Re:How do you move out of a smarthome?
by kelnos on Thursday November 30, 2017 @05:39PM
(#15820293)
I think we're still early-days for a lot of this home control stuff. The value is still pretty dubious in many cases, and all the vendors seem to think that these devices need to be internet-connected, whether to phone home about usage, provide access from outside the home, or just to receive updates. Obviously both of those things can be incredibly problematic wrt security and privacy, but sadly most companies don't care, and/or hope that the supposed benefits outweigh any concerns (they shouldn't, but often do).
I have an Echo Dot and a couple Hue bulbs in my apartment. The light switch setup is awkward so I end up having to walk in the dark a bit when I get home before I can turn on the lights. Being able to voice-activate the lights as I enter my apartment (or just have the Philips app automatically turn them on when my phone is close enough to home) is useful. Is it essential? No, of course not. Am I concerned about security/privacy? Yes. I've decided that the security risk of someone being able to turn a couple of my lights on and off without my permission isn't that big a deal.
I just picked up a Google Home Mini on discount over the Thanksgiving holiday. I like that I can tell it to play music on my Chromecast, or start Netflix videos on my TV. Again: not essential. But it's a hell of a lot more convenient than fumbling with my phone to do the same things.
My goal longer term is to build an open-hardware, open-software home assistant that can do most things without needing to leave the local network. There are a few projects out there already that do this, or subsets of it, but so far I haven't found much that meets my requirements.
But I totally agree that in many cases these things aren't necessary. They can make things more convenient, but in the absence of, say, someone with mobility or motor control issues, they're not essential. But, say, Google Maps isn't essential either (we have perfectly good paper maps), but I sure as hell wouldn't give it up. I do expect that home control will mature to a point where it's not just a "nice to have" anymore, but I figure we're years, if not decades, from that point.
I have an Echo Dot and a couple Hue bulbs in my apartment. The light switch setup is awkward so I end up having to walk in the dark a bit when I get home before I can turn on the lights. Being able to voice-activate the lights as I enter my apartment (or just have the Philips app automatically turn them on when my phone is close enough to home) is useful. Is it essential? No, of course not. Am I concerned about security/privacy? Yes. I've decided that the security risk of someone being able to turn a couple of my lights on and off without my permission isn't that big a deal.
I just picked up a Google Home Mini on discount over the Thanksgiving holiday. I like that I can tell it to play music on my Chromecast, or start Netflix videos on my TV. Again: not essential. But it's a hell of a lot more convenient than fumbling with my phone to do the same things.
My goal longer term is to build an open-hardware, open-software home assistant that can do most things without needing to leave the local network. There are a few projects out there already that do this, or subsets of it, but so far I haven't found much that meets my requirements.
But I totally agree that in many cases these things aren't necessary. They can make things more convenient, but in the absence of, say, someone with mobility or motor control issues, they're not essential. But, say, Google Maps isn't essential either (we have perfectly good paper maps), but I sure as hell wouldn't give it up. I do expect that home control will mature to a point where it's not just a "nice to have" anymore, but I figure we're years, if not decades, from that point.