It finally happened. I don’t have a single key anymore. Our entry door, front door, laundry room, recycling room, guest apartment, party venue and my company office all now have electronic tags.
No keys!
They have gone the way of
- dial telephones
- the carriage return key that remains only as the name of the return key on a computer keyboard
- wind-down windows in cars
- computer diskettes that remain only as the Save icon in computer software
- ignition keys
- separate computer boot disks that remain only as the boot function
I don’t even have a tag. We installed a smart lock, which opens with a code or with smartphone. It’s battery-operated, so power cuts aren’t a problem. Software problems can be a problem, but physical key is not 100% safe either (one can loose it, it can break etc).
The only key I use now is my car ignition key. My brand new electric car still has one (Renault Twingo).
I categorically refused to have a tag when they changed the system at work as I have had a bad experience once. There had been a power cut in our flat and I had to wait for about two hours on the pavement until someone opened the hall door from the inside. I much prefer the good old keys which don’t break or get useless in case of power failure. The only tag I have is for my car but even there I still carry a key just in case.
They’d have to pay me a fortune to swap my keys for tags!
There should be a battery back up on these systems. All the ones I installed in a previous life had that, plus a normal key lock as well!
They should have one indeed. But I learnt the hard way that it’s not the case for all of them. They have a normal key lock and that’s what I use.
I guess I was too excited to be able to only have to carry tags instead of heavy bunches of keys. I have changed my mind about five years ago and my tags have been sleeping in a drawer since then with a few magnetic cards which are as useless as tags.
You’ve just blown my mind : i never thought that younger generations have no idea what this Save icon represents! Wow! I’m gen X and I feel suddenly old 😀
I kid you not —> click here
Always a worry if there is a power cut! I lived in an apartment which had a main door you could open by either a key or a fob. Arrived home from work one day to find there was a power cut and most of my neighbours were standing around outside. Luckily I was the only person who had the key on my key ring. I was very popular that day!