I’ve Never Appreciated Smart Home Devices More Than I Do Right Now

我的公寓可能只是520平方英尺,但是我铜rrently have threesmart home speakersset up: one on my desk in the living area, one on my bedroom nightstand, and onein my bathroom. While it might sound a little overboard, there are good reasons to have a device in every room, especially when we’re all hyper aware of everything we touch.

I initially got anEcho Spotas a cute bedside clock that could also tell me the weather and play me some early ’00s pop on command—you know, the basics. Then one evening as I did my nightly routine of climbing behind the couch to unplug a lamp and then groped in the dark to switch on my bedroom light, I realized that my vintage lighting problem and bad outlet placement could be solved easily with some smart plugs. (Theones I havework with Google Home and Alexa, but they also come with their own app if you’d rather be smart speaker-free.)

It’s super helpful to turn on my lights either by voice ormy phone, not only because I’m not running the nightly furniture hurdles, but also because it means that there are fewer“high touch” surfacesin my place. Now thateverything needs to be disinfectedon on the rare occasions I leave the house, having fewer spots that need a wipedown is helping me conserve time, effort, andprecious Lysol wipes.

I also recently started using IFTTT (if this, then that) recipes, which just makes it feel like you’re living in “The Jetsons.” For example, when I say “Alexa, good morning,” my speaker gives me the weather and then plays my morning playlist on Spotify. “Good evening” turns on two lamps, plus a dimmed, warm light on my ceiling fan. Pretty cool.

Now if only it could make sure I never run out oftoilet paper.