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So, Philips Hue users need a new $60 bridge after 8 years? That actually seems reasonable to me. 8 years is longer support than most other devices.

olyjohn 7y ago
Better than I would have expected... and it still works locally. This means you can probably still connect it up to another automation system of some sort. Maybe I'm the only one who doesn't care, because I don't use the cloud features anyways... I mean most cloud-connected devices don't even have an option for local management, and just become a brick when the cloud service goes down.
- m-p-3 7y ago
  I'm kinda okay with this, as long as I can interconnect my stuff with open platforms. Sure, most users want something that Just Works™ and that's what sells, but the market has no real de facto standards so things are bound to change and get discontinued. I just want something that I can fully control, but it implies some work and planning.
- ViViDboarder 7y ago
  Yep. I imagine Home Assistant will still work just fine with it.
w0m 7y ago
Yea; and your bulbs (the expensive part) will continue working indefinitely into the future. Seems reasonable to me.
ralphm 7y ago
Yup, and the old bridge will keep working locally, still has an open API, and there was an upgrade program when v2 was introduced, with a 33% discount. Four or so years ago.
- EdwardCoffin 7y ago
  They gave me a pretty good upgrade deal just a month ago: a new v2 router with a lightbulb for under $60 Canadian ($45 US, now). This was offered to me somewhere in the iOS app when I was checking for updates. It took a while to ship (came from Europe for some reason), but I consider it a good deal, and have no regrets about buying the v1 router when I got it. The old bulbs work with the new router, though not as smoothly as the new bulb.
SECProto 7y ago
> So, Philips Hue users need a new $60 bridge after 8 years? Looking at the wiki [1], v2 wasn't released until October 2015, and presumably v1 remained on some shelves for a couple months after that. So more like they need a new $60 bridge after 4 years. This bothers me about phone updates - my manufacturer provides "two major version updates" - but in the case of my particular phone, it launched one version behind mainline, received the first update couple weeks after launch, I bought it when it was almost a year old because of the release cycle, and got the "second" update two weeks after purchase. They followed their update policy, but still leaves the public hanging. All that said, I wouldn't buy smart lights anyway, and this situation doesn't bother me and seems like a somewhat reasonable timeline, since it doesn't totally break their functionality. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philips_Hue https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philips_Hue
jb775 7y ago
If you bought a hammer 8 years ago and the hammer company had a way to "deactivate" certain uses of the hammer so it only worked in a few situations, would you say "8 years is long enough for a hammer, it's perfectly reasonable they force you to buy a new hammer in order for it to work properly." ? Philips has the resources to keep this up and running.
- oehtXRwMkIs 7y ago
  It's sad how low our expectations have become.
- freehunter 7y ago
  If I could remotely control my hammer then yeah. And the hammer still works either way.
- vosper 7y ago
  A Hue Bridge is not like a hammer. Your analogy is cute and appealing, but not actually analogous (the biggest problem with analogies...) > Philips has the resources to keep this up and running. See how your analogy doesn't work? A manufacturer of a hammer doesn't have to continually expend resources to keep your hammer operating, secure, and compatible with other devices. Because it's just a hammer.
  - spectramax 7y ago
    That's not right. You've just based your assertion with a faulty assumption that a bulb has to be smart - sure the analogy breaks down. But, the parent is making an analogy about a "dumb" bulb - both hammer and bulb are tools. Hammer is used to hit nails and a bulb is used to illuminate dark spaces. A manufacturer of "dumb" bulbs doesn't have to continually expend resources to keep your bulb operating, secure, and compatible with other devices - simply by the virtue that the bulb isn't a smart bulb. To fail your analogy criteria, the bulb just have to be a "dumb" one or the hammer can be a smart-hammer (you can concieve that for the sake of a thought exercise).
    - 7y ago
Eduard 7y ago
The light switches in my flat work flawlessly since the early 1960s.

olyjohn 7y ago

Better than I would have expected... and it still works locally. This means you can probably still connect it up to another automation system of some sort. Maybe I'm the only one who doesn't care, because I don't use the cloud features anyways... I mean most cloud-connected devices don't even have an option for local management, and just become a brick when the cloud service goes down.

m-p-3 7y ago
I'm kinda okay with this, as long as I can interconnect my stuff with open platforms. Sure, most users want something that Just Works™ and that's what sells, but the market has no real de facto standards so things are bound to change and get discontinued. I just want something that I can fully control, but it implies some work and planning.
ViViDboarder 7y ago
Yep. I imagine Home Assistant will still work just fine with it.

w0m 7y ago

Yea; and your bulbs (the expensive part) will continue working indefinitely into the future. Seems reasonable to me.

ralphm 7y ago

Yup, and the old bridge will keep working locally, still has an open API, and there was an upgrade program when v2 was introduced, with a 33% discount. Four or so years ago.

EdwardCoffin 7y ago
They gave me a pretty good upgrade deal just a month ago: a new v2 router with a lightbulb for under $60 Canadian ($45 US, now). This was offered to me somewhere in the iOS app when I was checking for updates. It took a while to ship (came from Europe for some reason), but I consider it a good deal, and have no regrets about buying the v1 router when I got it. The old bulbs work with the new router, though not as smoothly as the new bulb.

SECProto 7y ago

> So, Philips Hue users need a new $60 bridge after 8 years? Looking at the wiki [1], v2 wasn't released until October 2015, and presumably v1 remained on some shelves for a couple months after that. So more like they need a new $60 bridge after 4 years. This bothers me about phone updates - my manufacturer provides "two major version updates" - but in the case of my particular phone, it launched one version behind mainline, received the first update couple weeks after launch, I bought it when it was almost a year old because of the release cycle, and got the "second" update two weeks after purchase. They followed their update policy, but still leaves the public hanging. All that said, I wouldn't buy smart lights anyway, and this situation doesn't bother me and seems like a somewhat reasonable timeline, since it doesn't totally break their functionality. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philips_Hue https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philips_Hue

jb775 7y ago

If you bought a hammer 8 years ago and the hammer company had a way to "deactivate" certain uses of the hammer so it only worked in a few situations, would you say "8 years is long enough for a hammer, it's perfectly reasonable they force you to buy a new hammer in order for it to work properly." ? Philips has the resources to keep this up and running.

oehtXRwMkIs 7y ago
It's sad how low our expectations have become.
freehunter 7y ago
If I could remotely control my hammer then yeah. And the hammer still works either way.
vosper 7y ago
A Hue Bridge is not like a hammer. Your analogy is cute and appealing, but not actually analogous (the biggest problem with analogies...) > Philips has the resources to keep this up and running. See how your analogy doesn't work? A manufacturer of a hammer doesn't have to continually expend resources to keep your hammer operating, secure, and compatible with other devices. Because it's just a hammer.
- spectramax 7y ago
  That's not right. You've just based your assertion with a faulty assumption that a bulb has to be smart - sure the analogy breaks down. But, the parent is making an analogy about a "dumb" bulb - both hammer and bulb are tools. Hammer is used to hit nails and a bulb is used to illuminate dark spaces. A manufacturer of "dumb" bulbs doesn't have to continually expend resources to keep your bulb operating, secure, and compatible with other devices - simply by the virtue that the bulb isn't a smart bulb. To fail your analogy criteria, the bulb just have to be a "dumb" one or the hammer can be a smart-hammer (you can concieve that for the sake of a thought exercise).
  - 7y ago

Eduard 7y ago

The light switches in my flat work flawlessly since the early 1960s.