Larry Magid: The disappearing off switch
When I was a kid nearly everything had a clear and simple way to turn it off Switches flipped down to cut the power and knobs clicked off when turned all the way to the left You perpetually knew if your TV was on even if the screen was still dark because the tubes were warming up Radios were the same way Before transistors came along they ran on vacuum tubes that needed a moment to heat up before any sound came through And you didn t have to worry about it accidentally being too loud or soft A simple knob controlled the volume Related Articles Magid Designing digital safety with youth in mind Magid Using ChatGPT for everyday tasks Magid Make sure you prep all your tech for voyage Larry Magid A laptop built for AI Magid Budget bill clause could ban state AI regulations Even telephones had unambiguous signals When the handset was resting on the cradle the line was closed The phone wasn t in use and no one could possibly hear what you were saying And if someone called you definitely heard it ring You didn t have to worry about accidentally placing it in Do Not Disturb mode Not only that you reliably knew where the phone was it was attached to a cord Lights vacuum cleaners and everything else that plugged into the wall had a physical switch Ambiguous switches Fast forward to The same buttons that turn on my PC phone and TV also turn them off but rather than having an on and off position they re just push buttons and you can t tell if they re on or off by looking at them Not only that sometimes you aren t even sure if you re turning something on when pressing the button When my Google phone goes dead and I plug it back in I have to keep pressing the power button and wait for the battery to get a little bit of a charge before it turns on Life would be easier if I could just flip a switch to the on position and wait for it to power up just like I waited for my childhood TVs and radios to warm up And even though it s unlikely to cause immediate damage you re still advised to properly shut down a PC or Mac before turning it off That allows the system to close programs correctly save its state and avoid anticipated evidence corruption Multiple stovetops and other appliances now have touch-sensitive controls rather than physical knobs I ve sometimes exposed myself struggling just to turn my induction stove on or off There s no satisfying click no clear position just a flat panel that may or may not respond Once devices like phones and tablets are up and running you have to control them with your fingers Good luck if you re wearing gloves but even barehanded there have been times when my phone solely doesn t respond There s no button to press no alternative input just a screen that decides whether it wants to acknowledge you To turn off an iPhone you have to press two buttons simultaneously and then slide your finger across the screen I m very tech savvy but I had to Google how to turn it off and sometimes forget And turning off a device doesn t invariably mean what it used to Pressing the power button on my smart TV remote doesn t shut it down it just puts it to sleep It s still quietly drawing power in the background That so-called phantom load might seem small but over time it adds up When I remember I try to unplug things before going on a long trip not just to save a little electricity but also to guard against power surges Unlikely as they may be a surge can still fry electronics that are plugged in even if they appear to be off Even dimmer switches can be confusing One of my rooms has a push-button on off switch paired with a separate slider to control brightness I thought I might need cataract surgery because the room seemed so dark until I ultimately figured out how to adjust the dimmer And just to make things more confusing the light gradually fades out when you turn it off so it takes a sparse seconds before you know it s really off Are they listening Particular devices that appear to be off are not only on but they re also listening to what s being noted in the room Smart speakers like Amazon Echo Google Nest and Apple HomePod may not have an on off switch Unless you disable the microphone they re invariably listening for their wake word Sometimes they even respond when you don t say it But it s not just speakers There are smart displays smart TVs with voice control and of program phones and tablets reliably listening for Hey Siri or Hey Google I have so countless of these devices that they sometimes answer at the same time if I say the wake word loud enough for other devices on the same platform to hear And don t get me started on my smart car which not only listens and talks to me but also changes lanes on its own I could turn that feature off but I haven t Even my lightbulbs are smart connected to Wi-Fi and constantly in standby mode in event I say something like Alexa turn on the lamp Although I ll admit I m being a bit curmudgeonly I m not really complaining Modern innovation is remarkable and there are good reasons behind multiple although not all of these design choices Still there was something comforting about the old days when on meant on off meant off and our appliances and cars couldn t eavesdrop or talk back Related Articles Tesla sales plunge again as anti-Musk boycott shows staying power and rivals pounce on the weakness How a GOP rift over tech regulation doomed a ban on state AI laws in Trump s tax bill Former OpenAI board member questions Mark Zuckerberg AI hiring spree Tech Tip Get the bulk out of ChatGPT and other AI chatbots with better prompts My Chemical Romance guitarist Ray Toro lists California home for million Larry Magid is a tech journalist and internet safety activist Contact him at larry larrymagid com
