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The Internet of Way Too Many Things

nytimes.com

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Re: The Internet of Way Too Many Things

#241

Post by webXL »

JupiterMoon wrote: post #237
webXL wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, as originally designed perhaps, but what if you could add a bit of tech to make sure your pets are safe? Or you're not coming home only to inhale carbon monoxide? I don't think $99 is a ridiculous expense for such peace of mind, even if it's not proven to be full proof just yet.

My CO alarm sounds pretty loudly. You notice it the moment you open the door again smart it does not need to be. How would you get your pet out in time if your CO alarm or smoke alarm went off when you were at work?

Perhaps coming home hours earlier from work and/or calling a neighbor would increase their odds of survival.

I find it odd that people are questioning the value of this life and death information while there are plenty of frivolous IOT devices.

Re: The Internet of Way Too Many Things

#242

Post by wpietri »

JupiterMoon wrote: post #236
wpietri wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A friend of mine, a great cook, regularly performs what she refers to as The Dance of Smoke Alarm Supplication, wherein she and a broom jointly try to persuade the alarm gods that everything is fine. When she heard that there was a smoke alarm that would pop up a notification on her phone first so she could mute it with zero shrieking, she was very excited. It may be that her landlord installed it wrong, but landlord…

Yes the landlord installed it wrong. However in what scenario does a landlord install a £100 smoke alarm when s/he can install a £10 one though? No landlord I've ever had would have done this -- given that over here bills are paid by the tenant a thermostat is usually not provided. Homeowners can at least move them when they realise they have installed them wrong.

Some landlords will install a £100 smoke alarm when they realize that they can get real-time notifications that one of their buildings is on fire. Others will do it as a fancy feature to attract higher-paying tenants.

And when the price falls to £30, as happens with these things, a lot more will do it.

Re: The Internet of Way Too Many Things

#243

Post by cwilkes »

tonyarkles wrote: post #192
joshvm wrote: 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…

Funny enough, the Refuel immediately jumped out at me as a product that would be super useful for me. Not because I care a lot about being able to BBQ without running out of fuel, but because I have a propane-heated cabin in the middle of nowhere. Being able to look at the weather forecast and the amount of propane in the tank would make planning a lot easier. There's also a few different people that share the place,…

Why not have a second tank? Then if the first one is empty use the second and refill the first. That's pretty much guaranteed not to fail, unless you have someone that doesn't fill the tank. But that's s different problem. That's what I do at home and it is only for the occasional grilling, not anything like "we can't eat / have heat unless this works"

Re: The Internet of Way Too Many Things

#244

Post by acdha »

freehunter wrote: post #240
acdha wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's different because there's a clear mechanism and the data supports it. Is there a real study with a large enough sample size showing anything similar or is it just the usual convenience and artfully vague claims?

I understand your desire for hard data, and I'll admit I doubt it's there. However it's not that much of a stretch to follow from "babies survive better when people are watching them" to "it's easier to watch a baby when there are multiple people taking care of it" to "it doesn't have to be people, necessarily" to "what if sensors could do it" to "babies live longer because sensors are watching them when humans might…

I was looking at the comparison like this:

we knew that many thousands of people were dying in car crashes and also that people wearing seat-belts survived crashes at a much higher rate.

we know that a small number of kids die but we don't have that same level of evidence that the proposed solution actually works.

That's an argument for doing more studies but not for buying a bunch of IoT stuff at steep prices.

Re: The Internet of Way Too Many Things

#245

Post by Duhck »

oupsmigthidkk wrote: post #123
Duhck wrote: post #39

As someone actively working in the smart home space, I refrain from calling our business IoT for exactly this reason. I've even challenged the team to stay away from smart home. We do very little "smart" home stuff and instead rely on cleverly designing a set of devices that don't require an application or future technology (AI, voice control) to work properly. They also don't take up space in your home and combine t…

Tried to go on your profile to know more..can you provide a link of what you're building?

Apologies was traveling all day yesterday.

We are building Twist (www.hellotwist.com). The long term vision is a smart home platform for Apartments (and more specifically, renters).

