I disagree. Most of them are shit because they’re designed to serve the manufacturer, provide additional profit streams.
However there’s no reason they couldn’t provide useful functionality to the customer.
it would be useful to receive fridge alerts if there was a problem
it would be useful to receive a toaster alert on pop up, or on malfunction
I really like using my phone as a tv remote, because I know where it is. I also like easy casting - I wish that wasn’t so broken. How did music manage to build something useful with Bluetooth streaming but the video equivalent has always been so broken?
my oven is connected to the internet. It’s nice to be notified when it’s preheated and when the cooking is done. …… at the expense of the vendor portal and all it entails
and yes I like to collect personal data, especially related to my health. If there were a private way to collect data from my mattress, I’d be Interested. You don’t have to be.
The most frustrating part is makers of smart appliances can save money by making them cheaper. Instead of a WiFi chip and vendor portal, just embed a dirt cheap Thread radio that simply exposes whatever is useful and let the customer take it from there, or not. Most smart appliances stuff people would find useful is monitoring and alerting, locally
I’m trying to make the point that smart devices aren’t inherently bad and can even be a good thing. However currently it’s just another way to exploit the customer. Maybe we’ll see more ethical implementation as these become mainstream. Maybe we’ll even see competition based on who implements smart devices ethically.
I disagree. Most of them are shit because they’re designed to serve the manufacturer, provide additional profit streams.
However there’s no reason they couldn’t provide useful functionality to the customer.
The most frustrating part is makers of smart appliances can save money by making them cheaper. Instead of a WiFi chip and vendor portal, just embed a dirt cheap Thread radio that simply exposes whatever is useful and let the customer take it from there, or not. Most smart appliances stuff people would find useful is monitoring and alerting, locally
So they would be useful to you if they were completely different?
I’m trying to make the point that smart devices aren’t inherently bad and can even be a good thing. However currently it’s just another way to exploit the customer. Maybe we’ll see more ethical implementation as these become mainstream. Maybe we’ll even see competition based on who implements smart devices ethically.