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I'm surprised they didn't already require this, but I think it's probably safe to say it was a likely and foreseeable outcome in any case. That, combined with a

I'm surprised they didn't already require this, but I think it's probably safe to say it was a likely and foreseeable outcome in any case. That, combined with a dearth of use cases that made sense (for my life) is what's kept me from using these products. About the only reason I could think of to buy smart lightbulbs would be to suddenly turn all the lights in the house red, and yell "torpedoes in the water, brace for impact!" and that doesn't seem like a strong enough argument. I'd probably only do this 2-3 times a month anyway.

acidburnNSA 3y ago
Use cases that I personally like: * Turn existing lights into timed night lights that turn on at a configurable brightness when I pass certain motions sensors and then turn off after a timeout (cool/useful when I'm wandering around house at night) * Similar: Turn existing light fixtures into motion activated on switches (useful for dark staircase) * Turn lights on in morning and evening when I'm traveling to make it look like the place is occupied if I'm traveling * Party mode: cool colors shifting in cool ways in the rare event there's a party * Gradually go from bright white light to softer light as the day goes on in the office, and then stay soft at night to help with sleep * Turn on in a sequence when people are detected close by outside in the middle of the night to try to scare them off * Turn a certain color to indicate something being off, like a server offline, water detected, etc.
rchaud 3y ago
These products are mostly targeted at the the Youtuber/streamer market that need to add variety to their backdrops.
- danielbln 3y ago
  No they're not.
- menacingly 3y ago
  This is not in any way the case
- coldtea 3y ago
  Not even close. There do exist products made for for a variety of Youtube/video/streaming needs, including lighting, and they are niche. You might think "but there are many many Youtubers/streamers" but in comparison with the overall market for such lamps, they're insignificant in number. Hue and co (from Amazon, IKEA, etc) are mass market products.
- hadlock 3y ago
  Literally every person I know has these, even my family in west Texas with the deer head hung on the wall.
tetromino_ 3y ago
Smart lights are incredibly useful with infants/pre-verbal toddlers in the house. E.g. a quick "hey Google, set kids room lights to 20%" whilst trying to convince an energetic 2 year old to get ready for bedtime. They become rapidly less useful when the toddler learns to say "hey Google" and decides to make all lights green all the time.
- Syonyk 3y ago
  How is this easier than just having a dimmer switch inside the bedroom door? That's what I've done in our house. Lots of dimmers. Some are "rocker switches with a slide along the side," other are more digital "push button to turn lights on to the last setting, small rocker to adjust light level, you can always come up from 0 by using the rocker" types.
  - tetromino_ 3y ago
    A dimmer switch has some inconveniences: * it requires you to physically go to the switch (inconvenient whilst holding a squirming child); * it controls only one hard-wired fixture - there is no master physical dimmer for all light sources (overhead, standlights, bedside lamps or whatever else) in a room; * it's harder to install a switch than to screw in some smart bulbs
  - hadlock 3y ago
    Having moved twice with a toddler, and gone without voice activated lights in the nursery for a couple of days, it's huge. Usually I am carrying them up the stairs, with both hands; they're squirming, set them directly on the diaper changing table, and then plop them (again, both hands) into the crib. There is almost never a time when I am not holding thing(s) with both hands in that room. Or in another case, most of the lights are low in the living/play room, and I forgot to turn down the nursery lights, they're already winding down, walking up the dark stairs and into a dim nursery helps keep them chill. Walking into a blinding daylight blue room and then turning down the lights is liable to add an extra 20 minutes to our bedtime routine. I will never not have voice activated lights so long as I can afford them.
wpm 3y ago
Oh wow, that is unbelievably close to one of my HomeKit scenes I have setup. If I ask Siri to “rig for silent running”, all my RGB bulbs go to all Red, all my other ones turn off, and my HomePods play a clip of the robot voice of the submarine from the game “Subnautica” saying “rigged for silent running”. All done via a Shortcut.
- karaterobot 3y ago
  I just want to acknowledge that this is cool.

acidburnNSA 3y ago

Use cases that I personally like: * Turn existing lights into timed night lights that turn on at a configurable brightness when I pass certain motions sensors and then turn off after a timeout (cool/useful when I'm wandering around house at night) * Similar: Turn existing light fixtures into motion activated on switches (useful for dark staircase) * Turn lights on in morning and evening when I'm traveling to make it look like the place is occupied if I'm traveling * Party mode: cool colors shifting in cool ways in the rare event there's a party * Gradually go from bright white light to softer light as the day goes on in the office, and then stay soft at night to help with sleep * Turn on in a sequence when people are detected close by outside in the middle of the night to try to scare them off * Turn a certain color to indicate something being off, like a server offline, water detected, etc.

rchaud 3y ago

These products are mostly targeted at the the Youtuber/streamer market that need to add variety to their backdrops.

danielbln 3y ago
No they're not.
menacingly 3y ago
This is not in any way the case
coldtea 3y ago
Not even close. There do exist products made for for a variety of Youtube/video/streaming needs, including lighting, and they are niche. You might think "but there are many many Youtubers/streamers" but in comparison with the overall market for such lamps, they're insignificant in number. Hue and co (from Amazon, IKEA, etc) are mass market products.
hadlock 3y ago
Literally every person I know has these, even my family in west Texas with the deer head hung on the wall.

tetromino_ 3y ago

Smart lights are incredibly useful with infants/pre-verbal toddlers in the house. E.g. a quick "hey Google, set kids room lights to 20%" whilst trying to convince an energetic 2 year old to get ready for bedtime. They become rapidly less useful when the toddler learns to say "hey Google" and decides to make all lights green all the time.

Syonyk 3y ago
How is this easier than just having a dimmer switch inside the bedroom door? That's what I've done in our house. Lots of dimmers. Some are "rocker switches with a slide along the side," other are more digital "push button to turn lights on to the last setting, small rocker to adjust light level, you can always come up from 0 by using the rocker" types.
- tetromino_ 3y ago
  A dimmer switch has some inconveniences: * it requires you to physically go to the switch (inconvenient whilst holding a squirming child); * it controls only one hard-wired fixture - there is no master physical dimmer for all light sources (overhead, standlights, bedside lamps or whatever else) in a room; * it's harder to install a switch than to screw in some smart bulbs
- hadlock 3y ago
  Having moved twice with a toddler, and gone without voice activated lights in the nursery for a couple of days, it's huge. Usually I am carrying them up the stairs, with both hands; they're squirming, set them directly on the diaper changing table, and then plop them (again, both hands) into the crib. There is almost never a time when I am not holding thing(s) with both hands in that room. Or in another case, most of the lights are low in the living/play room, and I forgot to turn down the nursery lights, they're already winding down, walking up the dark stairs and into a dim nursery helps keep them chill. Walking into a blinding daylight blue room and then turning down the lights is liable to add an extra 20 minutes to our bedtime routine. I will never not have voice activated lights so long as I can afford them.

wpm 3y ago

Oh wow, that is unbelievably close to one of my HomeKit scenes I have setup. If I ask Siri to “rig for silent running”, all my RGB bulbs go to all Red, all my other ones turn off, and my HomePods play a clip of the robot voice of the submarine from the game “Subnautica” saying “rigged for silent running”. All done via a Shortcut.

karaterobot 3y ago
I just want to acknowledge that this is cool.