> "like override the schedule and turn the heat up when you take a day off work, or turn the heat down when nobody is home, all with no user interaction."
Useful sure, but is it that useful? Which is to say, will people choose it over walking over and twisting a knob?
The same argument can be made for motorized blinds. Sure, yeah, it'd be kind of cool for your blinds to raise and lower themselves with the day/night cycle. Or I can just yank that cord over there.
Ditto the garage door thing. It'd be nice to have a system that just closes the door for me, but I'd call my neighbor, what, once a year to check on my garage? Worth a $100 system + installation + integration into some larger, overarching home automation network?
That's the problem with home automation, it's a bunch of janky, expensive, high-maintenance tech that solves a "problem" that nobody was really that bothered by. It's an incredibly minor incremental improvement that solves a pain that was never actually painful, and it has historically required a lot of infrastructure/installation in the home.
The new stuff is lowering a lot of the installation/infrastructure pain, but it's still relatively expensive, and for the most part their improvements are so minor, and the original problem so inconsequential, that I don't think they'll see mainstream market success. IMO none of this will take off until they find the "Killer App", the one that solves a problem that really bothers people.
I don't know how everybody else gets their nests, but I pay flat rate for power and my power company gives them out for free because it works out cheaper for them in the long run. So no, I probably wouldn't pay extra for a nest thermostat and the small amount of convenience it offers, but I like having it.
Once the Nest API gets more mature, watch power companies give these out with the ability to remotely turn your A/C up if the power grid starts to sag (that whole "rush hour" concept they're pushing).
Useful sure, but is it that useful? Which is to say, will people choose it over walking over and twisting a knob?
The same argument can be made for motorized blinds. Sure, yeah, it'd be kind of cool for your blinds to raise and lower themselves with the day/night cycle. Or I can just yank that cord over there.
Ditto the garage door thing. It'd be nice to have a system that just closes the door for me, but I'd call my neighbor, what, once a year to check on my garage? Worth a $100 system + installation + integration into some larger, overarching home automation network?
That's the problem with home automation, it's a bunch of janky, expensive, high-maintenance tech that solves a "problem" that nobody was really that bothered by. It's an incredibly minor incremental improvement that solves a pain that was never actually painful, and it has historically required a lot of infrastructure/installation in the home.
The new stuff is lowering a lot of the installation/infrastructure pain, but it's still relatively expensive, and for the most part their improvements are so minor, and the original problem so inconsequential, that I don't think they'll see mainstream market success. IMO none of this will take off until they find the "Killer App", the one that solves a problem that really bothers people.