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by _Robbie 4457 days ago
Is there any more information on what exactly the problem was? From the article it is unclear if this is a pure software bug, a UI problem, or something else.
1 comments

More here http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/83e63a02-bb7c-11e3-8d4a-00144feabd... (registration required)

Basically the wave to disable alarm feature is too aggressive, and other movements can disable it.

I remember when the smoke detector was first on HN. Some people saying wave to disarm was a great feature and some were saying it was a terrible feature.

I guess terrible won out. It is still a scary feature to me in concept, even if it wasn't broken. This is a safety device, it shouldn't be easy to disarm.

If you don't provide a safe way to temporarily disarm a smoke detector, your users will find unsafe ways to do it.

So providing a wave-to-disarm feature could literally save lives, if it discourages people from removing batteries or placing tape over the speaker.

I don't think I've ever had a smoke alarm that doesn't turn off if you just press the test button.
"Just"? How tall are you?
Maybe others have vaulted ceilings in huge mansions, but a standing on a chair has been enough for me. It's hardly a difficult task, and certainly easier than removing the battery or putting tape over the speaker which appeared to be the alternatives suggested above.
Old smoke detectors had this feature. You just take the battery out. I have to do this to one of mine every time we use our broiler. I'm sure I'm not the only person who ever removed a battery an forgot to replace it for awhile. At least the nest feature is temporary.
>Old smoke detectors had this feature. You just take the battery out.

The feature was having the detector unknowingly disabled. A better analogy would be the batteries in your smoke detector running out.

My understanding is that it's temporarily disabled by the wave. Is that not the case? It's still an issue if a fire starts and you aren't alerted for 20 minutes but I'm curious.
I've said this elsewhere, but I don't think I've ever had a smoke alarm that couldn't be turned off by pressing the test button.
> I guess terrible won out. It is still a scary feature to me in concept, even if it wasn't broken. This is a safety device, it shouldn't be easy to disarm.

The scary feature is my current method of taking the battery out of the smoke detector. I have yet to understand how this "old feature" is better than nest's feature.

Like people running out of the house?