Why Is My Smart Home So F**king Dumb?

A few weeks ago, a couple friends and I were about to watch a surprisingly bad sci-fi movie in my crowded apartment. One of them asked if we could dim the lights, and started to head to the switch. “No, no, I’ve got it,” I said, reaching into my pocket. “He’s reaching for his phone!” said the friend. This was the moment I’d been waiting for. Time to show off my smart home.

I’d spent the last six months making my home more intelligent with Wink components. That meant six months of programming lightbulbs and installing sensors and adjusting shades and updating hubs. All my effort to connect my appliances added up to this one very public test. My friends didn’t need to walk 3m to the light switch, when I could manage everything with a couple of taps. My friends would be so impressed. I’d talked up my pet project plenty, and now they could watch the future unfold before their very eyes.

I unlocked my phone. I found the right home screen. I opened the Wink app. I navigated to the Lights section. I toggled over to the sets of lightbulbs that I’d painstakingly grouped and labelled. I tapped “Living Room” — this was it — and the icon went from bright to dark. (OK, so that was like six taps.)

Read more: http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2015/02/why-is-my-smart-home-so-fucking-dumb/

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