Is Smart Home tech a fad or the future?

pamsdish

twopenny said:

The only thing that sounds really smart to me is the cat flap. Thats brilliant!
Otherwise more time improving memory and less looking it up on the net

My sisters got broken by an interloper trying to follow her cat in, fight ensued in the cat flap, think she had it a fortnight.
I have 2 echo dots, and smart plugs, can ask the time in the wee small hours, play the radio if I can`t sleep, some quite interesting discussions on 4, replays I assime, turn on the lights in hall/kitchen/bedroom so no groping about in the dark, and as I  am regularily away from home turn on random lights with my phone, besides the random questions/conversions done quickly.

fenwick458

Ganga said:

annabanana82 said:

The term Internet Of Things (IOT) was first coined in 1999 so the premise of smart homes has been around for quite awhile now. 
The first thing to be connected to IOT was actually a toaster which seems quite bizarre. 

With the increase in WFH smart homes may well have their pitfalls, I'm not allowed to work in a room with Alexa type devices and I don't think I'm alone in that though I'm sure many of colleagues pay no heed to the rules.

May i ask why ? just being curios.

security issue I'm guessing. a lot of companies issue their employees with a secure laptop to work from home with. I think basic rules are to work alone too so nobody can hear what you are discussing. if you use a secure laptop next to Alexa then the conversations can be overheard (maybe.. probably..)

strawb_shortcake

Ganga said:

annabanana82 said:

The term Internet Of Things (IOT) was first coined in 1999 so the premise of smart homes has been around for quite awhile now. 
The first thing to be connected to IOT was actually a toaster which seems quite bizarre. 

With the increase in WFH smart homes may well have their pitfalls, I'm not allowed to work in a room with Alexa type devices and I don't think I'm alone in that though I'm sure many of colleagues pay no heed to the rules.

May i ask why ? just being curios.

Security issues, I know people that work in the private sector that have the same rules and are largely ignored. 

Marvel1

Unless a smart device can clean a home - dust, clean bathroom tiles, scrub shower cubicle, I will be interested.    If not then none appeals to me for any use.

pixiebel81

Ant555 said:

PS - My current use for my 'christmas tree' smart plug is to have it connected to my floor lamp.

When im collecting a takeaway, I use the app on my phone to flash the lights when im sat in the car to let everyone in the house know im on my way back and to get to the table and get the plates out! 

Okay, I'm gong to need this one explained to me. Why not use your phone to...phone them?

sourcrates

Ebe_Scrooge said:

I predict this thread is going to grow arms and legs :-)

OK, I'll start the ball rolling - I'm with you on this one.  Sure, advances in technology are inevitable, and some are incredibly useful.  Whether it's the fact that a car is better than a horse and cart, whether it's easier to clean your house with a vacuum cleaner rather than sweeping by hand.  It's great that you can fly from England to Australia in a few hours, rather than spending months on a sailing ship.  The list is endless.

But equally, there are lots of things that I can't fathom.  We recently bought a new dishwasher - a huge number that we saw are "wifi enabled".  What's that all about?  You load it up, set it going before you go to bed, unload it in the morning, job done.  Likewise "smart fridges" - what's that all about?

I can, kind of sort of, get the central heating thing for some people.  Although for us our routine is pretty constant, so a bog-standard programmable timer and twiddly-dial thermostat suits us perfectly.  Robot vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers - again, I kind of get them.  Asking Alexa to switch the light on and off .... well, that just seems to be going too far in my opinion.  Each to their own, I guess.  I think some of it can be quite useful, but a lot of it just seems gimmicky to me.

The late, great, utterly brilliant Dave Allen was way ahead of his time :-)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLhXVswy9-8

It was all predicted in Terminator, the machines will eventually take over the world, and make mankind obsolete....I`ll be back.....you have been warned.   

another_casualty

May have been mentioned already ..but constant software updates ! 

My iMac is set to update automatically . It did not on the last 2 occasions . I found the latest update by chance . 

Then you have the quoted download time . Snails having sex have moved faster 
Apple and the like lie more than politicians . A quoted 1 hr download time , turns to almost 3 . 

Then not all important apps work as they're not prepared in time for the almost weekly updates these days . 

While updating , my Apple TV box had its music library removed temporarily . Another pain 

The joys of smart technology indeed ...

coffeehound

^ yes I rightly or wrongly tend to think of smart technology as more work rather than less.  Seems to me a lot of the functionality is pretty marginal in usefulness, or could simply be achieved by ordinary proximity sensors, dawn-dusk detectors, or timers.  Also if the house isn't warm on getting home, then it will be in 20 minutes' time.  The security functions like notification of alarm triggers and remote viewing do sound worth having, though.

Grenage

I'm in the minimal tech camp, even our door bell is an old fashioned bell with a pull cord.  Simpler stuff, less to go wrong, lasts forever.

I don't think most modern technology saves time or money, and I'm not disabled.

I do have a technical job mind you, so I might have just had enough of it all at work.

Doozergirl

pixiebel81 said:

Ant555 said:

PS - My current use for my 'christmas tree' smart plug is to have it connected to my floor lamp.

When im collecting a takeaway, I use the app on my phone to flash the lights when im sat in the car to let everyone in the house know im on my way back and to get to the table and get the plates out! 

Okay, I'm gong to need this one explained to me. Why not use your phone to...phone them?

Do you have teenagers? 

Their phones work for anything except parents contacting you.