Reasoning with Technology,
Using My Outside Voice
By Marie Elium
I need to cut back on my scream time but I’m not having much success.
The problem is, Alexa’s gone rogue; I haven’t yelled this much in the morning since the kids moved out a decade ago.
Alexa is the artificial intelligence service, the brain and voice driving my Amazon Echo, a device that responds to verbal commands to play music, set alarms, read news, answer questions, and do other tasks that we used to do ourselves.
As gadgets go, it’s a handy one, and Alexa and I were on good terms until, suddenly, we weren’t. Every morning at 7 a.m. she blasts the local National Public Radio station from her perch on our kitchen table. I’m usually upstairs getting dressed when it happens, so I scream “Alexa, stop!” in a voice much too loud for a house without children or a dog. Sometimes she makes me yell it a few times before complying.
I’ve gone through the settings, I’ve checked the app and I still don’t know why Alexa is doing what she does. So mornings progress predictably: coffee, a stroll around the garden, (I wake up early), and then screaming at Alexa. It’s our thing.
Trouble Spots
The other sticky tech issue that frustrates me is the uneasy relationship between my iPhone and Prius. Sometimes they sync but it seems accidental, like finding a $5 bill in a pocket or hitting every green light on Lorain Road.
Without warning, a phone conversation or podcast makes its way from my phone to the car speakers, but only as an afterthought. I guess any car newer than my 2015 model would make a better match, but I’m not willing to invest money to improve their relationship. They’ll have to remain in the could-benefit-from-decent-marriage-counseling category.
Despite the screaming and annoying car thing, I like technology and its gadgets and eagerly embrace them. I don’t confidently tap my iPhone on the card reader at stores, but I don’t use an abacus, either. I fall somewhere in between.
Frustration with technology is something people of all ages deal with, but older adults like us tend to be harder on themselves than necessary. Giving up on it isn’t something that 20- or 30-year-olds consider; they know it’s part of life, no more frustrating than getting a bad restaurant meal or the flu at Christmas.
My friends and I, on the other hand, blame ourselves when tech gets glitchy. “No more!” we proclaim. We’re done with fussy passwords and online-only options for news, shopping, banking and other daily activities. Here’s the catch: The rest of the world isn’t done with technology. It’s hurtling faster into it by the minute.
Opting out is not only a lazy option, it’s a limiting one. Figuring out the Uber app to get to places you no longer want to drive to, or reviewing medical test results the instant they’re done can be both physically and mentally freeing; it gives us control when our world starts to shrink. Why not take the time to master it and be generous with ourselves while we work through the commands and settings and multi-step passwords?
Most of this issue is about technology: how to use it and why. We’ve only scratched the surface. We hope the stories will move you into the not-hate arena if you’re resisting technology and into the wow, that’s cool category if you’ve been enjoying it all along.
I need to wrap this up. I got an early start today and Alexa is stirring. I’ve had a second cup of coffee on the patio and feel extra assertive this morning. The neighbors may wonder what all the screaming is about. But Alexa knows; she always knows.
~Marie
