Disconnect and live happily ever after

“Leave it till tomorrow to unpack my case, honey disconnect the phone,” sang Beatle Paul McCartney in 1968 in “Back in the USSR”, the opening song of the now legendary White Album. To have peace of mind for a short while all that they needed to disconnect back then was to pull out the cable of a simple analogue phone. How many devices and systems to disconnect today for peace of mind? Not to mention that actual disconnection (from the web) consists of more than a simple wire to unplug.

Comes a time when too much is too much. We may not be there yet but we’re surely approaching a situation where excessive web connection to IT networks is going to backfire.

The industry, understandably, wants you to connect every single object you own and use. It’s a vicious circle of the worst kind. By buying more connected devices we serve, willingly or unwillingly, as guinea pigs, as the perfect testing ground and lab for the industry that, therefore, can use our feedback and experience to improve the devices, only to inject more of them in the market. And all over again.

It makes sense to have a computer of a smartphone connected, but why should a spoon (yes a spoon…) be connected? It’s been almost two years since Hapilabs introduced the Hapispoon that can warn you if you eat too fast or too much and that can keep a record of your good or bad eating habits by sending the report over the web. “Another tool in a utensil drawer that won’t be used,” was one of the comments found on the web about the Hapispoon.

Many of the famous Japanese makers of wristwatches, with Seiko and Citizen in the lead, are now offering models that are connected to the Internet. These are not digital smartwatches that talk to your smartphone via Bluetooth but regular, often fancy and expensive wristwatches that rely on the connection to keep perfect time and date depending on where you live, where you are travelling, as well as your location’s daylight saving time. Not forgetting their ability at reading your GPS position.

It takes a little time to say whether a connected object is useful or ridiculous. Without enough time one does not have enough perspective to tell. Some cases, like the Hapispoon, however are obvious!

A web connected collar to locate your pet or a tiny device to locate your luggage in an airport can prove handy, but where do you set a limit?

Canadian innovator Hexoskin last year suggested a connected shirt that monitors your body and sends alerts about your health in specific cases. Readiymate goes further. The company proposes DIY kits that let you turn some objects into web connected ones, admitting they become merely toys — albeit connected ones.

At the 2015 edition of Los Angeles celebrated CES technology show, wearable web connected objects attracted huge audience.

“At the end of the day, what we’re creating is information,” says Ric Asselstine, CEO of Terepac Corp., a maker of microelectronics that are integrated into objects so as to make them smart. It may true but excessive amount of information precisely is the core issue today. The more information is generated and the higher the risk of hacking, of identity theft, and of plain theft of property and wealth. Not to mention that most of the time it is all but raw information, not having undergone any meaningful or useful analysis.

The sky is the limit goes the saying. When it comes to high-tech and web connectivity it is more outer space than just the sky. Soon we will want to scream “enough” and disconnect.