anymore,” she said. And it’s true. For many years now, children would rather stay indoors with their video games, Lego sets  and fancy toy kitchens and cooking sets which now feature size-appropriate fridges, dining tables and microwaves. I don’t know any child today who still plays patintero or agawan base the way my generation did back in the day (yup, I’m going there), with all the running and sweating these games induced even when played in the late afternoon that we would come home smelling of sweat and grime which equated to being out in the sun (‘amoy araw’ in Filipino). These days, parents and their surrogates (nannies or ‘yayas’) are all up in kids’ faces forever admonishing them for running too fast and potentially getting sweat and dirt onto their Giordano shirts and Nike socks. I understand that the root cause of this nagging is a manic concern for their safety but what child never went through childhood without a few scrapes, cuts, bruises or even lumps on the head? Isn’t that all part and parcel of being a kid?

Now couple this lack of activity with the growing contempt for doing even the littlest physical actions at home — walking over to the fridge to take stock of what you need to stock up on — and we might be propagating a culture where a sedentary life is what we all aspire to.

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The cost of convenience

I mean, is that the ultimate goal of technology? To make us all couch potatoes? A life in which activities that used to be normal (walking to the supermarket, waiting for the AC to kick in…) are to be seen as incredibly unnecessary tedium? And what are we giving up in return?

I’m not saying there is a direct correlation but what messages, both subliminal and overt, are we telling our children, and what kind of world are we building with all the efficiencies we are supposedly incorporating into our lives?

I’m not sure I’m articulating my point well enough. But I guess in its simplest way, I’m just asking why we are being constantly pushed, if not pressured, to keep upgrading to the ‘smarter’ thing. Sure, it’s driven by pure capitalism and consumerism, but what human needs (or fears) are being taken advantage of that lead us to be unwitting participants in the constant race to have the latest?

What are we losing in return?

We don’t know. And we may not know for a while.

Which is why I go back to my earliest point at the beginning of this post. There’s no shame (and certainly a lot less harm) in waiting to upgrade. I think the wait will be worth it… and I don’t just mean in terms of cheaper prices!