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I don't want it to be smart. I don't want a 'smart' blender or a 'smart' fridge or a 'smart' doorbell or whatever else you can think of. Most of this internet o

by CM30 10y ago

I don't want it to be smart. I don't want a 'smart' blender or a 'smart' fridge or a 'smart' doorbell or whatever else you can think of. Most of this internet of things stuff is a bunch of quasi solutions looking for an actual problem. I'd rather one that doesn't need replacing as often and works better as a traditional device.

Aloha 10y ago
I agree with you wholeheartedly, an exception for me would be a smart thermostat I think - but that's largely it. I don't want an internet of things, I just want my things to work better, last longer and cost less money.
- noir_lord 10y ago
  I'd be happier if they costed the same and lasted longer or twice as much and four times longer. It used to be that you could spend more and get a more durable good but those days seem to have gone and other than aesthetics there doesn't seem to be the correlation between price and durability there was, I've had two £40 quid kettles fail in under a year a piece and the £6 quid one I got as a stopgap is still going 3 years later.
  - jonah 10y ago
    I'd be happy with it costing twice as much and lasting twice as long. Your total outlay is the same but you get to use a better device the whole time.
jws 10y ago
I want my blender to be smart enough to soft start the motor and to notice that it's stuck on an ice cube and not blow it's internal fuse. Fuse blowing = Insufficiently Smart Blender. You can avoid this by oversizing electrical components, but being smart is probably cheaper. Smart doesn't have to mean complicated UI. Smart appliances could also learn which ones are on the same circuit by watching voltage fluctuation and coordinate current usage. You see this in a primitive form at some older motels where the coffee maker is plugged into the refrigerator. It knows to not run the compressor while heating water.
- the_watcher 10y ago
  This isn't what "smart" refers to these days though. You're just describing a higher quality product. Smart, today, equals connected and part of the Internet of Things.
  - pessimizer 10y ago
    Agreed. If a blender that shuts off when jammed is "smart" then anything with a circuit breaker is "smart," too.
the_watcher 10y ago
Smart TV, smart thermostat, smart lighting, and a smart fridge are really the only connected household items I can see myself enjoying (the ad where the guy looks at what's in fridge in the grocery store worked on me). Other than that, some kind of smart electricity (turn things on and off remotely - more about remote management than anything else, ensure all lights are off, etc) is about all I can see myself wanting. I don't need a smart doorbell when I could just have a peephole or a camera (that isn't networked anywhere that isn't local). I definitely don't need a smart blender. And I absolutely do not need a smart bed or smart bed sheets (unless someone invents a way for them to wash themselves - I'd buy that).
- nitrogen 10y ago
  A "smart" doorbell could automatically pause your DVR, connect you to a one-way camera/mic system, and give you the option of turning on the two-way intercom, all without having to walk to the door. Very useful if you have a large or poorly laid out house where anything is far away from the front door. You could also set it up to send an SMS when a package is delivered and the delivery person rings the bell. A conceivable smart bed would integrate with your sleep tracker, calendar, smart lights, and audio system to measure your sleep and wake you up at the optimum time. But all of this needs to be done (and could be done) with strong privacy protections and network-level isolation.
  - the_watcher 10y ago
    I'm not saying I can't see any applications of smart tech in these spaces at all, just that they're wildly unnecessary in the average person's life. I can see the smart doorbell being useful if you have a very, very large house. And to me, there just doesn't seem to be much application for a smart bed that isn't already very well-covered by wearables and smart tech that already exists and is in reasonably wide use (unless said smart bed can intelligently clean and change my sheets and make the bed. In that case, proceed in haste).
GregBuchholz 10y ago
Lately I've been wondering about very slow technology adopter groups/individuals. Let say that "Amish" are content with 1700's technology. If you want to move beyond horse and carriage, you could be a practitioner of the steam engine era of the 1880's, and reject other modern conveniences. If you like electric lighting, refrigeration, and automobiles, then you might be a 1930's type person. Maybe personal computers are useful, but you don't need anything beyond very basic computational needs, and are fine with 1980's technology. Is there a name for this? I suppose some-sort of derogatory Luddite term might apply. But what about voluntary groups, who don't care about the rest of the world, they just want to live a "simpler" life. Has anyone written on this subject? Are their any practitioners?

