Thank you for that. I was thinking; wait people actually care about the weather but this makes sense. As someone without kids, we have not checked the weather for over 10 years and so using that as an example 'what people talk about' sounded weird to me.

It is interesting how little we now need to think on the weather.

With modern heating systems (specifically thermostatic radiator valves) we no longer need to ensure that the heating is prepared at the right time, so we don't need to know the weather.

With the prevalence of tumble driers washing doesn't need to hang out, so we don't need to know the weather.

Most modern clothing is suitable for a very large range of temperatures and good waterproofs can be comparatively small and lightweight, allowing them to be brought everywhere without burden, so we don't need to know the weather.

Cars and roads have improved significantly, the impact of the weather on a small or long journey is often negligible, so we don't need to know the weather.

More jobs are performed indoors now and where they aren't special machines and tooling have been made that make the job easier alongside significantly reducing the risk and discomfort that weather can cause, so we don't need to know the weather.

There remain some situations where knowing the weather is very important, but very few of them affect 'the general populace' is a consistent enough manner to cause them to waste time following it.

Conversely, many jobs need to be performed on the schedule that was agreed upon beforehand regardless of the weather. The weather is rarely accepted as a legitimate source of everyday disruption and misery, except in extreme events.

Case in point, my area got 11" of snow overnight recently and my wife got yelled at for being late to work because subcompact cars don't do too well in the deep snow. So people end up buying SUVs that they drive year-round just for the 1% of the time when they're really needed.

So looking at the price difference... I'd buy a smaller car and tell my boss that its not worth it (unless I'm being paid the big bucks).

Then again I'm British, and an American I've recently befriended has shown me how different attitudes to the employer employee relationship can be

Idk.. sounds very weird to me because when I was a kid in the Northeast I had one (1) winter jacket. If it was between September and March I left the house with the jacket else I didn't. Simple. I can't imagine my parents ever checking the weather and I can't imagine a child owning several jackets. Very odd. People make things much too complicated.

> People make things much too complicated.

Pretty much the story of modern civilization. Just step outside and check the temperature, and look up at the clouds and guess if it's gonna rain later. Wear a sweat shirt or waterproof windbreaker if in doubt. Or you can just not care about getting mildly cold or wet. I say this as someone who spent 25 years in Minnesota.

Honestly there has been a few times in my entire life I've checked the weather report for guidance on how to dress. Every single time I've been burned and ended up dressing inappropriately. I do much better using my own senses. However, I don't really use an umbrella because I never had one growing up so I guess if you wanted to make sure you weren't caught in the rain without one you'd have to check the weather report.

And then you have a kid who you have to pick up from school, you are going to be at work until you pick them up. It might look fine in the morning but might rain in the afternoon.

But sure, you don't need umbrella either and we could all be driving open cars :)

Meh, if my kid is anything like me, they won't care about getting wet. If they do care then they can buy a Google Home with their allowance and check the weather to their heart's content. Plus, no plans to send my future children to school or to be working a 9-5 job.

My kids don't care about getting wet either. I do.

Don't get one if you don't want to, the discussion is whether it's useful and it is. Not just for the weather not just for rain. For many little things in life.

This winter so far the temp ranged from 2f to 60f... In 48 hours... So in those cases you know if it is single jacket, double jacket, or sweatshirt.

That's one example. Schedules, playing music, guitar tuner, uke tuner, metric conversion when hands are dirty from cooking, and plenty of other examples are abundant in our house

Yes, I am extremely familiar with that temperature fluctuation. I still owned 1 winter jacket and if I got hot I unzipped it or took it off. We didn't have money for multiple fancy jackets or sweaters or whatever. You'd outgrow your multiple jackets before you even got to wear them.

So it doesn't rain in the summer? It doesn't rain in the fall? It doesn't rain in the spring?

Nothing complicated about it, it's just a reality for many people.

Well, in my case, I didn't own an umbrella as a kid and neither did any other kid I knew, so I guess it didn't matter.

And 200 years ago we didn't have umbrellas. Sure, none of it matters. You don't need a television either. You don't need running shoes to run.

Not sure what you think you are proving here.

I'm simply answering a question you, yourself, asked. Sorry for having the "wrong" answer.

I didn't really think of rain in my original comment because when I was growing up we literally just walked in the rain.

you didn't use computers either, or cellphones, or visited this forum.

Again whats your point?

+this. You just described every morning at my house (including asking Google home what the weather is), and we only have one kid. It's also very useful that everyone in the room gets to hear the answer. Same for setting timers. "you have five minutes left of play time. " It makes the process very transparent. We have a 20 minute walk to school, rain, snow, or shine, and getting the munchkin dressed appropriately (and willingly) is key.

Both Alexa and Google home have been great with a kid.

People used to have passive displays of the outdoor weather, that could be checked handsfree.[0] No voice-recognition spy machine necessary.

[0] http://www.leevalley.com/en/images/item/Gardening/ab804s1.jp...

Personally, I devote the upper 1/8th of my phone's homescreen to a widget that shows a weather graph (temp, rain/snow, wind) for the next 36 hours. The forecast updates every 2 hours.

But then again, we live a few hours north of the location where they filmed the Battle of Hoth. Asking anyone, let alone a machine, "what is the weather outside" gives you little information about the weather in six hours.

Must be interesting to live that far north. FWIW further south people configure their phones likewise because the question of whether there will be rain is when rather than if - or at least during the rainier season(s).

Or you can buy a bit more advanced but disconnected from IoT botnet:

https://www.amazon.com/AcuRite-02027A1-Forecast-Temperature-...

Yes good point, my granddad had barometer etc.

There is something about the tangibility of information we use a lot. Instead of it being hidden behind login, app launch etc we just access it directly.