Smart devices are only useful if they are open source and everything can be self hosted. Everything else becomes a brick when the manufacturer drops support for it.
this post was submitted on 31 Mar 2024
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Exactly, I have been using some of the same zwave devices for over 10 years. I don't buy anything that needs the Internet unless I don't have a choice and that device is not mission critical. I build many of my devices with esp home also.
For now, hubitat seems to be a good balance between slowly improving the support and experience vs. price paid. I opted in for their subscription that does automatic backups with recovery to a different device and managed remote access and I'm satisfied with the value received for the subscription fee.
I doubt this will last; if they get successful enough, somebody will buy them like the Samsung / Smartthings scenario and the enshittification will begin (or accelerate, depending on your opinion of the status quo).
Hopefully by then homeseer has a robust hardware ecosystem and migrating isn't very painful.
And the author is right, no need to touch Matter at this point if you're already vested in Z-Wave or ZigBee.
But they can't sell you more shit if they didn't have planned obsolescence baked in!
(It's a little sobering realizing that technology is old enough to be, you know, OLD. Nothing about this is novel to anybody anymore. We're way, way past being impressed by two lines batting a dot around.)
Unfortunately self-hosting requires a technical level that the vast majority doesn't have or wish to develop. I totally understand why some people don't want to fuck around with their own digital infrastructure, it's a huge pain in the ass sometimes, and when something goes wrong (at it will at some point) you can quickly get to a place where the skill to get it running is nowhere near enough to fix it.
What’s an open source thermostat? My Nest is shit when it comes to connecting it to home assistant. It’s googles fault
I have a Honeywell t9 that is homekit enabled
Anyone who's serious about home automation eventually realizes that the only way to do it effectively is with locally controlled standards based devices like zwave and zigbee, and open source projects like home assistant and esp32.
Anything else will eventually be corrupted or abandoned by its corporate sponsor, as anyone who's tried it the other way can tell you.
The best case scenario is: when they cut off access there is a large enough public outcry that they immediately reverse position (until the next attempt).
Lots of these companies just go out of business and leave everyone stranded. But companies like Google don't give a fuck when they leave open source projects stranded like they did with the Nest API.
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I have nothing against advertising in general, but I won't tolerate OS-level advertising and I don't want ad-subsidized hardware.
Sorry, best we can do is a premium (expensive) ad-free tier that still advertises our own products.
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I actually dont understand why news and such written blogs stopped with sponsors. I dont want tracking pixels, autoplaying videos and all that bullshit. Have a static small paragraph with a referral link, thats it.
For example on adventofcode, there was a static ad for spotify job application. This is an ad which i can advocate for. Creator of the site gets money, the ad is not intrusive, and it targets programmers who would just naturally navigate to this site.
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Open-source is the only way to get a decent product. Being locked down by proprietary software from a few companies with an oligopoly over the market and the growing culture of disposable devices means they don’t give a fuck if works well or if it works past a year or two.
Reminds me of MyQ garage door opener’s fiasco. I wonder if the RatGDO project is still doing good, they were flooded with orders last year.
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I just want my damn blinds to open in the morning and close at night automatically, without needing a goddamn proprietary "app," or a "cloud" connection, or a bunch of batteries I have to change (i.e., I want it wired to either 120VAC or PoE). Is that really too much to ask‽
No. The lack of variety in options is honestly astonishing. I'm looking for a cheap zigbee button that is wall powered. They don't really seem to exist. Who the fuck wants to be constantly replacing batteries in smart things? Probably the same people who don't want wires running everywhere, but their priorities are in the wrong place imo.
I'm also kinda shocked that a product doesn't exist that's just a AA or AAA fake battery with wires hanging off of it that you could plug into the wall. Probably a safety hazard or something.
The battery life of a typical switch can easily be like 5 years though.
Still something I'd have to think about in 5 years. Also, if I use rechargeables, which I would, it'll potentially be less.
I don't want to have to think about it. Ever.
Also, if you have a bunch of switches in your house, even at 5 years you could be replacing batteries in one switch or another every few months.
At 10 battery operated smart things in the house, thats - on average - swapping batteries every 6 months. As you add more smart things, that frequency goes up. I don't want to be doing that, ever.
