Ten years ago, I was an enthusiastic adopter of smart home technology. I got a smart thermostat (a Nest) and a bunch of smart light switches and power plugs. Also got an Amazon Echo smart speaker with Amazon Alexa. Then came the smart TV with built-in apps for streamers like Netflix and Amazon.
Oh, the joys of telling your house to turn on or off multiple lights or accessing your thermostat and lights via phone when away from home. It was not to last. My smart house is getting stupider by the day.
Oh, the joys of telling your house to turn on or off multiple lights or accessing your thermostat and lights via phone when away from home. It was not to last. My smart house is getting stupider by the day.
The first to go was my Nest home thermostat that I got maybe ten years ago. It was fun to adjust the heat and air conditioning from my phone or iPad. I didn’t even need to be home. I could also remotely create calendars for automatic heating and cooling at set times during the day or week.
At Christmas, I received an e-mail informing me that old Nest would no longer be supported for over Wi-Fi access. A new cloud-based software was going to drive Nest products, and it was not compatible with older models. Solution: buy a new Nest.
Next to go was half a dozen smart light switches that I have around my house. Here, the manufacturer was Belkin. In the new year, Belkin announced it was getting out of the smart switch biz and ended device support. I can no longer get up in the morning and ask Alexa to turn on the kitchen lights as I shuffle to the coffeemaker.
Note that all these devices still work. It is just the smart features that have gone bye-bye. I can manipulate the Nest to set temperatures or change the calendar. But this is the same functionality that I had with my old programmable thermostat before I upgraded.
Similarly, I can turn a light on the old-fashioned way, by hitting the switch. I just can’t tell the house to turn lights on or off via Alexa or on my phone. I do miss the ability to turn on or off multiple lights in a room with a voice command. But am I going to rip and replace a bunch of smart switches in my house to regain that functionality?
There is only one room left in my house that has lights that will respond to voice commands. Two lamps in my living room are connected to smart plugs from a different manufacturer than Belkin. I have to wonder if the days on those smart devices are numbered as well.
Why is this happening? Two-word answer: revenue stream. It’s great for a manufacturer to surf the wave of a hot new technology. But what do you do when the market saturates? Answer: get them to buy a new version of the tech.
Maintaining revenue streams is why software companies changed from perpetual licensing to subscription licensing. Microsoft made a gazillion dollars selling Microsoft Word in the 1990s and 2000s until everybody and their cat owned a copy. Move to subscriptions and everyone keeps on paying annually. Revenue stream protected.
Tech hardware makers keep the money coming through forced obsolescence. The Apple iPad was a big hit when it debuted in 2010. To keep the money rolling in, Apple has combined regular new model releases with making older models less functional.
I’m on my fourth iPad and third iPhone now, and both are getting stupider. When I go to use a favourite app, I’m informed that it no longer works. It needs an upgraded Operating System (OS) to run and, whoops, looks like your iPad can’t support the latest OS.
It is probably more accurate to counter smart with dumb, but stupid is more pejorative as in “Stupid house!” and “Stupid light switches!” The word better expresses my feelings right now.
Stupid phone! Stupid iPad!
Stupid Apple!
It’s not likely to end here. Word is that the apps on smart TVs for various streamers have stopped working on older model smart TVs. I haven’t had that happen yet, though the Disney+ app has stopped working on my (five years!) older model iPad.
The solution to all these woes, according to the tech vendors, is to go out and spend on new devices. But though I’m going to miss some smart features, for now I’m going to turn lights on and off at the switch and adjust my thermostat manually. A lot of what I accessed via obsolete apps can still be found on a web browser.
If you need me, I’ll be in the ‘90s.
Next to go was half a dozen smart light switches that I have around my house. Here, the manufacturer was Belkin. In the new year, Belkin announced it was getting out of the smart switch biz and ended device support. I can no longer get up in the morning and ask Alexa to turn on the kitchen lights as I shuffle to the coffeemaker.
Note that all these devices still work. It is just the smart features that have gone bye-bye. I can manipulate the Nest to set temperatures or change the calendar. But this is the same functionality that I had with my old programmable thermostat before I upgraded.
Similarly, I can turn a light on the old-fashioned way, by hitting the switch. I just can’t tell the house to turn lights on or off via Alexa or on my phone. I do miss the ability to turn on or off multiple lights in a room with a voice command. But am I going to rip and replace a bunch of smart switches in my house to regain that functionality?
There is only one room left in my house that has lights that will respond to voice commands. Two lamps in my living room are connected to smart plugs from a different manufacturer than Belkin. I have to wonder if the days on those smart devices are numbered as well.
Why is this happening? Two-word answer: revenue stream. It’s great for a manufacturer to surf the wave of a hot new technology. But what do you do when the market saturates? Answer: get them to buy a new version of the tech.
Maintaining revenue streams is why software companies changed from perpetual licensing to subscription licensing. Microsoft made a gazillion dollars selling Microsoft Word in the 1990s and 2000s until everybody and their cat owned a copy. Move to subscriptions and everyone keeps on paying annually. Revenue stream protected.
Tech hardware makers keep the money coming through forced obsolescence. The Apple iPad was a big hit when it debuted in 2010. To keep the money rolling in, Apple has combined regular new model releases with making older models less functional.
I’m on my fourth iPad and third iPhone now, and both are getting stupider. When I go to use a favourite app, I’m informed that it no longer works. It needs an upgraded Operating System (OS) to run and, whoops, looks like your iPad can’t support the latest OS.
It is probably more accurate to counter smart with dumb, but stupid is more pejorative as in “Stupid house!” and “Stupid light switches!” The word better expresses my feelings right now.
Stupid phone! Stupid iPad!
Stupid Apple!
It’s not likely to end here. Word is that the apps on smart TVs for various streamers have stopped working on older model smart TVs. I haven’t had that happen yet, though the Disney+ app has stopped working on my (five years!) older model iPad.
The solution to all these woes, according to the tech vendors, is to go out and spend on new devices. But though I’m going to miss some smart features, for now I’m going to turn lights on and off at the switch and adjust my thermostat manually. A lot of what I accessed via obsolete apps can still be found on a web browser.
If you need me, I’ll be in the ‘90s.