Smart is the New Trap
- Madhukar Dama
- Jun 5
- 10 min read
We were told it would make life easier.
That “smart” things would think for us, save our time, reduce our effort.
But no one told us it would cost us our independence, our attention, our peace of mind.
From toothbrushes that judge our brushing to toilets that flush with sensors, we’ve handed over the simplest human functions to machines that require updates, apps, and electricity.
We don’t wake up on our own anymore — alarms do.
We don’t remember directions — GPS does.
We don’t even trust our hunger or sleep — a smartwatch decides it for us.
Behind every “smart” product is a system that watches, stores, sells, and nudges.
What began as convenience has quietly turned into dependence.
We’ve surrounded ourselves with intelligent devices, but we’ve forgotten how to live intelligently.
This essay is not about rejecting technology.
It’s about waking up to its designs — not the glossy hardware, but the real intention behind the glowing screens and sensor lights.
What’s marketed as “smart” often strips us of something far more valuable: the ability to act, decide, feel, and live without interference.
Let’s open the box and see what we’ve really bought.
Not a phone.
Not a watch.
But a cage.
Welcome to the smart world.
Where you're the one being programmed.
---
🧠 SMART MARKETING ILLUSIONS: A MASTERLIST
📱 SMART DEVICES (Consumer Electronics)
1. Smartphone – Claimed to connect the world, but disconnects people from real life. Infinite upgrades, fragile design, and addictive interfaces.
