Quote:
Originally Posted by
MJ1970 
Quite true. I agree. And I may well be wrong about "home automation." I accept that possibility. You'll note that I even accepted some of the suggestions offered by some posters as possibly legitimate use cases.
Except that in these examples you point to the real and tangible benefits of these innovations (be able to watch a TV program at a different time than broadcast...adjust the HVAC settings without manually doing them.) So your examples seem to be poor ones because the benefits are rather obvious. The broader and more vague "home automation" "solution" is much less clear.
I'm fully aware of this. I've never claimed differently and I hope you're not implying that I have. But the point here is exactly that...what
are the new time and work saving conveniences in the home that are still be tackled? I'll go further...beyond just time and work saving stuff...we probably have most of that tackled (though, granted, government regulations on things like shower heads, toilets, washing machines and dishwashers is causing us to do MORE work)...it might even be pleasure and leisure enhancements? What are these that demand a broad "home automation" infrastructure?
I can see TVs that are better.
I can see music players that are smarter.
I can see thermostats that are smarter.
I can even see the vision that some (including Mr. Skil) have described. I just wonder how many people really want or need such things.
I hope you're not implying that I'm a Luddite. You'd be quite wrong. I get that some people don't understand the point of new technologies.
Possibly you're right. Possibly. Though evidence of your claim would be helpful here. Until then I'll assume it's just your best
guess.
There are no benefits to watching a program at another time that is all that important. We survived quite well before. It's just convenience, nothing more. The same thing for almost every other automated technology. It's just a matter of whether that convenience is worthwhile to you. Is it worthwhile for your home to recognize you when you reach your front door so that it could unlock it for you so that you don't have to go fumbling around for keys on a cold winter night? We can unlock a car with a smartphone, is that much better? But it's getting pretty popular.
How about when your automatic garage door opener opens the door when your car gets in the driveway? That's done now as well. How about automatic sprinklers for your lawn? Lights going off and on when you're out of the house? Coffee being made at just the right time in the morning? All of this is being done now, and the products are pretty popular.
This, and more, instead of being done with many different systems, would be controlled by a central computer, in a smart home. I have neighbors whose driveway gates roll open when their car turns into the driveway. Pretty nice during a snowy day.
I think you're not giving this any real thought. People like convenience, and they're willing to pay for it. A lot of people would just love to be able to tell the house to turn the temperature up a couple of degrees, rather than have to get up, go to a different floor, and adjust the thermostat themselves.
There are quite a few things that could easily be done once a computer is controlling it. You don't have to think that people don't want it. You may not. But when you look at all the convenience factors in modern living, you must understand that it's what people do want. And the easier it is to do, the more people will want it. One reason the VCR died out was because the DVR was so much easier to use, even though you no longer could own the recordings. Convenience won out there too. It will always win out.
