el ruben del mar

Technology smarts

I was in my apartment gym the other day, doing my usual elliptical cardio. 40 minutes, sport intervals, low intensity for 2 minutes followed by super high intensity for 2 more. Good stuff - the rapid back-and-forth works up a good burn.

Anyhow, much like other gyms there’s lots of technology around - motion-activated lights, TVs mounted on each cardio machine, etc. And just like other technology around us, there are features that do more harm than good.

Take, for example, the motion lights - the sensor is currently set to turn off after 6 minutes of inactivity. Sounds like a great way to save money, the environment, etc - except the sensor doesn’t activate for people on the cardio machines. So if you’re alone in there, every 6 minutes you pretty much have to wave your arms around maniacally to keep the lights from going out mid-workout. This is an example of technology trying, and failing, to outsmart us. Same deal with the mounted TV; not only does it require 13 different buttons to turn on, but it also automatically turns off after 7 minutes, without exception. Which sucks because dangit, I was just watching SportsCenter! Now my workout consists of two things - sport intervals, and looking like I’m performing in some bizarre form of space olympics.

All this leads me to believe its a long way off before we get to a point where everyday technology will actually work for us. For every iPhone and iPad there’s a crappy car sensor “feature” that drives you crazy, or a motion sensor that can’t adjust to daily conditions. My hope is that in my lifetime, minimizing human aggravation is the number two feature built into every electronic consumer device - behind reliability of course. Unfortunately, as long as people don’t demand it, no one will consider it. Shame.