Technology increasingly controls a vast majority of our lives, as people around the globe chain ourselves to our phones, stay glued to our televisions, and work our computers to the bone on a daily basis.
But, despite its unceasing use by people the world around, technology is not infallible. It fails quite frequently, in fact, and when it does, it can leave us utterly lost, thanks to the aforementioned reliance on our various technological crutches.
This unfortunate modern problem was flawlessly illustrated in a TikTok video shared by clip compiler @Collab, which recognized the quality when it caught sight of a charming and utterly twenty-first-century issue playing out on screen.
The entire video was captured via doorbell cam, where an unfortunate wife was forced to turn when her technology failed her. After losing her phone and accidentally killing her Apple Watch battery, the woman found herself at an impasse. Neither a FaceTime or Apple’s “find my phone” feature from her laptop were working, as both were attempting to send a confirmation code to the very phone she was struggling to find. Which left her with no recourse other than the Ring camera attached to the front stoop, where she turned in a desperate bid to catch her hubby’s attention.
The hubby in question, Logan, catches on pretty quick, and enjoys a delightful exchange with his wife before agreeing to call her phone until she finds it. After jokingly labeling his wife a “loser” and imagining what the neighbors think about her chatting up a random corner of their house, Logan obediently phones up the lost tech, and seemingly solves his wife’s problem in the process.
We don’t get the chance to see a resolution, but since Logan’s wife didn’t make a re-appearance at the doorbell, it seems safe to assume she located her missing device. The resulting clip is an excellent example how useful Ring cameras and similar products can be, and as a bonus it provided stellar entertainment for the TikTok horde.
Gushing over the “relationship goals” present across the video, commenters praised Logan’s wife for her resourceful nature, and praised Ring for providing a perfect resource for situations just like this. Since they became widely used, Ring Cameras have had a hugely positive impact, even saving lives, but there’s always bad that comes along with the good.
As with all of the technology that’s become entwined with our daily lives, those handy cameras are collecting, and sharing, far more of our personal information than most users realize. Ring keeps detailed records of our daily habits, and stores an upsetting amount of the footage captured from your front stoop. With so many cameras around, privacy is also increasingly becoming a thing of the past, and according to Wired Ring collects far more than just footage — it also knows your name, phone number, email and physical address, payment information, and even Wi-Fi information.
It’s getting harder and harder to retain privacy in our increasingly technologically-run world, and Ring — and other, similar, doorbell cameras — are a big part of the reason why. Despite that, they’ve also helped people escape house fires, avoid terrifying schemes, and even find missing children. The risk is weighed pretty evenly against the reward, and there’s something to be said for the goofy interactions captured on doorbell cameras as well.
Interactions like the one between Logan and his wife, which serves as an example of yet another handy use for our new front door fixtures. It’s worth keeping in mind the risk to privacy, if you’re looking to add one to your own home, but there are plenty of positives to consider as well.