I think that explains the referee's leg protections.

Yeah, I remember my parents telling not to use my real name or give out any personal details on the internet, for my own safety. Anonymity was for our own protection. Today the idea seems to be the opposite, you should give out as much information as possible to stay safe, and anonymity is only for cyber bullies, terrorist and child pornographers.

In my opinion, the problem with smart devices and Internet of things is that it adds a lot of complexity for, in most cases, a small convenience. Complexity adds bugs, or at least potential for bugs, and bugs can add more inconvenience than the convenience the device is supposed to offer. Not to mention the security aspects. There's still a lot of security and reliability improvements to be done before I personally switch my light bulbs for wifi connected smart bulbs, if I ever do that.

It should also be noted that while a lot of these gadgets may seem unnecessary and even straight up retarded, the small conveniences they offer could mean a great deal for people with disabilities. Assuming they don't stop working randomly due to firmware upgrades and things like that.