Gadgets

As a long-time member of the household kitchen - aka chief cook and bottle-washer - I've developed an affinity for gadgets, especially gadgets that save time.  There have been some new ones lately that are outstanding.  

At what point does the proliferation of gadgets make the process less satisfying?

To go back to the kitchen analogy (and the seed that started this post) - today I bought a package of 2 already shucked ears of corn, which I brought home, washed, and stuffed into a microwavable bag.  Three minutes of nuking, and - voila! - corn on the cob.  

Used to be a couple of us kids were commandeered to go out to the backyard garden to pull ripe ears off the stalks (the result of months of tilling, sowing, weeding and praying for rain), and drop them into a old peach basket (after picking off the worms, of course).  Then, we stood by the fence line shucking the ears and throwing the shucks and silk to the cows for a snack, making sure to get as much ON the cows as possible (which for some reason was hilariously funny).  After bringing a huge pot of water boil, adding the ears to cook for awhile, then draining, we could spread on the butter and feast.  

Yeah - gadgets save us time but it was kinda quiet cooking my ears of corn today.    Just not the same.