ᐅ Thriller on ARD on December 15: "The House"

Stefan001 schrieb:

And configuring all of this right now is just so unintuitive that it’s no fun for the average user.

I completely agree with you. The technology is available, the connections are there, but the human-AI interface is seriously lacking.
I tried setting up six smart plugs for Christmas lights with Alexa. It’s a total mess.
Why only this fiddly app? There is no decent software for PC. Many features remain unused because the Alexa app and others offer only very limited options.

This is because Alexa's core strengths (and those of other voice assistants) lie not in smart home technology but in marketing. However, it is currently similar to the 1990s with PCs—hardly anyone had expertise, but everyone wanted one.

Mycraft schrieb:

Alexa’s core competencies (and those of other voice assistants) lie not in the smart home area but in marketing.

And they are annoying. Why does every command have to be repeated in full, and why can’t I disable that?
Surely I’m not the only one who finds this frustrating, right?

No, you’re not the only one. But many people accept it because they simply don’t know any different or think that’s just how it is, and Alexa/Siri/Google is “cool.” Welcome to the world of voice assistants.

I also always find it funny watching videos of owners showcasing their gadgets. I always wonder how many takes they needed to get everything perfect for the camera 🙂

Mycraft schrieb:

Nice, you probably just enjoy it, and there's nothing wrong with that. A carriage can get you moving, of course. But there’s more out there.

Well, after 35 years in IT, I’ve heard enough promises of miracles to appreciate the advantages of a carriage 😉

I honestly lack the imagination to see where a typical standard house would even have a real need for “smart” features: heating just runs continuously, ventilation as well, domestic hot water prepared with a daytime schedule (because of photovoltaics), shading done passively through architecture (useful eaves, etc.), and loading the washing machine/dishwasher is manual anyway – so I might as well quickly start them when full. We don’t have any more technology than that. I could automate the external blinds, but they’re still gathering dust in the original packaging because there hasn’t been a need yet (admittedly: small house, rainy summer :rolleyes 🙂. Sure, I have to switch lights manually, but I don’t find that too much of a burden.

What does make sense are optimizations within the system itself. For example, weather-compensated and return-flow-controlled heating, forecast-based charging (photovoltaics), or even, as I like, a cooktop vent fan controlled by steam or irrigation of the garden based on actual demand. These features come standard in today’s systems anyway, and you don’t need an additional layer called smart home for that.

I’m glad to have a completely stupid home. I can barely keep up with software updates at work. Or sourcing spare parts or workarounds because a system is no longer compatible with newer versions. One would always be just a new smartphone away from a technical disaster.