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Your wall outlet is AC but a battery is DC, so a pure wire setup is not so much a safety thing as it is just incompatible. A good fire starter.
So you'll have to convert it, which makes for a big, bulky plug.
On top of that, you'll need prior knowledge of the battery layout, including whether they're parallel or serial. Usually parallel, but not a guarantee.
All of this isn't insurmountable, but is enough to make it not the norm. They do, in fact, already exist
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You may want to look into Shelly relays. You wire them to the physical switch in the wall and can control them locally with Home Assistant or just individually via WiFi. Only downside for most folks (especially in the US it seems) is that they generally require a neutral wire to work.
I just built my own, it was easy and fun..I recommend doing the same
Pointer to get started? It's time to jump in.
Yes.
The fact that there is basically no good "premium" options for smart devices, just cheap adware trash or more diy type stuff with home assistant and the like, tells me there is not much of a mainstream market for most of these devices to begin with. If your only niche is just the hobby crowd or shit that has to be so cheap that you can't make a profit without riddling it with ads then it might not be a market worth getting into.
Apple TV seems to be doing just fine. Considering investing in one. I don’t think it’s likely they’ll start putting ads in the hone screen and such.
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The Internet of Shit.
I fucking hate that I learned what this means a month ago.
Bought myself a ZigBee coordinator and started pairing some devices.
Sweet! That was easy, now all that's left are the Tuya ceiling fans
Little did I know, what was about to happen would cost me my sanity.
Honestly, just give me a fucking HP printer and ask me to connect it to my computer from the other side of the world.
Weird how so few saw that coming.... It's why I've limited it as much as possible and I'm clinging to my self hosted shit.
Didn't expect to be hit by the caboose when the train has been running over them for years.
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This is one area where Apple have actually done a decent job.
Even the article reluctantly admits the AppleTV is the best media box now. Because it’s the only one that doesn’t throw ads on the home screen.
HomeKit also enforces local network control so you don’t need the manufacturer app or third party cloud services.
But the industry as a whole really needs better standards and accountability. And people need to stop buying products from an ad company (Google).
Normally I'm a pretty earlier adopter of new technology but home automation doesn't appeal to me because I don't want to have to constantly pay a subscription to someone to process my commands when I have a perfectly functional computer.
I want to have a doorbell that does not financially commit me to a monthly fee I do not think that's too much to ask.
There's plenty of products without subscriptions... Including your doorbell example.
Maybe you haven't actually researched this enough?
For me, a doorbell that is more than a doorbell is a perfect example of tech built to fill a need no one had.
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Agreed, but there are choices. Even for the Ring doorbell, you can choose not to have a subscription if it suits your bpberds to have live video only, no history. But there are also full featured choices that do not require a subscription.
For me, I haven’t yet upgraded from Ring because I’m not ready to take on an NVR, nor build out the full system I want
I'm getting sick of this yet we are backed into a corner. I never had to set up my old 21" CRT, yet LG forces me to fuck around with pointless settings to get an image I'm still not happy with.
My Xbox pushes ads. My Mac has stuff built in which I'll never use yet I cannot remove. Windows is a joke but has compatibility I may have to return to. My phone asks me to review applications I just want to use and not be bothered by.
[obligatory suggestion to use Linux]
but yeah iot had become not optional in some spaces. tvs and cars are the big ones i can't stand
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Whenever my workflow is interrupted by a review nag, they receive 1 star.
Funny that such a rant is on an ad-ridden website.
The only absolute with these devices is that you don’t get what you pay for. Inevitably it will completely change without your consent, and generally it will deliberately be for a worse experience since you’re captive.
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Poorly made smart devices turn out to be the only investment choice we had.
FTFY. They do it on purpose
Kinda. It's really difficult and expensive to buy a dumb TV.
Blocked by an ad-blocker...
i really sympathize with folks who go down an iot rabbit hole only to find it's a huge disaster.
Most iot use cases are incredibly simple, like turning on a light in the morning. implement should take a handful of minutes.
but the more complicated the technical debt, i imagine the less satisfying the whole experience is. it's a fun whimsical hobby that quickly becomes a farce.
Not so smart to buy, it would seem!
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