The general dumbing down and laziness of people anymore. I have an Echo Dot JUST to turn lights on and off and tell me the weather every morning.

"Echo good morning" turns my bedroom table lamp on. "Echo good night" turns it off. Could I reach over and turn it off by hand? Yep!! Turning it on in the dark though, I'd likely knock it off trying to find it. Thus the Echo. Could I look outside and see the weather with my own eyes? Yep! Is it easier to just say "Echo weather"? Also "Yep".

I also have one in the living room to turn on the living room lights when I come home at night. I also have those lights on a time for when I am gone for days at a a time, and on a schedule where they turn off between time A and time B so they don't come on at exactly the same time every night. A lot of it is "Because we have the tech available for us."

I once, just to do it, spent an entire day doing "stuff" and did not utter as much as a syllable to another human. I got money from the ATM, then went to the Amazon locker and got a package out. Then I drove through a Sheetz gas station and ordered a sandwich through the drive through, where you pay by swiping you card, pull up to the window and get your order. Went to the library, got a book and checked it out through self service. Did the same at the grocery store.

To some that level of misanthropy is awful. To me it was heaven. With the internet and next day delivery we can literally function without ever leaving the house. In the early months of Covid, I made note my my mileage on May 1st and again on the 31st and I had driven 42 miles that month. I filled my tank on May 1st and on the 31st I had 10 gallons left in my 12 gallon tank.

So the answer really comes down to "because we can". I personally hate the phone because the phone is a singular activity. When you talk on the phone, you talk on the phone. If I am in a chat conversation on my computer, I can play backgammon, or read news, or pay bills, or even watch a game while I chat on another screen. Depending on your take, I am rather ADD and my mind wanders so I need many places to focus, or I have the mind of an artist that never turns off. I have heard both options used to describe me. In my mind I am simply someone who is deeply immersed in all this technology that I love so much. When most of us were born there weren't even TVs unless you were somewhat affluent. Now I watch TV while driving my car! My father, born in 1917, was born when there was not yet air travel or television. In 1969 he saw television transmitted from the moon. As I sit here, I am typing this pos on one screen, watching Monday Night Football on another with the sound off, and watching Hoarders on the 3rd.

Because we can.

I am using the new 1040XTRAEZ form this year. It has just 2 lines.

1. How much did you make in 2023?
2. Send it to us.