This article gives a nice overview of home automation, with a big focus on data privacy and self-sufficiency. I'm working on automating my own home, and I really enjoyed the tone and the content...
This article gives a nice overview of home automation, with a big focus on data privacy and self-sufficiency.
I'm working on automating my own home, and I really enjoyed the tone and the content in this article.
I like the idea of home automation and I know I can self host everything and not be reliant on corporations but it just seems like more risk than its worth. A dumb offline light bulb or door lock...
I like the idea of home automation and I know I can self host everything and not be reliant on corporations but it just seems like more risk than its worth. A dumb offline light bulb or door lock can not be hacked without physical access. Setting up connected devices is just exposing yourself to more risk where the only payoff is that you can check the lights are off when away from home and to feel cool and high tech.
I don't care for smart homes. Unless I'm getting a truly mind-blowing functionality that will quite literally change my life, I don't like the idea of getting dependent on a bunch of sophisticated devices that will eventually fail, requiring expensive replacements. When my bedroom lamp dies, I like the fact that I can just get a one dollar replacement at any Wall Mart. I don't mind a few wires and hitting a few switches in order to do what I want - it is honestly not the worst thing in the world. Unlike voice controls, buttons work almost 100% of the time and don't require me to adjust my accent, volume, phrasing or tone of voice. I probably won't "smarticize" my life until these devices become as reliable and cheap as their dumb counterparts. And this may take some time.
Yeah, the simplicity of dumb stuff is really nice. However, I think of this automation stuff as a hobby--I'm willing to put in a bunch of time to avoid using unreliable services hosted by other...
Yeah, the simplicity of dumb stuff is really nice.
However, I think of this automation stuff as a hobby--I'm willing to put in a bunch of time to avoid using unreliable services hosted by other companies/people, just so long that I can put that time in on my own terms. I'd expect the actual hardware to be pretty reliable, since it doesn't have any moving or wearing parts.
This probably makes more sense in countries where the currency is either the US dollar or with a value similar to it. When that is not the case, unnecessary tech is a luxury.
This probably makes more sense in countries where the currency is either the US dollar or with a value similar to it. When that is not the case, unnecessary tech is a luxury.
This article gives a nice overview of home automation, with a big focus on data privacy and self-sufficiency.
I'm working on automating my own home, and I really enjoyed the tone and the content in this article.
I like the idea of home automation and I know I can self host everything and not be reliant on corporations but it just seems like more risk than its worth. A dumb offline light bulb or door lock can not be hacked without physical access. Setting up connected devices is just exposing yourself to more risk where the only payoff is that you can check the lights are off when away from home and to feel cool and high tech.
I'll quote myself from some months ago:
Yeah, the simplicity of dumb stuff is really nice.
However, I think of this automation stuff as a hobby--I'm willing to put in a bunch of time to avoid using unreliable services hosted by other companies/people, just so long that I can put that time in on my own terms. I'd expect the actual hardware to be pretty reliable, since it doesn't have any moving or wearing parts.
This probably makes more sense in countries where the currency is either the US dollar or with a value similar to it. When that is not the case, unnecessary tech is a luxury.