You got to love the author of that article. If you want the lights to turn off and on normally, maybe people should use light switches. Those aren’t going to break due to software downgrades, those don’t require Gemini or internet connections.
And I understand, there are rare situations when throwing the internet at your home appliances can make sense for solving niche problems. Those situations definitely exist, but for almost everyone almost all of the time, but it’s pretty fucking easy to turn lights off and on.
Lights are one of the areas where I think automation is genuinely useful, but my rule with anything “Smart” is that it has to be able to run 100% locally.
You’re absolutely correct. I have few smart switches around the house and automations for yard lights and stuff like that are pretty nice to have but I still have the physical switch where the dumb switch was to interact with if the automations are down or I just want to override them. The ones I use even accept the same faceplate than traditional ones so there’s no change on anything unless you want to automate things.
My rule for home automation is that it has to work in a low-tech way. I get Zigbee switches for certain things, but they work as just a light switch if everything is down. This is not true of Phillips Hue bulbs.
I have three lights that were wired to one switch. With smart bulbs, I can individually turn them on and off or dim them. No “dumb” solution exists for homes that were wired in a stupid way. This isn’t a niche application, it’s a common reality.
You can get socket extensions where the bulb goes into it and then each extension is connected to a wall mount remote switch. No wifi needed and then you have a wall switch for each bulb.
Doesn’t fit into every light fixture though depends on the design.
You got to love the author of that article. If you want the lights to turn off and on normally, maybe people should use light switches. Those aren’t going to break due to software downgrades, those don’t require Gemini or internet connections.
And I understand, there are rare situations when throwing the internet at your home appliances can make sense for solving niche problems. Those situations definitely exist, but for almost everyone almost all of the time, but it’s pretty fucking easy to turn lights off and on.
Lights are one of the areas where I think automation is genuinely useful, but my rule with anything “Smart” is that it has to be able to run 100% locally.
It also needs to fail gracefully. A smart switch needs to fail to a dumb switch, not “no switch”.
You’re absolutely correct. I have few smart switches around the house and automations for yard lights and stuff like that are pretty nice to have but I still have the physical switch where the dumb switch was to interact with if the automations are down or I just want to override them. The ones I use even accept the same faceplate than traditional ones so there’s no change on anything unless you want to automate things.
My rule for home automation is that it has to work in a low-tech way. I get Zigbee switches for certain things, but they work as just a light switch if everything is down. This is not true of Phillips Hue bulbs.
My hue bulbs work like normal ass light bulbs if the internet is out. They just default back to standard white bulbs if turned on.
Not sure what your on about.
These just dont need to be online. 90% of the use I have seen is timers and lights, like a half step above hello world.
There is a market for voice assistants that are local.
I have three lights that were wired to one switch. With smart bulbs, I can individually turn them on and off or dim them. No “dumb” solution exists for homes that were wired in a stupid way. This isn’t a niche application, it’s a common reality.
You can get socket extensions where the bulb goes into it and then each extension is connected to a wall mount remote switch. No wifi needed and then you have a wall switch for each bulb.
Doesn’t fit into every light fixture though depends on the design.
Edit: