> My last home was filled with smart home tech and other stuff, now I live in a completely analog old home which is nice (and much smaller!).

"Tech" does not last. I like things that are durable and last. Solid hardwood furniture, a light switch that only closes a circuit and doesn't contain microchips, something built out of metal instead of plastic, etc.

I'll still buy new laptops and smartphones, but not "smart" things.

Tech for its own sake is dull and pointless. Always has been. So are trends. In anything. Buy things that solve real problems you have; save money on the rest.

On the SWE side, if you don’t want to get out of software entirely find something to work on that isn’t just about tech. Find an aspect of the world that’s meaningful to you — maybe that’s biotech, maybe it’s plumbing — and build software that supports it.

you seem like you are isolating yourself.

But as long as you replace all this with meaningful connections with people, groups, communities I think you will be much better for it.

The problem is that you are being a consumer, not a builder. You are over-spending on products that are designed to depreciate faster than they are worth. Other than RAM and GPUs these "tech" devices are worth less than they were a year ago.

Just build and sell things yourself.

There are still fun things to do with tech, and stuff that won't enshittify — you just need to know where to look.

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