Live data from Hacker News

The Internet of Way Too Many Things

nytimes.com

41–50 of 266 posts

Re: The Internet of Way Too Many Things

#41
post #34
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Possibly not in the home, but in the office or public places? Definitely.

Yet we use public transportation in many parts of the world and few bad things have happened. We use door handles everywhere. Etc.

Door handles are a big problem in hospitals. I'd take the bet that they are a bigger problem in public places than is generally acknowledged.

Re: The Internet of Way Too Many Things

#42
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://www.childtrends.org/?indicators=infant-child-and-teen... Looks to me like infant mortality (under age one) has halved between 1977 and 2013. I understand the argument of "it worked fine for me", but, well, on a portfolio basis, you and I were dying a bit faster back then. Outpatient care is a big field these days. Something that, with extremely little effort, can reduce the odds of death or disability, is quit…

That's not fair. He didn't say "children should be raised to exactly the same standards as they were in 1977". He said "we were raised without the benefits of smart-onesies, and we came out fine". Those are two different arguments. Meanwhile, the reality is that the bulk of the decline in US infant mortality is attributable to improved prenatal care. If you want to keep arguing about the value of modernizing parentin…

It's not 'unfair'. (are you implying I was unduly harsh on the gent?)

Let's take sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Because of SIDS, it is now recommended in the videos I watched yesterday, that infants be put down on their backs with no pillows in the parents' bedroom but not in their bed. This has no bearing on prenatal care or wealth, but has an effect, which could probably be enhanced by a smart baby monitor.

Re: The Internet of Way Too Many Things

#43
post #33
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not all it does, you just picked out the ridiculous part. If you'd quote the entire piece on that onesie you'd see that it actually has a bunch of features that very well might reduce infant mortality. The author also invokes 'helicopter parenting' as if it applies to taking care of babies. Helicopter parenting is when parents disrupt other caregivers during the care for their child, it has nothing to do with…

The article addresses this point directly, but because you aren't a parent, it may have gone over your head. The real problem with a smart-onesie isn't simply that it's useless, but that infants are restless, and any signal this device carries will be overwhelmed by the noise. When you're the parent of an infant, your #2 goal (after "keep the baby alive") is "ruthlessly attend to your own rest needs".

I fully understand, that's why I called it 'the ridiculous part'. I recognize that a device that wakes you up whenever your baby is awake would be crazy, but surely that isn't what the device is going to do? I read it more as 'when your baby is crying so hard you will most likely wake up, it will turn on lights and soft music to assist you in calming them'.

Re: The Internet of Way Too Many Things

#44
post #30
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mimo monitors breathing, temperature and sleeping position. All of these are factors in cot death according to easily searchable research.

I thought that a cot death meant that this remained unexplained. Now a baby monitor reduces cot deaths? I'm really interested to read about that claim.

It remains unexplained but things are correlated with it, and possibly have an unexplained causal effect.

Re: The Internet of Way Too Many Things

#45
post #2

I just bought a home, and just started a considerable renovation. I'm putting in new water pipes, new electrical wiring, etc. I thought of putting "smart" devices (i.e. switches, alarms, thermostats, etc.) given the "advantages" these promise. After considerable research, it's not worth the hussle or money. Let's put aside the fact that these are considerable more expensive, and won't breakeven in years (some devices…

http://www.childtrends.org/?indicators=infant-child-and-teen... Looks to me like infant mortality (under age one) has halved between 1977 and 2013. I understand the argument of "it worked fine for me", but, well, on a portfolio basis, you and I were dying a bit faster back then. Outpatient care is a big field these days. Something that, with extremely little effort, can reduce the odds of death or disability, is quit…

Yes but this improvement was achieved by improvements (and increased uptake of) the traditional baby monitor. His point that the smart onesy is a bad idea stands irrespective.

> Outpatient care is a big field these days. Something that, with extremely little effort, can reduce the odds of death or disability, is quite tempting. A smart nappy/diaper with a disposable nutrition-analysing smart-chip is not that far off.

Or we could save the money spent on gadget nappies and instead use the money to pay for better/more nursing (and integrating nutritional requirements into patient care).

Re: The Internet of Way Too Many Things

#46
post #18

Refuel looks like it would be much better pivoted towards the beverage industry. The BBQ going out is not a problem, beer running out is a party-killer. It looks for all the world like a WiFi-connected scale that tells you when the weight of the tank is getting a bit light. We're poking fun at these, but this just caricatures the entire bay area startup scene. There are so many companies solving rich-people-problems…

I had the exact same thought for beer kegs when I saw that thing :)

Re: The Internet of Way Too Many Things

#47
post #36
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mimo monitors breathing, temperature and sleeping position. All of these are factors in cot death according to easily searchable research.

There is no evidence I've found that any monitoring device improves SIDS outcomes, and there is evidence that it doesn't. Forget about the smart onesie: it's difficult to justify even classic baby monitors as a medical intervention. The decline in SIDS over the last 2 decades tracks the education of parents not to put infants to sleep on their stomachs.

Small note, but there are other major factors in the decline of SIDS besides just not putting infants to sleep on their stomach, although they generally all stem from the idea of educating new parents about basic safety procedures that are not always intuitive.

Re: The Internet of Way Too Many Things

#48
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the companies that is solving this very problem is Xiaomi. Their method is quite crude - that is, they make everything themselves. But the end result is that everything they make - from an air purifier to a TV - is connected and operated via a similar / familiar OS called MIUI. They give away their phones for very cheap, because the phone is the Trojan horse - it is the remote control for all the other devices…

There is a whole different dynamic to these devices in China. Air quality, water quality, etc. are part of middle class lifestyle in China, and many people do not trust the authorities to keep these parameters within spec. Multiple air filters in an apartment are common, and monitoring the performance of these devices is an obvious interest to their owners. This is a much more compelling home automation story than th…

I've never understood the desire to add smart technology to the smoke alarm. Once properly installed a smoke alarm should be interacted with when (1) there is a fire, (2) the battery is running flat. False alarms pretty much mean you've installed it wrong.

Re: The Internet of Way Too Many Things

#49
post #2

I just bought a home, and just started a considerable renovation. I'm putting in new water pipes, new electrical wiring, etc. I thought of putting "smart" devices (i.e. switches, alarms, thermostats, etc.) given the "advantages" these promise. After considerable research, it's not worth the hussle or money. Let's put aside the fact that these are considerable more expensive, and won't breakeven in years (some devices…

Run some plastic pipes with lengths of string inside them around -- then when you want to install new cabling you can easily drag the cabling through the pipes without damaging your walls.
Post reply on HN