[ribchinski]

Well... I don't particularly agree with everything this guy is saying, but he is right about the internet of things. In my experience, it is quite useless, and it is a danger to privacy. One of the my friends constantly uses Amazon Alexa and Siri for even the most basic questions like, "What is x + y?" which could be easily done faster on a desk calculator. Either I am a person who likes to make things more inconvenient for myself, or I just don't understand modern technology.

[tvanantwerp]

I think IoT doesn't yet deliver an order of magnitude value-add over analog technologies. It's really not so hard for me to flip my own light switch or find some music to play without issuing voice commands. And I never have to worry about a light switch getting borked by a bad update or malware or connectivity issues.

When my home is smart enough to cook all my meals and do dishes and fold laundry, then I'm ready to buy into it.

[wakkaflokka]

I can agree on the privacy concerns front, but for what it's worth, I've found my Google Home to be quite helpful. So if we're solely talking about how it can be helpful:

- When I'm cooking and my hands are dirty and I want to set a timer

- When I'm cooking and my hands are dirty and I want to change music/lower volume/raise volume/call someone (or do a measurement conversion)

- Turning off all the lights in my house when I'm already in bed and forgot whether I left some on

- Laying in bed with the gf and asking random questions out of curiosity

- Asking how long it will take to get somewhere if my gf and I are pondering some place to eat but are at the dinner table without our phones

- Get home after having a few beers and dive into the messy chicken wings with both my hands, and then realize I want to turn on the TV, play a show or change the current one on my Shield.. perfect use for the GH

- Since I already look at my phone way too much (potentially straining muscles in my neck), I can leave my phone in another room and still get quick answers to deep life questions without tilting my neck downwards

They're all __super__ minor of course, but honestly, I'm so used to the convenience now it actually feels weird to have to do some of these things 'manually'. I do understand there are serious concerns about privacy that may or may not offset the benefits, definitely plenty of room for discussion on that.

[ribchinski]

Yeah, I see. I don't know, due to my Russo-Ukrainian accent, I have been dissuaded from using voice recognition software since Siri was released.

But, I see how useful it can be when your hands are busy! My home has an ancient early 2000 smart home installed, which can be updated at a pretty big price, so I don't bother. I guess I am just used to my "inconvenience."

[pavel_lishin]

> "What is x + y?" which could be easily done faster on a desk calculator.

Yes, assuming you're already sitting at your desk, with your desk calculator in hand.

Also, this might be a generational gap issue here, but desk calculator? Not smartphone? (And if I'm at my desk, my goto is usually "ipython<ENTER>x+y<ENTER>" anyway.)

[ribchinski]

Okay, sorry man. Due to me being a huge computer geek, I refer to most calculators as. "desk calculators," due to my experience with old technology and Unix software. Let's just say that I am part of the earliest Gen Z's. (I came from a second world country, so, maybe that's why I have more experience with older tech.)

[pavel_lishin]

Sorry, my point wasn't to call you out - but it's unequivocally faster to call out "Hey Dingbat, what's 7 + 17" than it is to pull out a device, unless that device is already unlocked and in your hand.

(Also, howdy fellow second-world country person! Pretty nice to meet someone who knows the term :P)

[spronkey]

That's quite untrue for more complex examples of 7 + 17.

"Hey Dingbat, what's 10 percent of 50 times 33 times 125. Oh sorry, 10 percent of open parentheses 50 times 33 times 125 close parentheses".

Even just talking it is substantially slower than typing the number into a calculator. App, desktop, or phone.

[ribchinski]

Especially when there are parenthesis. And when you are in the kitchen, well... it is loud. Accents mess the voice recognition + the sound of the kitchen.

[IshKebab]

> "What is x + y?" which could be easily done faster on a desk calculator.

I seriously doubt that even if we still lived in a world where normal people actually owned calculators. This is just "No wireless. Less space than a nomad." again.

[ribchinski]

You'd be surprised, people still own calculators! Also, please, don't call me a nomad. As a programmer, I always have a binary and scientific calculator at hand.

And just because I don't particularly enjoy IOT of Wireless Headphones, does not mean that I am a nomad, mate!