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First off, I see you're a new account, so thank you for starting your HN life with such detailed comments. Second, you seem to have some experience with manufa

by yid 12y ago

First off, I see you're a new account, so thank you for starting your HN life with such detailed comments. Second, you seem to have some experience with manufacturing and electric locks. How much of an expert would you say you are in Lockitron's domain -- would they have had to pay you tens of thousands of dollars in consulting, or are the issues you raise something that would have been brought up over a beer with a recent EE/ME grad or even a general home contractor?

bravo22 12y ago
Thanks! I figured I should stop being a lurker at some point. I'd say almost any EE that had experience in product development would have been able to call out these issues. Battery/power issues are fundamentals. When I first saw their video I knew the WiFi issue would be problematic, as well as their claim about "Sense" BLE unlocking, and I hadn't made a door lock. Someone experienced in supply chain and product manufacturing should have also been able to warn them about some of the other issues.
- napoleond 12y ago
  I agree with you, but just to add some information for the parent (from the perspective of a relatively recent EE grad with even more recent experience in product development): a) Experience in product development is almost entirely unrelated to experience gained in school (hackers will say it shouldn't be that way but it's just a reality of the amount of information involved). b) Experience in supply chain and product manufacturing is also unrelated to all of that, and often by some distance. ie. It's more of a business-person problem (er, for lack of a better term--it obviously requires technical knowledge as well). In other words, you're extremely unlikely to find that combination of knowledge in a junior EE, and depending on their career trajectory it is entirely possible for an EE to spend their entire career without amassing that particular assortment of product development knowledge on top of their EE knowledge. So while it's true that any EE should have questions about (for example) battery/power issues right away, it's not true that any EE would immediately flag those issues as problems (ie. over a beer, I'd probably trust the guy telling me he thought he could do it, even as I told him I wasn't convinced). Note that I'm not suggesting any of that knowledge is rare or hard to find, just that you might not find it all in the same person easily, especially not a junior EE.
  - bravo22 12y ago
    Good points! You definitely need someone that has product development experience.

by yid 12y ago

bravo22 12y ago

Thanks! I figured I should stop being a lurker at some point. I'd say almost any EE that had experience in product development would have been able to call out these issues. Battery/power issues are fundamentals. When I first saw their video I knew the WiFi issue would be problematic, as well as their claim about "Sense" BLE unlocking, and I hadn't made a door lock. Someone experienced in supply chain and product manufacturing should have also been able to warn them about some of the other issues.

napoleond 12y ago
I agree with you, but just to add some information for the parent (from the perspective of a relatively recent EE grad with even more recent experience in product development): a) Experience in product development is almost entirely unrelated to experience gained in school (hackers will say it shouldn't be that way but it's just a reality of the amount of information involved). b) Experience in supply chain and product manufacturing is also unrelated to all of that, and often by some distance. ie. It's more of a business-person problem (er, for lack of a better term--it obviously requires technical knowledge as well). In other words, you're extremely unlikely to find that combination of knowledge in a junior EE, and depending on their career trajectory it is entirely possible for an EE to spend their entire career without amassing that particular assortment of product development knowledge on top of their EE knowledge. So while it's true that any EE should have questions about (for example) battery/power issues right away, it's not true that any EE would immediately flag those issues as problems (ie. over a beer, I'd probably trust the guy telling me he thought he could do it, even as I told him I wasn't convinced). Note that I'm not suggesting any of that knowledge is rare or hard to find, just that you might not find it all in the same person easily, especially not a junior EE.
- bravo22 12y ago
  Good points! You definitely need someone that has product development experience.