The electric toothbrush, one year later

The capitalist man has a tendency to complicate (and charge for) everything around him. Want to go running in 2026? Buy a pro running shoes, drink whey protein every day, sign up and pay to run with other people and receive a banana and a cheap tin medal at the finish line. For a long time, I regarded the electric toothbrush as one of those low-return, almost useless advances, even though I had never used one. It didn’t help that, until a few years ago, it was an object I only saw in American movies and TV shows — the United States being one of the world leaders in inventing dispensable gadgets. About a year ago, in mid-2025, I bought one. I don’t remember whether I was influenced by something I read (likely), only that the price seemed reasonable enough to give convenience a chance. I went with the Xiaomi Mijia T100, the Chinese manufacturer’s most basic model. In use, it vibrates the equivalent of 16,500 strokes per minute, which puts it among the slowest on the market. There are…