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I'm always fascinated by people's fascination with smart mirrors. I don't get it myself, but I like their enthusiasm.

Uehreka 10y ago
For me, the mirror aspect is a neat addition, but really I just like having an always-on screen that displays data at my slightest whim. It's a lower friction way of getting weather data than pulling out my phone and opening an app. Other things I've thought about implementing or partially implemented: - A CPU or memory graph for my servers (or real time Google Analytics data). - A graph of my WiFi's connection speed so I can tell when Comcast is dropping the ball. - A graph of the travel time with traffic for my commute so I can make decisions about when to leave for work.
- ineptech 10y ago
  Just for another perspective, I intentionally left voice commands off of my mirror because the last thing I wanted was another thing to interact with, mere feet away from my laptop, phone, tablet, etc. Instead, I treat mine exactly like a clock. Had it up more than a year, still love it, but beyond glancing at it to see how the weather is or when my train comes, I never interact with it or give it a second thought.
NickBusey 10y ago
Yea I spend, on average, maybe 5 seconds tops looking at myself in the mirror every day. Why would you build so much functionality into a display that only exists in one, usually very humid sometimes smelly room, and the only way to interact with it is to stand there shouting into the steamy air?
- dr_zoidberg 10y ago
  Well I'd say it's meant for a bedroom or living room mirror, not the bathroom mirror. Now in my house there's only two mirrors, one inside the wardrobe and the other in the bathroom, so I wouldn't get much of a Smart Mirror TM, but a few friends do have living room mirrors, so for them it could have a better use case than mine.
- Uehreka 10y ago
  Check out the video in the post: I have the mirror in my bedroom, within view of my bed and my reading chair. And even if I only interact with it a couple times per day, I find it pretty useful. I certainly wouldn't recommend putting this in a bathroom :) Some part of the system would eventually get water damage and Alexa would make more mistakes listening over fan/shower/faucet noise.
B1FF_PSUVM 10y ago
Well, there's the "mirrors and copulation are abominable, because they increase the number of men" angle ... (Borges, of course: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlön,_Uqbar,_Orbis_Tertius https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlön,_Uqbar,_Orbis_Tertius , probably piling on the known historical puritan dislike of mirrors because of sinful vanity.)

For me, the mirror aspect is a neat addition, but really I just like having an always-on screen that displays data at my slightest whim. It's a lower friction way of getting weather data than pulling out my phone and opening an app. Other things I've thought about implementing or partially implemented: - A CPU or memory graph for my servers (or real time Google Analytics data). - A graph of my WiFi's connection speed so I can tell when Comcast is dropping the ball. - A graph of the travel time with traffic for my commute so I can make decisions about when to leave for work.

ineptech 10y ago
Just for another perspective, I intentionally left voice commands off of my mirror because the last thing I wanted was another thing to interact with, mere feet away from my laptop, phone, tablet, etc. Instead, I treat mine exactly like a clock. Had it up more than a year, still love it, but beyond glancing at it to see how the weather is or when my train comes, I never interact with it or give it a second thought.

NickBusey 10y ago

Yea I spend, on average, maybe 5 seconds tops looking at myself in the mirror every day. Why would you build so much functionality into a display that only exists in one, usually very humid sometimes smelly room, and the only way to interact with it is to stand there shouting into the steamy air?

dr_zoidberg 10y ago
Well I'd say it's meant for a bedroom or living room mirror, not the bathroom mirror. Now in my house there's only two mirrors, one inside the wardrobe and the other in the bathroom, so I wouldn't get much of a Smart Mirror TM, but a few friends do have living room mirrors, so for them it could have a better use case than mine.
Uehreka 10y ago
Check out the video in the post: I have the mirror in my bedroom, within view of my bed and my reading chair. And even if I only interact with it a couple times per day, I find it pretty useful. I certainly wouldn't recommend putting this in a bathroom :) Some part of the system would eventually get water damage and Alexa would make more mistakes listening over fan/shower/faucet noise.

B1FF_PSUVM 10y ago

Well, there's the "mirrors and copulation are abominable, because they increase the number of men" angle ... (Borges, of course: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlön,_Uqbar,_Orbis_Tertius https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlön,_Uqbar,_Orbis_Tertius , probably piling on the known historical puritan dislike of mirrors because of sinful vanity.)