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I have found it useful when you have your hands full (e.g. hands full of shopping, or carrying a baby with a dirty nappy/diaper to a changing table are just two

I have found it useful when you have your hands full (e.g. hands full of shopping, or carrying a baby with a dirty nappy/diaper to a changing table are just two examples where you can just shout to google/alexa to turn it on), or turning stuff on/off when you are away from home (e.g. automatically at sunset, turning heating on when you are on your way home etc), or you left the lights on and you are already in bed etc. First world problems, but it is handy.

lqet 6y ago
I am sure that this is a cool feature, but I am really having a hard time wrapping my head around all the technological overhead required here to avoid having to flip a switch with your elbow or hip if your hands are full. "First world problems" seems like an understatement here.
- rootusrootus 6y ago
  The lights are just gravy for me. They're super cheap, and it is handy to be able to turn a bunch on or off with one command. Or have them turn on when you get home, etc. What really keeps me going with home automation is the door & lock control. Being able to monitor the status of the garage doors and the deadbolts on all doors is worth the price of admission. The kids each have their own code to get in the house, I can lock the doors from afar if they get left open or unlocked, I can check the status at any time, etc. I have the system close & lock everything at bedtime if it isn't already, and it communicates status to me as things are opened/closed/locked/unlocked. I could give up the lighting if I had to. I could just use the built-in scheduling on the thermostat. No biggy. But the locks and doors functionality is worth the effort.
WalterBright 6y ago
> you left the lights on and you are already in bed 1970's technology to the rescue: https://www.amazon.com/Clapper-Sound-Activated-Switch-Each/dp/B00P5P5G5E https://www.amazon.com/Clapper-Sound-Activated-Switch-Each/d... As for when my hands are full, elbows work just fine. If/when I become bedridden or crippled, I'll probably get Alexa. Until then, I get up and walk to the switch. It's a privilege to be able to do that, and I'll do it as long as I can.
- mattlondon 6y ago
  1970s technology appears to be 3 times the price of a WiFi switch though :) (...not including 16USD delivery...) Do clappers hear through doors and across different floors? E.g. in bed upstairs and light is on downstairs? Plus would one clap not turnnoff everything that hears a clap, and not just the thing you want off but leave other things on? And can it auto clap itself off/on at certain times when you are asleep/not there? Can it hear you clap when it is at home and you are in your car/at work? And only 300% as expensive as a WiFi switch? Bargain. But you know, when my hands are full I can just put everything down and rub two sticks together to make a fire just fine. The power of humanity's intellect and dominion over nature is a wonderful thing and making fire is a privilege that not all mammals have that I plan to use for as long as I can - 4000 BC's technology to the rescue </sarcasm to illustrate a point> So much technology could easily be done "the old way" (fire to oil lamps to candles to gas lamps to electric lamps for example all make the room bright I'm the darkness), but it makes things simpler/more convenient/easier/etc. This is one of them IMO
  - WalterBright 6y ago
    You might be amused to know my car is a 1972 Dodge.
    - harry8 6y ago
      That does not sound like a good decision in terms of the safety tradeoff vs whatever benefit you get from driving it. Cheap? Am I wrong about that? Does it increase the risk of injury and death for other road users or are you sure it's just you and your passengers alone who are consenting to carry that (unnecessary?) risk?

lqet 6y ago

I am sure that this is a cool feature, but I am really having a hard time wrapping my head around all the technological overhead required here to avoid having to flip a switch with your elbow or hip if your hands are full. "First world problems" seems like an understatement here.

rootusrootus 6y ago
The lights are just gravy for me. They're super cheap, and it is handy to be able to turn a bunch on or off with one command. Or have them turn on when you get home, etc. What really keeps me going with home automation is the door & lock control. Being able to monitor the status of the garage doors and the deadbolts on all doors is worth the price of admission. The kids each have their own code to get in the house, I can lock the doors from afar if they get left open or unlocked, I can check the status at any time, etc. I have the system close & lock everything at bedtime if it isn't already, and it communicates status to me as things are opened/closed/locked/unlocked. I could give up the lighting if I had to. I could just use the built-in scheduling on the thermostat. No biggy. But the locks and doors functionality is worth the effort.

WalterBright 6y ago

> you left the lights on and you are already in bed 1970's technology to the rescue: https://www.amazon.com/Clapper-Sound-Activated-Switch-Each/dp/B00P5P5G5E https://www.amazon.com/Clapper-Sound-Activated-Switch-Each/d... As for when my hands are full, elbows work just fine. If/when I become bedridden or crippled, I'll probably get Alexa. Until then, I get up and walk to the switch. It's a privilege to be able to do that, and I'll do it as long as I can.

mattlondon 6y ago
1970s technology appears to be 3 times the price of a WiFi switch though :) (...not including 16USD delivery...) Do clappers hear through doors and across different floors? E.g. in bed upstairs and light is on downstairs? Plus would one clap not turnnoff everything that hears a clap, and not just the thing you want off but leave other things on? And can it auto clap itself off/on at certain times when you are asleep/not there? Can it hear you clap when it is at home and you are in your car/at work? And only 300% as expensive as a WiFi switch? Bargain. But you know, when my hands are full I can just put everything down and rub two sticks together to make a fire just fine. The power of humanity's intellect and dominion over nature is a wonderful thing and making fire is a privilege that not all mammals have that I plan to use for as long as I can - 4000 BC's technology to the rescue </sarcasm to illustrate a point> So much technology could easily be done "the old way" (fire to oil lamps to candles to gas lamps to electric lamps for example all make the room bright I'm the darkness), but it makes things simpler/more convenient/easier/etc. This is one of them IMO
- WalterBright 6y ago
  You might be amused to know my car is a 1972 Dodge.
  - harry8 6y ago
    That does not sound like a good decision in terms of the safety tradeoff vs whatever benefit you get from driving it. Cheap? Am I wrong about that? Does it increase the risk of injury and death for other road users or are you sure it's just you and your passengers alone who are consenting to carry that (unnecessary?) risk?