I like having smart things for automating certain aspects of the home. It also adds convenience for certain lifestyles. I can control my thermometer thermostat while I’m out of the house, for example, or check in on my pets on the cameras.
This is not advocating for things like what Amazon is doing, to be clear.
weather conditions changed so your house temperature needs changed
you want the house to be warm or cool when you get home, similar to the main benefit of remotely starting a car
I know many dumb thermostats support scheduling, which might preempt the last one, but if - again - you forgot to set that up or you didn’t know when you were going to be home, it would be a boon to have a way to address that.
Also, most of the smart thermostats I’ve seen have temperature threshold alarms. If a fire starts, you would get a notification and hopefully be able to do something about it. Or if the climate control system fails while you’re out, you can respond as appropriate.
I agree that there is no biological imperative for smart home equipment, but I have appreciated mine many times; and I mostly self host, so in theory I’m not giving away data. To me, the only downside is the cost, which comparatively isn’t really all that bad in many cases.
If all this stuff actually integrated with other things you owned (regardless of brand) and was under your control instead of Amazon’s it would be cool as hell. Instead it spies on you with a thin veneer of functionality on top.
I really don’t understand smart home stuff. Seems like such a waste of money to me for a negligible convenience gain.
I like having smart things for automating certain aspects of the home. It also adds convenience for certain lifestyles. I can control my
thermometerthermostat while I’m out of the house, for example, or check in on my pets on the cameras.This is not advocating for things like what Amazon is doing, to be clear.
Checking on the pets seems like a good use. Why do you need to change your thermometer when you’re outside the house, though?
The simplest examples I can think of would be:
I know many dumb thermostats support scheduling, which might preempt the last one, but if - again - you forgot to set that up or you didn’t know when you were going to be home, it would be a boon to have a way to address that.
Also, most of the smart thermostats I’ve seen have temperature threshold alarms. If a fire starts, you would get a notification and hopefully be able to do something about it. Or if the climate control system fails while you’re out, you can respond as appropriate.
I agree that there is no biological imperative for smart home equipment, but I have appreciated mine many times; and I mostly self host, so in theory I’m not giving away data. To me, the only downside is the cost, which comparatively isn’t really all that bad in many cases.
For the pets, or preheating your home for when you’re there.
I could see the reason for scheduling a thermostat, at least. Mostly to save money on heating/cooling when you are not home.
I personally love cool tech, that’s it. It’s not even about the convenience but “oh shit bro you see what this shit can do???” -kinda thing. It’s cool
What I don’t love is some asshole corporation stealing and abusing that data for their profits or handing it to the pigs
That’s fair. I definitely don’t mean to yuck anyone’s yum. I just have the opposite reaction to most new tech I guess.
If all this stuff actually integrated with other things you owned (regardless of brand) and was under your control instead of Amazon’s it would be cool as hell. Instead it spies on you with a thin veneer of functionality on top.
You can do that with HomeAssistant
Same here, if I do get anything that’s cool new tech I’ll get the self hosted version. I don’t need anyone else having access to my stuff.