I bought some awful light bulbs so you don't have to

Re:I bought some awful light bulbs so you don't have to by mikeash on Thursday February 25, 2016 @12:16PM (#11175914)

I can see the use, but what confuses me is why there's so much emphasis on putting the smarts in the bulbs. It would make a lot more sense to me to use normal bulbs and put the smarts in the switches. I'm sure there are switches out there like that, it's just not what people talk about.

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Re:I bought some awful light bulbs so you don't have to by fps on Thursday February 25, 2016 @01:16PM (#11176402)

There are modules like this: http://aeotec.com/z-wave-in-wall-switches/170-micro-smart-ap... that work with hubs like wink or smarthings, but home electrical wiring isn't consistent, so the installation isn't like the 1-2-3 easy setup you get from something like Hue.

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Re:I bought some awful light bulbs so you don't have to by cweiss on Friday February 26, 2016 @11:42AM (#11182327)

Others have chimed in on the ease of bulb installation VS ease of switch installation. One other point is that the most you can get from a remote switch-only installation is variance in brightness, no RGB control.

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Re:I bought some awful light bulbs so you don't have to by bluedino on Thursday February 25, 2016 @12:28PM (#11176001)

It's a heck of a lot easier to swap out a bulb than a switch.

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Re:I bought some awful light bulbs so you don't have to by mikeash on Thursday February 25, 2016 @12:35PM (#11176062)

Eh, it's a little easier. With the switch, when the lighting bits die (less common with LEDs now, but it still happens) you don't have to toss all the expensive switch electronics.

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