The author seems to be blaming HomeKit for some issues that are clearly the fault of the camera and it's software. I would have no issues if I would need to tweak settings in the camera's app and then afterward rely on HomeKit for the day-to-day use of the device.
Personally, my wish list for a HK doorbell camera consists of two things.
1. Wire-free. Don't have preexisting doorbell wiring.
2. Faster access to live and especially recorded video. My fast internet connection is not the limiting factor with my Ring.
A lot of experience with package deliveries lately. My UPS driver triggers the motion as he is halfway up the driveway, which should be fine, and then rings my bell. By the time I get the motion notification, click on it and can see live video, the driver is back in the truck. I sometimes would love to be able to get a quicker notification, unlock my front door and ask him to throw the package inside.
I have not been able to understand why Apple has not entered into designing and manufacturing these IoT devices and integrating them into its overall systems.
Instead they produced HomeKit and wait for Third Party vendors to produce compatible devices -- which has been a terribly slow and painful process.
If Apple would invest in producing an overall, integrated solution we would (likely) have devices that are more secure and work better -- and get it all sooner. And Apple would have another lucrative growing market.
The market needs are bigger and more diverse than what Apple can provide on its own. This is where a business ecosystem comes into play. The challenge for Apple, if it really wants to promote widespread adoption, is to figure out how to attract more suppliers and device makers. My approach would be to give suppliers and device makers more say in how the ecosystem is designed, evolved, and managed by Apple relinquishing some level of direct control. This may be impossible for Apple, and they may be completely satisfied to have total control over what essentially becomes a boutique business. To be honest, being a boutique supplier in several key markets has served their bottom line quite well.
The author seems to be blaming HomeKit for some issues that are clearly the fault of the camera and it's software. I would have no issues if I would need to tweak settings in the camera's app and then afterward rely on HomeKit for the day-to-day use of the device.
Personally, my wish list for a HK doorbell camera consists of two things.
1. Wire-free. Don't have preexisting doorbell wiring.
2. Faster access to live and especially recorded video. My fast internet connection is not the limiting factor with my Ring.
A lot of experience with package deliveries lately. My UPS driver triggers the motion as he is halfway up the driveway, which should be fine, and then rings my bell. By the time I get the motion notification, click on it and can see live video, the driver is back in the truck. I sometimes would love to be able to get a quicker notification, unlock my front door and ask him to throw the package inside.
The performance limitations, i.e., latency, that you and I described, are equally shared between the products and the architecture. I actually place more blame on the architecture because they, in this case Ring, have subscribed too closely to the notion of pure Cloud Computing without adequately addressing the latency issues that doing so entails. I also have reasonably fast internet connection and all of my cameras are PoE and directly connected to Ethernet.
A better approach, in my opinion, would be to follow more of a Fog Computing architecture which distributes processing across the architecture so that less data has to be pushed into the cloud and less time/latency sensitive processing has to be done in the cloud. Performing some of the time critical and latency sensitive computational processing close to the data source can reduce the upstream processing burden. For security cameras some or all of the detection processing, data compression, etc., could be done in an edge server installed on-site rather than in the cloud. For local viewing the live data could be fed directly over the local network to viewing devices, bypassing the cloud entirely. There is still a latency issue with remote access, say from your phone, but making the whole process more efficient by distributing/decentralizing processing would make latency less of an issue. When 5G is more widespread, latency may be a non-factor. For Ring, the edge server could be implemented in the base station unit. For HomeKit, why not an Apple Silicon powered edge server that also is a device hub?
FWIW, my solution to the package delivery issue (for Amazon) is to use Amazon KEY with deliveries going into my garage. It works wonderfully. Delivery drivers are given a one-time code at the time of delivery to open your garage door. Everything is logged and you get notifications prior to, at the time of, an after the completion of the delivery. I also get a camera recording since I installed a camera with motion detection in my garage. It requires a garage door opener that supports WiFi, either directly or via a gateway.
I have not been able to understand why Apple has not entered into designing and manufacturing these IoT devices and integrating them into its overall systems.
Instead they produced HomeKit and wait for Third Party vendors to produce compatible devices -- which has been a terribly slow and painful process.
If Apple would invest in producing an overall, integrated solution we would (likely) have devices that are more secure and work better -- and get it all sooner. And Apple would have another lucrative growing market.
The market needs are bigger and more diverse than what Apple can provide on its own. This is where a business ecosystem comes into play. The challenge for Apple, if it really wants to promote widespread adoption, is to figure out how to attract more suppliers and device makers. My approach would be to give suppliers and device makers more say in how the ecosystem is designed, evolved, and managed by Apple relinquishing some level of direct control. This may be impossible for Apple, and they may be completely satisfied to have total control over what essentially becomes a boutique business. To be honest, being a boutique supplier in several key markets has served their bottom line quite well.
I would be happy with just one good door lock and a few good light bulbs and a few other little goodies.
I could see a real market here for Apple where they have the resources to integrate the entire house -- from the Apple Watch through a WiFi router to the door lock, lights, garage door opener, door bell, etc... -- one very secure, seamless, integrated whole It's what they do best. But it seems that they just don't wanna...
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A better approach, in my opinion, would be to follow more of a Fog Computing architecture which distributes processing across the architecture so that less data has to be pushed into the cloud and less time/latency sensitive processing has to be done in the cloud. Performing some of the time critical and latency sensitive computational processing close to the data source can reduce the upstream processing burden. For security cameras some or all of the detection processing, data compression, etc., could be done in an edge server installed on-site rather than in the cloud. For local viewing the live data could be fed directly over the local network to viewing devices, bypassing the cloud entirely. There is still a latency issue with remote access, say from your phone, but making the whole process more efficient by distributing/decentralizing processing would make latency less of an issue. When 5G is more widespread, latency may be a non-factor. For Ring, the edge server could be implemented in the base station unit. For HomeKit, why not an Apple Silicon powered edge server that also is a device hub?
FWIW, my solution to the package delivery issue (for Amazon) is to use Amazon KEY with deliveries going into my garage. It works wonderfully. Delivery drivers are given a one-time code at the time of delivery to open your garage door. Everything is logged and you get notifications prior to, at the time of, an after the completion of the delivery. I also get a camera recording since I installed a camera with motion detection in my garage. It requires a garage door opener that supports WiFi, either directly or via a gateway.