2. Smartwatch – Counts steps, ruins peace. Turns every movement into data for health anxiety or insurance profiling.
3. Smart TV – Comes with ads, surveillance, and subscriptions. You can’t even turn it off properly.
4. Smart Speakers (Alexa, Google Home) – Sell as voice assistants; serve as listening devices.
5. Smart Glasses – Add AR overlays to life while ignoring the need for clear vision and clear thought.
6. Smart Rings – Turn sleep into performance. Adds stress even while resting.
7. Smart Earbuds – Designed to isolate. Auto-track your environment and choices.
8. Smart Pens – Record everything, even your distractions.
9. Smart Cameras – Monitor pets, elders, babies – or more accurately, monitor you.
10. Smart Home Hubs – Claim control, bring vulnerability.
---
🏠 SMART HOMES
11. Smart Bulbs – Change color by app, fail when the app crashes. No switch independence.
12. Smart Locks – Can be hacked. If power or internet goes, so does your access.
13. Smart Fans & ACs – Controlled via app, less efficient than a good manual switch.
14. Smart Fridges – Screens on doors to tell you what’s inside – like you forgot?
15. Smart Washing Machines – Overcomplicated for doing what a ₹5000 one does.
16. Smart Ovens & Cooktops – Timers and recipe sync, but lose warmth of real cooking.
17. Smart Showers – Pre-set temperatures that forget spontaneity.
18. Smart Plugs – Turn on lamps via Wi-Fi. Who needs this unless disabled?
19. Smart Beds – Adjusts firmness, tracks sleep, but costs as much as a car.
20. Smart Toilets – With heated seats, auto-flush, butt sensors. Overengineering the most natural human act.
---
🚗 SMART VEHICLES
21. Smart Cars – Surveillance on wheels. Subscriptions to use features. Needs software update to honk.
22. Smart Bikes – GPS trackers that kill battery, not fat.
23. Smart Helmets – Navigation inside helmets, but no common sense inside roads.
24. Smart Keys – Easy to lose, hard to replace. Hackable entry.
25. Smart Parking Systems – Promise ease, add payment anxiety.
---
🏙️ SMART CITY INFRASTRUCTURE
26. Smart Cities – More cameras, more pollution data, fewer trees. Pretends to solve problems it created.
27. Smart Policing – AI profiling = caste, religion, and gender bias in machine form.
28. Smart Roads – LED-lit potholes that track your vehicle instead of fixing the road.
29. Smart Traffic Lights – Predict jams, but can’t stop VIP convoys.
30. Smart Water Meters – Track consumption, while 40% of water gets leaked.
31. Smart Electricity Grids – Dynamic pricing to loot more, not save more.
32. Smart Waste Management – Just adds RFID tags to overflowing bins.
---
💼 SMART LIFESTYLE PRODUCTS
33. Smart Wallets – Bluetooth-connected wallets you still lose.
34. Smart Mirrors – Tell you your skin tone or outfit. Promote body shame in HD.
35. Smart Luggage – GPS, chargers, weight sensors, banned from flights.
36. Smart Clothing – Sensor-filled wearables that shrink in one wash.
37. Smart Water Bottles – Remind you to drink. As if thirst is outdated.
---
🧑⚕️ SMART HEALTH & FITNESS
38. Smart Scales – Track body fat %, make people panic daily.
39. Smart Treadmills – Streams scenic runs but your joints still suffer.
40. Smart ECG Machines – Personal ECGs that generate more fear than clarity.
41. Smart Thermometers – Sync with apps, but can’t do anything beyond 98.6°F.
42. Smart Pill Boxes – Notify family if you skip pills. Welcome to medicine policing.
43. Smart Diapers – Yes, diapers that alert phones when wet.
---
📚 SMART EDUCATION
44. Smart Classrooms – Digital boards that break down often, rob chalk-based imagination.
45. Smart Exams – AI proctoring, auto-detection – zero trust, full control.
46. Smart Homework Apps – No handwriting, no thinking, just taps.
47. Smart Career Counseling – Algorithm-based decisions about lifelong choices.
48. Smart Parent Portals – Constant grade surveillance ruins child-parent trust.
---
💼 SMART WORKPLACES
49. Smart Desks – Adjust height, track posture, but not job satisfaction.
50. Smart Badges – Track employee location and socialization.
51. Smart Scheduling – Calendar tools that cause burnout instead of freedom.
52. Smart Hiring Tools – AI filters based on keywords, not character.
---
🧾 SMART FINANCE
53. Smart Credit Cards – Track every purchase, push more EMI offers.
54. Smart Banking Apps – More vulnerable to phishing, less human support.
55. Smart Investment Platforms – Algorithmic gambling sold as intelligent planning.
56. Smart Wallets (UPI apps) – Instant spend, zero save. Built to make you impulsive.
57. Smart Tax Filing – Automates submission, not transparency.
---
🧘♂️ SMART SELF-CARE
58. Smart Meditation Apps – Screens to help you escape screens.
59. Smart Journals – Apps that pretend to know your emotions.
60. Smart Affirmation Tools – Bots telling you "you are enough" every morning.
61. Smart Aromatherapy – App-controlled fragrance diffusers for controlled calmness.
62. Smart Yoga Mats – Pressure sensors and form corrections. But no inner balance.
---
👶 SMART BABY TECH
63. Smart Baby Monitors – Broadcast your baby’s cries to the cloud.
64. Smart Cribs – Rock baby via app. Parents outsource even touch.
65. Smart Breast Pumps – Bluetooth-connected milk extractors.
66. Smart Toys – Surveillance disguised as play.
---
🛒 SMART RETAIL & FOOD
67. Smart Shopping Carts – Track what you buy. Suggest what to buy next.
68. Smart Vending Machines – Scan faces to recommend soda.
69. Smart Kitchens – Recipe surveillance and app-based cooking guilt.
70. Smart Restaurants – Tablets to order, pay, complain. No waiter, no warmth.
71. Smart Farming – Drones and sensors in a system that still bankrupts real farmers.
---
🪦 SMART DEATH & BEYOND
72. Smart Funerals – Livestreamed cremations with QR codes on tombstones.
73. Smart Wills – NFTs of your inheritance. Tech feudalism from grave.
74. Smart Memorials – AI avatars to speak like the dead. The final illusion.
75. Smart Cryogenics – Sell frozen dreams to billionaires scared of death.
---
🔚 FINAL REMARK
> From smart toothbrushes to smart gravestones, the idea of "smart" often disconnects us from instinct, manual wisdom, and simple living.
These are not upgrades.
These are traps—each promising to save time while stealing it.
Every single item on that list already exists in the market as a real, purchasable product or service. Many of them are actively being marketed in India and abroad, especially through e-commerce platforms and tech fairs. Here’s a breakdown for clarity:
---
✅ WIDELY AVAILABLE IN INDIA
These are not only real but aggressively marketed in malls, online stores (like Amazon, Flipkart), and showrooms:
Smartphones, smartwatches, smart TVs, smart bulbs, smart locks, smart speakers
Smart ACs, fridges, washing machines, toilets
Smart cars and bikes (connected through apps)
Smart classroom boards, UPI-based smart wallets, health trackers, smart scales
Smart baby monitors, toys, and fitness apps
Smart traffic lights in major smart city projects (like in Pune, Surat, Bengaluru)
Smart farming kits (soil sensors, weather-based irrigation systems) by Indian agritech startups
Smart meditation apps (Calm, Headspace, Indian clones)
---
🔄 EXIST IN NICHE / PREMIUM MARKETS
These exist but are less commonly purchased, often aimed at:
Urban elite or NRI markets
Silicon Valley-style Indian startups and tech enthusiasts
Examples:
Smart mirrors for makeup & fitness (brands like HiMirror, ICON.AI)
Smart rings (like Oura, now sold in India)
Smart beds (Sleep Number, ReST)
Smart yoga mats (YogiFi by Wellnesys – made in India!)
Smart luggage (brands like Away, Bluesmart)
Smart helmets (with Bluetooth, navigation – sold in India)
Smart diapers (used in neonatal care setups, premium baby brands)
Smart cribs (SNOO, imported by some elite Indian parents)
Smart toilets (Toto, Kohler’s Neorest line – sold in Indian luxury stores)
---
🧪 EMERGING OR EXPERIMENTAL BUT REAL
These are early-stage, in testing, or not yet mainstream in India but exist abroad and may enter soon:
Smart gravestones (QR codes, digital memorials in the US, Japan, and South Korea)
AI-based memorial avatars (developed in Korea, China, US)
Smart funerals (livestream and app-integrated – already happening in Indian metros post-COVID)
Smart wills using blockchain/NFTs (being offered in Singapore, Dubai)
Smart career counseling tools using AI (used in US, and now entering Indian edtech startups)
Smart vending machines using facial recognition (China, South Korea – tested in India)
---
🎭 IN ESSENCE
So yes:
None of the 75 items is fictional.
