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Smart homes are a corporate fever dream, adding extra layers of complexity, technical debt, servicing costs, for zero benefit. Wall switches and dials are alrea

Smart homes are a corporate fever dream, adding extra layers of complexity, technical debt, servicing costs, for zero benefit. Wall switches and dials are already user friendly, the only exception being for people with disabilities.

pmlnr 3y ago
No, connected homes are. Smart homes on ZigBee, knx, etc (local first) are fine.
- CommanderData 3y ago
  Thankfully the Hive thermostat is Zigbee and works offline (I have one setup). It's not mentioned in the article so I'm unsure on its longevity but when the time comes the majority of users however will not be able to do this and might make them worthless to those people, more ewaste.
  - zimpenfish 3y ago
    > Thankfully the Hive thermostat is Zigbee and works offline I don't suppose you have any useful "here's how to connect using Zigbee" tutorials? Would be handy to skip the whole Hive API shenanigans...
    - pmlnr 3y ago
      There's some for Zigbee2MQTT: https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/supported-devices/#s=hive https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/supported-devices/#s=hive
Iulioh 3y ago
I mean, they are good if the system is closed. The same way certain systems work on 80' hardware, they do a job and only a job without internet connection.
rocqua 3y ago
My recent experience with trying to get a working led dimmer combination has almost pushed me to switching to a phillips hue. So not all dials are user friendly. I did notice though, that almost all high-end light bulbs are smart bulbs. Getting name-brand good quality dimmable leds is difficult (except for phillips warm-glow, but the compatibility horror of those bulbs is what started me on this journey)
- microtonal 3y ago
  Philips Hue has so far been an exception to mediocre smart home products. We had Hue at home for ages now, it always works, no lights got deprecated or any of that nonsense, and even though they have a cloud component, it works fine without. The only downside for me is that I don’t use the smart part. So for me they are just good lights. My wife does use the app/widgets, etc.
  - ChainOfFools 3y ago
    All the Hue stuff is actually zigbee under the hood and is totally compatible with any zigbee Hub not just the Phillips one. If you want to do a deep dive one weekend and go completely local control go check out home assistant
  - drdaeman 3y ago
    > it always works It mostly works. I’ve had it hiccuping on me, when the switches and lights got unresponsive for a few minutes, for no obvious reason. And a number of times software got out of sync and told me the lights are off when they are actually on, etc. But it’s definitely better than all the competitors I’ve seen.
- mleo 3y ago
  I have some 11 year old Philips LED bulbs that were early on the LED development and crazy expensive; maybe $60 each. These aren’t Hue, but plain recessed type screw-in bulbs. These have worked consistently great with dimmer switches with no strobing, humming or low voltage issues. I can’t find good bulbs like that anymore. Quality and reliability went down as cost went down and competition went up. I have Hue bulbs in one room, but lag in control of wall switch communicating to adjust lights is terrible compared to direct dimmer control.
politelemon 3y ago
People who buy into smarthomes are corporate fever dreams. It allows the companies to focus on lock-in for profits at the expense of everything else (ie stuff you mentioned)

pmlnr 3y ago

No, connected homes are. Smart homes on ZigBee, knx, etc (local first) are fine.

CommanderData 3y ago
Thankfully the Hive thermostat is Zigbee and works offline (I have one setup). It's not mentioned in the article so I'm unsure on its longevity but when the time comes the majority of users however will not be able to do this and might make them worthless to those people, more ewaste.
- zimpenfish 3y ago
  > Thankfully the Hive thermostat is Zigbee and works offline I don't suppose you have any useful "here's how to connect using Zigbee" tutorials? Would be handy to skip the whole Hive API shenanigans...
  - pmlnr 3y ago
    There's some for Zigbee2MQTT: https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/supported-devices/#s=hive https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/supported-devices/#s=hive

Iulioh 3y ago

I mean, they are good if the system is closed. The same way certain systems work on 80' hardware, they do a job and only a job without internet connection.

rocqua 3y ago

My recent experience with trying to get a working led dimmer combination has almost pushed me to switching to a phillips hue. So not all dials are user friendly. I did notice though, that almost all high-end light bulbs are smart bulbs. Getting name-brand good quality dimmable leds is difficult (except for phillips warm-glow, but the compatibility horror of those bulbs is what started me on this journey)

microtonal 3y ago
Philips Hue has so far been an exception to mediocre smart home products. We had Hue at home for ages now, it always works, no lights got deprecated or any of that nonsense, and even though they have a cloud component, it works fine without. The only downside for me is that I don’t use the smart part. So for me they are just good lights. My wife does use the app/widgets, etc.
- ChainOfFools 3y ago
  All the Hue stuff is actually zigbee under the hood and is totally compatible with any zigbee Hub not just the Phillips one. If you want to do a deep dive one weekend and go completely local control go check out home assistant
- drdaeman 3y ago
  > it always works It mostly works. I’ve had it hiccuping on me, when the switches and lights got unresponsive for a few minutes, for no obvious reason. And a number of times software got out of sync and told me the lights are off when they are actually on, etc. But it’s definitely better than all the competitors I’ve seen.
mleo 3y ago
I have some 11 year old Philips LED bulbs that were early on the LED development and crazy expensive; maybe $60 each. These aren’t Hue, but plain recessed type screw-in bulbs. These have worked consistently great with dimmer switches with no strobing, humming or low voltage issues. I can’t find good bulbs like that anymore. Quality and reliability went down as cost went down and competition went up. I have Hue bulbs in one room, but lag in control of wall switch communicating to adjust lights is terrible compared to direct dimmer control.

politelemon 3y ago

People who buy into smarthomes are corporate fever dreams. It allows the companies to focus on lock-in for profits at the expense of everything else (ie stuff you mentioned)