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by vineyardmike 811 days ago
As another commenter alluded to, good Smarthome tech becomes an appliance, which isn’t a desirable high margin business, and bad tech becomes a nuisance which is also not a desirable business.

That’s why Google is slowly getting out of it and shifting their focus from Nest. That’s why Apple never did much beyond a few speakers, and it’s why Amazon is right at home in that business (but even they’re getting out of the money-losing voice assistant aspect).

Robotics… seem like a miss to me. Very few tasks at home are as simple as vacuuming, but maybe I just lack the creativity and vision. Apple surely has some great tech left over from the car R&D so who knows. Apple is unfortunately not great at a “communal” perspective when making things.

I think a big issue no one talks about will be robot storage/garages. It’s already an issue for Roomba and anything bigger will be a no-go for many households. That is probably apples best chance - make it pleasant to look at and a status symbol.
2 comments
Izkata 810 days ago
> Robotics… seem like a miss to me. Very few tasks at home are as simple as vacuuming, but maybe I just lack the creativity and vision.

SwitchBot is working on something I haven't seen elsewhere yet: Making robot vacuums double as mops is becoming common, and and a few have modifications to hook into the water/waste lines so you don't have to refill it, but SwitchBot made that as part of its primary design because they got the idea to use the robot to ferry water around other places: it can automatically refill their humidifier and empty their dehumidifier.

I could imagine further enhancements for watering plants, or maybe if it's a success a future one that cleans rugs may become feasible.

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pjerem 811 days ago
> Robotics… seem like a miss to me. Very few tasks at home are as simple as vacuuming

Even vacuuming was pretty hard. Most vacuum robots were a disappointment until maybe 2 or 3 years.

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vineyardmike 811 days ago
Oh absolutely, it just has the advantage of being a well know and relatively simple machine (the vacuum), that is expected to roll across the floor, and is expected to avoid household objects instead of interacting with them.

Almost all other tasks either operate at human-hands level (significantly bigger robot) or need intimate understanding of you and your home (eg picking things up off the floor) or need a ton of dexterity (folding clothes). Or all three.

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