Some are already in Indian households, some are luxury add-ons, some are "coming soon" distractions.
All are marketed as “smart”, though many are deeply dumb in their consequences.
₹₹₹₹₹₹
We wanted progress.
But we confused it with automation.
We wanted freedom.
But we traded it for comfort that now controls us.
The rise of “smart” has not made life simpler — it has made us more helpless with every version.
We depend on cloud servers to lock our doors, on apps to tell us when to drink water, on screens to feel connected.
We are surrounded by tools, yet disconnected from skills.
Every upgrade pushes us further from knowing how to live without being told how.
There is no single enemy — not the devices, not the companies.
The real danger is in forgetting how to live without them.
A human being was never meant to be “smart” in the way machines are — programmed, predictable, optimized.
The opposite of smart isn’t dumb.
It is free.
Able to think.
Able to act.
Able to live without being nudged, tracked, and sold.
You don’t need to smash your gadgets.
You just need to remember: they are tools, not your master.
And any tool that makes you forget yourself is not smart at all.
The question isn’t whether your home is smart.
The question is — are you still alive in it?
₹₹₹₹
---
SMART IS A TRAP, MAN
(Unplugged poetry for a plugged-in prison)
they told me it’ll save time.
but now I spend five minutes
just unlocking my phone.
I open the fridge,
it shows me a screen—
asks if I want recipes, music,
or to reorder milk.
I just wanted cold water, boss.
but the water needs Wi-Fi now.
in the old days,
you remembered things.
now everything remembers you—
and sells it.
the fan doesn’t spin
without bluetooth.
the bulb doesn’t shine
unless the app works.
what happened to switches?
what happened to sanity?
I bought a smart TV.
now I can watch ten thousand things
but can't finish one
without an ad
or a subscription
or a notification
that tells me my blood pressure
is high.
it is high.
because I miss
the days when the television
just shut the hell up
after I switched it off.
then came the watch.
not one with dignity.
this one nags.
stand up, it says.
breathe, it says.
drink water,
you lazy bastard.
you paid ₹10,000
for a voice to say
what your body already knew.
smart helmets,
smart rings,
smart diapers.
yes, diapers.
for babies who now need
data-logged piss.
they say:
"technology empowers."
no sir.
it demands.
it tracks.
it needs charging every night.
just like we do.
but no one tracks our soul
draining out every day.
I watched my neighbour
upgrade his house.
he got smart locks,
motion lights,
voice control.
but now,
when the internet fails,
he can’t enter his own house.
the home got smart.
he got stupid.
I asked a tea vendor in Mysore,
"bhai, why no QR code?"
he said,
"why should I give strangers
a map to my bank account?"
he lives offline.
and sleeps better than most CEOs.
you see,
smart used to mean wise.
today, it means watched.
connected.
controlled.
smart classrooms,
smart boards—
and kids who can’t think
without Google.
parents who can’t parent
without apps.
families who eat
in the same room
but chat in emojis.
I went to a wedding.
there was a smart invitation
with QR menu,
Instagram filter,
and drone camera.
the couple looked beautiful.
but they weren’t looking at each other—
they were looking
at the goddamn screen.
even our silence
has been colonized.
apps for meditation.
apps to journal.
apps to tell you
when to look away
from the apps.
I met a retired postman.
he said,
"I used to carry letters with emotion.
Now my grandson
sends hearts on WhatsApp
without even feeling them."
I laughed.
then I cried.
they say the future is smart.
but my grandmother was wise—
she didn’t need a step counter
to stay fit.
she didn’t need an app
to pray.
she didn’t scan barcodes
to buy food.
and when she died,
there was no QR code
on her grave.
just soil.
and memory.
that’s it.
today they sell cryogenic freezers
to freeze rich bodies.
to wake them up
when science catches up.
but the poor man burns
on a ghat by the river
and his soul flies free
without an app.
you ask me
why I’m angry?
because I’m surrounded
by technology
that keeps me alive
but kills my life.
I don’t want
a smart city.
I want a sane village.
I don’t want
a home that listens.
I want silence.
I don’t want
a smart toilet.
I want dignity.
I don’t want
to live in a world
where your fridge knows
you’re sad
before your wife does.
I want
to grow dumb vegetables
in dumb soil
with dumb tools
and dumb happiness
that doesn’t need updates.
but maybe
it’s too late.
maybe we’re all
already branded,
scanned,
uploaded.
and maybe the last real act
of rebellion
is to live a life
so small,
so quiet,
so untrackable—
that no app
can find you.
---
