Key Please?

I love technology. I really do. I’m all in, and have always been.

But let’s talk about everything we touch. Making coffee, starting a car, turning the lights on in your house, listening to music- it’s all tied to an app.

In the past, you used to hand someone a key. Your kid, your friend, the valet, whoever. They drove off. Simple. Now? My car opens with an app or a card. Which means if I want to lend my car to someone, I basically can’t. No key, no borrowing. You’re screwed.

We have a coffee machine that our daughter jokes about every morning, saying she needs to go get her phone to get a cup.

Even turning the TV on and off can be a challenge. The lighting in the house has long given up the on/off switch.

I don’t have a key to my own house anymore. We’ve got keypads. Codes. Electronic everything.

And look, I get the appeal. It’s slick. It’s modern. It is efficient (when it works); I like the concept.

But there’s something to be said for on, off, and dim. That’s it. A key you can hand off. A switch you can flip. No app, no battery dying at the worst moment, no code to remember or share.

I’m not saying go back. I’m saying — sometimes I long for those days. The simple, dumb, reliable version of things. Where a key was just a key, and anyone holding it could drive your car.

Technology’s amazing. But every now and then, give me the analog version, maybe just for the car.