by CM30 10y ago

Aloha 10y ago

I agree with you wholeheartedly, an exception for me would be a smart thermostat I think - but that's largely it. I don't want an internet of things, I just want my things to work better, last longer and cost less money.

noir_lord 10y ago
I'd be happier if they costed the same and lasted longer or twice as much and four times longer. It used to be that you could spend more and get a more durable good but those days seem to have gone and other than aesthetics there doesn't seem to be the correlation between price and durability there was, I've had two £40 quid kettles fail in under a year a piece and the £6 quid one I got as a stopgap is still going 3 years later.
- jonah 10y ago
  I'd be happy with it costing twice as much and lasting twice as long. Your total outlay is the same but you get to use a better device the whole time.

jws 10y ago

I want my blender to be smart enough to soft start the motor and to notice that it's stuck on an ice cube and not blow it's internal fuse. Fuse blowing = Insufficiently Smart Blender. You can avoid this by oversizing electrical components, but being smart is probably cheaper. Smart doesn't have to mean complicated UI. Smart appliances could also learn which ones are on the same circuit by watching voltage fluctuation and coordinate current usage. You see this in a primitive form at some older motels where the coffee maker is plugged into the refrigerator. It knows to not run the compressor while heating water.

the_watcher 10y ago
This isn't what "smart" refers to these days though. You're just describing a higher quality product. Smart, today, equals connected and part of the Internet of Things.
- pessimizer 10y ago
  Agreed. If a blender that shuts off when jammed is "smart" then anything with a circuit breaker is "smart," too.

the_watcher 10y ago

Smart TV, smart thermostat, smart lighting, and a smart fridge are really the only connected household items I can see myself enjoying (the ad where the guy looks at what's in fridge in the grocery store worked on me). Other than that, some kind of smart electricity (turn things on and off remotely - more about remote management than anything else, ensure all lights are off, etc) is about all I can see myself wanting. I don't need a smart doorbell when I could just have a peephole or a camera (that isn't networked anywhere that isn't local). I definitely don't need a smart blender. And I absolutely do not need a smart bed or smart bed sheets (unless someone invents a way for them to wash themselves - I'd buy that).

nitrogen 10y ago
A "smart" doorbell could automatically pause your DVR, connect you to a one-way camera/mic system, and give you the option of turning on the two-way intercom, all without having to walk to the door. Very useful if you have a large or poorly laid out house where anything is far away from the front door. You could also set it up to send an SMS when a package is delivered and the delivery person rings the bell. A conceivable smart bed would integrate with your sleep tracker, calendar, smart lights, and audio system to measure your sleep and wake you up at the optimum time. But all of this needs to be done (and could be done) with strong privacy protections and network-level isolation.
- the_watcher 10y ago
  I'm not saying I can't see any applications of smart tech in these spaces at all, just that they're wildly unnecessary in the average person's life. I can see the smart doorbell being useful if you have a very, very large house. And to me, there just doesn't seem to be much application for a smart bed that isn't already very well-covered by wearables and smart tech that already exists and is in reasonably wide use (unless said smart bed can intelligently clean and change my sheets and make the bed. In that case, proceed in haste).

GregBuchholz 10y ago

Lately I've been wondering about very slow technology adopter groups/individuals. Let say that "Amish" are content with 1700's technology. If you want to move beyond horse and carriage, you could be a practitioner of the steam engine era of the 1880's, and reject other modern conveniences. If you like electric lighting, refrigeration, and automobiles, then you might be a 1930's type person. Maybe personal computers are useful, but you don't need anything beyond very basic computational needs, and are fine with 1980's technology. Is there a name for this? I suppose some-sort of derogatory Luddite term might apply. But what about voluntary groups, who don't care about the rest of the world, they just want to live a "simpler" life. Has anyone written on this subject? Are their any practitioners?