[chongli]

I like smart devices for their automation potential. I use smart plugs to turn on and off lights, coffee makers, grow lights, heating mats. The ability to quickly program a plug to turn on every morning at 10am and turn off again at 10pm is valuable to me. It's even more valuable if you get into hobbies like aquarium keeping where you can automate lights and fish feeders.

Yes, you can do all of these things manually, but are you good at keeping a flawless schedule? It may not matter if you forget to turn on the coffee maker but it matters a lot if you forget to feed the fish. And you won't always be available to handle these things every single day, unless you work from home and follow an extremely rigid schedule.

[stevage]

I'm curious about the coffee maker bit. I drink espresso and I can't really imagine a benefit in turning something a device on if someone isn't there to also put coffee in it, pour it etc.

How much time does it save you having your coffee maker or before you go to get coffee?

[chongli]

I drink espresso as well. It takes 1/2 hour to warm up the machine after I turn it on. Having it turn on and be ready for me when I want to make a coffee saves 1/2 hour. Plus I have time-of-use billing for electricity so having it turn on early in the morning during off-peak hours saves money! It takes more energy to heat the thing up to operating temperature than it does to maintain that temperature all day.

[stevage]

Ah yes, makes sense. I use a stovetop pot on an induction plate. It heats up super fast.

[rubatuga]

The thing with a fish feeder is that it can be completely analog and still work fine.

[chongli]

Only if you're feeding once a day. You often want to feed 2 or even 3 times a day with a smaller amount at each feeding time. This tends to lead to less wasted food.

[bartonfink]

You've made a stunning point. There's no analog way to make things happen more than once a day. The logic is clear and irrefutable. Well done.

[chongli]

You feed fish during the day when the light is on. If you feed them 3 times a day and the light is on for a 12 hour period, that’s once every 4 hours 3 times followed by 12 hours of rest. What analog timer can do that?

[bartonfink]

A 12 hour one with stops every four hours. Reset the timer when you fill the feeder in the morning.

If this was an interview question I would reject the job. You don't seem worth working with.

[chongli]

That’s not going to work if you’re going on a vacation for a week. You want to fill the feeder with a week’s worth of food at a time and have it feed every day according to the schedule. Control the power to the feeder with a smart plug and set the feeder’s internal timer to 4 hours.