I’ll have to think about it more, but on first read I don’t think I buy Terry’s premise that we aren’t responsible for the technical debt of smart devices we accumulate. I agree with the nature of the problem he diagnoses, but how (and of course why) do we end up with so many needy devices? They make a promise to us that is alluring: a frictionless, maintenance free life where everything can be done “from the convenience of your phone.” Liberation from the daily chores that are in fact most of our life. Well guess what, if you don’t like washing dishes you’re absolutely going to hate trying to get your dishwasher to connect to the wifi.
Its obvious we aren’t getting what we want from our devices. But what is it we’re looking for?