[paulgerhardt]

Founder bias here, but...

As someone who lives with three adult roommates who all have S.O.'s we have people in and out all the time.

As someone who lived by himself in college it was nice to know when the landlord came by.

As someone who runs a startup, it provides more benefit than a typical modern access control system without the $3000 price tag.

For American locks, the deadbolt provides most of the security. The handle can usually be loided and is kind of only useful if you're stepping out for a minute to grab the mail and want to shut the door behind you.

For letting someone in remotely, you usually have an idea that they're coming over first. If they were to show up unsolicited, you would likely call first.

[krapp]

Is it possible to use just the alert features and disable the open/close mechanism? My first impression -- being able to open a deadbolt with a text message seems like a bad idea (sooner or later it has to become hackable) but knowing, remotely, when someone's knocked or used the deadbolt seems really useful.

[paulgerhardt]

Sure, just cut the wires hooked up to the motor with a pair of snips.

Or get a Twine instead: http://vimeo.com/41895848 Either works.

[lessnonymous]

Hi Paul, thanks for your reply, and congrats on the campaign! Forgive my scepticism around the product, instead take it as a sign of respect from someone in marketing ;-D

> As someone who lives with three adult roommates who all have S.O.'s we have people in and out all the time.

Do standard keys not work for this? Or do you often have bad breakups that would mean physical danger if someone didn't give their key back and the landlord couldn't replace the lock?

> As someone who lived by himself in college it was nice to know when the landlord came by.

Interesting .. it's illegal here in Australia for a landlord to enter a rented property without seven days notice and they can only do that (twice?) per year for an inspection. It's possible that it does happen to some people, but there's fairly clear laws about it.

> As someone who runs a startup, it provides more benefit than a typical modern access control system without the $3000 price tag.

Again .. keys aren't that expensive if you're not using serviced office space.

> For American locks, the deadbolt provides most of the security. The handle can usually be loided and is kind of only useful if you're stepping out for a minute to grab the mail and want to shut the door behind you.

Interesting .. is "loiding" really a common problem that causes most break-ins? Around here, nobody bothers with locked doors. They either find a window that's open (or can be forced) or they move to the next house. (Or they're meth heads who'll just break shit and nobody's lock would stop them). Basically, nobody breaks into anywhere via the front door.

> For letting someone in remotely, you usually have an idea that they're coming over first. If they were to show up unsolicited, you would likely call first.

I'd never let anyone into my house that I wasn't expecting and had therefore not provided a key for. If a friend arrived at my home unexpectedly I'd .. actually, that's never happened.

Thanks for your response and entertaining my scepticism!

[Firehed]

Physical keys can be lost, copied, forgotten about, etc. The chance of that becoming a problem increases massively with the number of people that need access.

It's quite easy to avoid all those problems by digitizing access. Cost of keys is basically irrelevant (maybe two dollars) compared to the headache of losing them.

To be fair, most locks offer very minimal physical security - like you say, someone targeting you will just break a window. But some random junkie is just as likely to pick the house with the door unlocked. The trick to avoid being a randomly-targeted victim is to be harder to attack than your neighbors.

Also Paul if you read this, can I get my camera back again? :)

[tedunangst]

Changing the lock probably violates your lease. And if you wanted to catch them entering your apartment without notice, something like a camera that creates readily identified evidence would be a better idea.

[stcredzero]

A little tiny camera on the inside that can take still pictures would be a dandy v2 feature.

[mikeash]

Isn't the whole point of this device that it works with your existing lock?

[tedunangst]

I wasn't sure if it can be configured to prohibit key access. How strong is it? If it can, it's unauthorized. If it can't, it's not keeping your landlord out.

[mikeash]

He said he wanted to know when the landlord came, not keep him out. As far as I know, it won't even attempt to stop the key from opening the lock, but it will detect it.

[adgar2]

If you keep your landlord out, you're violating your lease. At least under any sane lease.