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Once again, one of the biggest underlying problems is "why" - or more technically, what is the use case behind <technology>? This was always a problem back when it was merely "home automation" but as we started this "IoT" craze things only got worse. I laugh at the ancedote in the article about voice control just behind frustrating and resorting to using the physical buttons. No one has ever explained why I'd want to remotely control my lights. Or why I would remotely turn on my coffee maker, after I have to physically touch it to prepare it before-hand anyway. Some amount of this tech is useful when it goes unnoticed and solves real problems. For example, my outside lights turn on dimly at sunset and turn off at midnight, unless there's motion or my garage door is open, then they go to 100%. If no inside lights are already on, the front hall and a couple other lights turn on as it gets dark. This means we never come home to a dark house, but also if we're already home, we aren't having lights automatically changing on us. I can control many things from my phone, but it's pointless. There's a button in the entrance to the kitchen that turns on several lights (that otherwise require using switches in four separate locations), another that makes them all dim, and another for off. If we leave them on, they turn off automatically by 3am. So much of these IoT products do not solve useful problems, do not blend seamlessly into your life, and do not even work well in the first place. |