I've got a track light system that's using LED fixtures. Even though the lights are not connected to the net in any way and they're not smart LED's, they still have a slight hesitation before going on after hitting the switch. I'm guessing the electronic LED drivers have to think for a second about whether I really want the lights on or not.
Cat (n.) A bipolar creature which would as soon gouge your eyes out as it would cuddle.
My dad bought a "smart" light control switch that used the cloud so you could use your cell phone or our amazon echos to turn it on or off. It only worked about half the time, congested the wifi, and ate up power because it had to keep its wifi going. Also we needed to borrow someone else's iphone to set it up because the android app didn't work. Finally after a couple weeks we returned it for a refund and never looked back. I told him to get a clapper next time, they are much lower on the power vampire scale, and they don't require security updates that so called "smart" appliances never get, and most importantly they just work.
The fact that we're throwing always-on Internet connections in goddamn refrigerators of all things gives me serious pause. I mean that one Samsung model has a massive touchscreen display on the front that shows you a camera feed of what's inside. Instead of, y'know, opening the door.
Top Gun wrote: ↑Fri Nov 17, 2017 9:45 pm
The fact that we're throwing always-on Internet connections in goddamn refrigerators of all things gives me serious pause. I mean that one Samsung model has a massive touchscreen display on the front that shows you a camera feed of what's inside. Instead of, y'know, opening the door.
But isn't that novel idea supposed to be for shoppers who forget to look inside the fridge before they go to the store and then want to take a look on their smartphones to see what they're missing?
What's worse are the appliances that can spy on you inside your own home, Smart TV's, Cable boxes, Personal Assistants, etc. I even made sure that the smart thermostat on my newer HVAC system is NOT hooked up to the internet. It works just fine being dumb and blind.
Krom wrote: ↑Fri Nov 17, 2017 4:22 pm
My dad bought a "smart" light control switch that used the cloud so you could use your cell phone or our amazon echos to turn it on or off. It only worked about half the time, congested the wifi, and ate up power because it had to keep its wifi going. Also we needed to borrow someone else's iphone to set it up because the android app didn't work. Finally after a couple weeks we returned it for a refund and never looked back. I told him to get a clapper next time, they are much lower on the power vampire scale, and they don't require security updates that so called "smart" appliances never get, and most importantly they just work.
Heh. Yeah, the Internet of Things does not give me much of a warm fuzzy feeling.
"I've long called these people Religious Maniacs because, of course, they are. I always point out that you don't need a god to be religious maniac; you just need a dogma and a Devil."- Ace @ Ace of SpadesHQ, 13 May 2015, 1900 hr