[HN Gopher] Why the Ultrarich Are Unplugging from "Smart Homes"
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Why the Ultrarich Are Unplugging from "Smart Homes"
Author : billybuckwheat
Score : 23 points
Date : 2025-04-20 21:15 UTC (1 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.hollywoodreporter.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.hollywoodreporter.com)
| mystraline wrote:
| I prefer simple tech. It can still be automated, and 'smart', but
| using HomeAssistant, its smart for ME.
|
| No passwords, no stupid. Doesn't even need internet, just the
| local network.
|
| I can even share access creds to pur garage doors remotely.
|
| Again, I focus on simple and effective 'smart', not throwing
| enshittifying internet garbage everywhere.
| XorNot wrote:
| Yeah but that is smart tech, it's just not what people
| experience as the consumer branding of it.
| barbazoo wrote:
| "Why the people that can afford smart homes are unplugging from
| smart homes"
| mohi-kalantari wrote:
| Tech-free homes are the new rich people flex? Crazy that in 2025,
| the super wealthy are spending millions on houses with no smart
| gadgets or Wi-Fi, like they're living in the old days. It's not
| just about hating tech maybe more about buying privacy. No Alexa
| listening, no data tracking. Is this just for billionaires, or
| are we all tired of being online all the time?
| cmiller1 wrote:
| A long time ago when I envisioned a "smart home of the future" I
| imagined using lots of sensors to control vents, windows, blinds,
| and HVAC to more efficiently heat and cool the house and optimize
| comfort in it while using less energy. I still would like
| something like that but instead we got dishwashers you can turn
| on with your phone...
| xg15 wrote:
| That would require smart home widget actually working together
| and to be designed with a common design in mind, and not just
| every widget phoning home to its vendor cloud...
| unsnap_biceps wrote:
| Support Matter over Thread and we can get there. It's still a
| little rocky but man, it's so much better than wifi devices
| all calling home to wherever.
| rs186 wrote:
| Or this https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Microwave-Small-
| Works-Al...
| rcarmo wrote:
| Environment and lighting are the only smart things I have, and
| the last few additions were ZigBee wall switches-but everything
| needs to have a manual alternative, of course.
|
| Nothing else is really needed, IMHO.
| WalterBright wrote:
| Looks like I was ahead of the curve. When building my house, I
| looked at all the smarthome stuff, and eventually decide "nope".
| It's all conventional wiring. Consider that the dimmer switches,
| over time, all failed, some I had to replace multiple times. I
| finally gave up and replaced them with simple on/off switches.
|
| What I did do, which paid off handsomely, is run RG6 coax and
| Cat5 cables everywhere in a star configuration. I did all the
| work myself to make sure it was done right. Haven't had any
| trouble at all with it, despite lots of upgrading of the
| electronics.
|
| BTW, another thing I did, which isn't exactly home automation. I
| bought a $10 microwave from the thrift store, and put it in the
| bathroom. I don't have to run the faucet anymore waiting for hot
| water for a wash cloth. Just wet the washcloth and throw it in
| the microwave. Aaaahhh, the luxury of hot washcloth on my face!
| If I was designing a house these days, I'd build in a special
| spot for the microwave in the bathroom.
| ensignavenger wrote:
| What do you use the cat5 cables for? You mention it is all
| "dumb" but you also mention electronics, so it must not be that
| dumb?
|
| As for the bathroom, another option would be a small on demand
| water heater under the bathroom sink.
| WalterBright wrote:
| I use the cat5 to distribute ethernet throughout. This was
| before wifi was any good, and I still use the cat5 all day
| every day. Gigabit is not supposed to work with cat5, but it
| does just fine.
|
| I hadn't thought of the on demand heater. But it's hard to
| beat a $10 microwave that just plugs in.
|
| Try it some time. You'll never go back to cold washcloths!
| ensignavenger wrote:
| I'm a big fan of cat(whatever number they are on now...)
| and PoE for low power devices. I wish more devices
| supported it.
| WalterBright wrote:
| P.S. the high end coax and ethernet cable costs very little
| money. What costs is the electrician, who charges (long ago)
| $50 just to attach the wires coming out of the wall to the
| socket.
|
| Me, I watched the electrician at work, and the cable guy
| working at my previous house. I noted the tools they used, and
| bought them. A Milwaukee right angle drill puts the holes in
| the studs. I bought the Telewire Supply coax strippers and
| crimpers, and the ethernet socket tools. With that, you can do
| a pro job which will last and costs very little.
|
| I learned back in college that using professional
| electrical/electronic tools, like a soldering iron, makes a
| huge difference.
| ensignavenger wrote:
| What do you use the cat5 cables for? You mention it is all
| "dumb" (edit, actually the word used was 'conventional') but
| you also mention electronics, so it must not be that dumb?
|
| As for the bathroom, another option would be a small on demand
| water heater under the bathroom sink.
| WalterBright wrote:
| I use "The Clapper" to turn lights on and off :-)
| xg15 wrote:
| Interesting that most of the issues seem to be UI problems - or
| rather, the idea that we don't need physical switches anymore
| because the phone is just the universal remote for everything
| reveals itself as incredibly stupid.
|
| If we're already struggling with phone addiction and an out-of-
| control attention economy, probably the last thing you'd want is
| to constantly be forced back to your phone if you just want to do
| basic household things.
|
| Also, I don't understand how anyone could think that random
| passcodes in the place of what used to be a button would be good
| UX.
| WalterBright wrote:
| > the idea that we don't need physical switches
|
| Even when the power goes out for 2 weeks, I still reflexively
| hit the wall switch every time entering a room.
|
| Home automation only makes sense for people with very limited
| mobility.
| robotnikman wrote:
| I'm reminded of the Mr Robot episode where they hacked into the
| Lawyers home and messed with all the smart appliances.
| avidiax wrote:
| I feel there is some baby being thrown out with the bathwater
| here, but I'd blame the automation companies that are pushing
| complexity as a means to vendor lock-in. The Crestrons and
| Phillips Hues and Samsung SmartThings of the world refuse to make
| an app-free cloud-free commodity smart home system.
|
| Matter is unfortunately not that vision. It is still locking you
| into a cloud-based system, but you can take your devices to a
| system of your choice.
|
| The system just needs to be simple. You should be able to buy a
| smart switch from any company. It should power and dim attached
| dumb and smart bulbs the old fashioned way. Pairing directly
| connected bulbs should just be turning the switch on and off 5
| times quickly. Wireless pairing shouldn't require an app or
| attestation or other cloud stuff, just sharing a secret one time
| in-band on some standard protocol over 802.15.4. If you want to
| have a wireless switch clone a wired one, turn them on and off
| together 5 times. If you want an all-on, all-off wireless switch,
| turn all your lights on, and flip the master breaker 5 times
| along with your new switch. If you want something complicated,
| get an 802.15.4 bridge/controller. If you want to control with an
| app, let the bridge controller be accessible via a TailScale-like
| tunneling VPN or the local WiFi, still no cloud.
|
| This could all be simple and interoperable, but that won't let
| any company tell their shareholders that their cloud-based
| smarthome base is growing X% YoY or that their gross margin on
| smart bulbs is 80%.
| WalterBright wrote:
| People have been saying that for 30 years now.
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