In the short term, we've built a great multiroom audio system that doesn't take up valuable space, add to your clutter, or require setup / installation.

We've leveraged the light socket to deliver a quality lighting and audio experience that anyone -- even small spaces -- can benefit from.

Re: The Internet of Way Too Many Things

#246

Post by ghaff »

Nickersf wrote: post #93
Animats wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. And "Sky Mall" went bankrupt in January 2015.[1] [1] http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-flight-catalog-skymall-files-...

Ouch. Even as a kid I always wondered 'Who the hell shops out of these catalogs, and who came up with these products?' Sky Mall provided at least 30 minutes of trolling fun on a flight. :)

Note that most of the products/catalogs still exist. Sky Mall was basically just a catalog of catalogs that basically picked some of the more out-there examples from a variety of companies in the Brookstone/Hammacher Schlemmer/etc. vein. I've actually occasionally found useful products from these companies but they're mostly just oddball stuff that's somewhat amusing but not very practical.

Re: The Internet of Way Too Many Things

#247

Post by plonh »

BurritoAlPastor wrote: post #114
tw04 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why you make sure they use one of the standards based protocols, then buy something like a smartthings hub which is open enough that you can write your own apps if the vendor decides to abandon theirs. You don't need the vendor to update their app, you just need them to operate with the hub, and then talk to the hub directly to control the device.

Ah, yes. Not only do I pay $50 for my light switches, I also have to write my own interface before they behave differently from $10 light switches. What an incredible value proposition.

You only need one person in the world to write an interface and then sell it for a open source bounty, via something like Patreon.

Re: The Internet of Way Too Many Things

#248

Post by Duhck »

meowface wrote: post #227
rm445 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Parent poster's bio link points to https://www.hellotwist.com/ which does multi-room speaker systems. What I was going to say before thinking to check the link, is that there must be a wealth of applications available to the instrumentation engineer, using modern microcontrollers without making the full step to Internet of Things. The smoke alarm with the "I'm cooking for the next ten minutes" button. The simple alar…

Twist seems like a pretty clever idea, especially by integrating it all into the lightbulb. Can anyone think of potential downsides to this approach? Other than the audio probably not being of very good quality compared to a serious speaker system.

We've used a really high quality audio driver and have some future products that'll help round out the system (aka subwoofers).

For reference here is the data sheet of speaker we use: http://www.baysidenet.tv/catalog/pdf/Peerless/30n18al04-04.p...

We also have a half a dozen other products designed to fit into this form factor, all of which provide a superior lighting experience to what is available on the market today.

Re: The Internet of Way Too Many Things

#249

Post by rootbear »

bcoates wrote: post #229
tacon wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

About ten years ago I sat through a funding pitch for a monitor that detects sudden changes in residential water flow rates. Cost was about $250/home, and part of the pitch was that insurance companies would help cover the cost to save catastrophic damage. Apparently washing machine hoses burst on a regular basis, and such an event in an unoccupied home is very expensive. I haven't heard anything about that problem/s…

Is it common to have washing machines in rooms without floor drains?

Townhouses. I live in one and my washer is on the second level, off the kitchen. It sits in a pan with a hole in the bottom that goes to a drain pipe. That might save me from a slow leak, but could never deal with a catastrophic failure. I do have a shutoff valve and I keep it closed when I'm not actually using the washing machine.

Re: The Internet of Way Too Many Things

#250

Post by pixl97 »

wpietri wrote: post #242
JupiterMoon wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes the landlord installed it wrong. However in what scenario does a landlord install a £100 smoke alarm when s/he can install a £10 one though? No landlord I've ever had would have done this -- given that over here bills are paid by the tenant a thermostat is usually not provided. Homeowners can at least move them when they realise they have installed them wrong.

Some landlords will install a £100 smoke alarm when they realize that they can get real-time notifications that one of their buildings is on fire. Others will do it as a fancy feature to attract higher-paying tenants. And when the price falls to £30, as happens with these things, a lot more will do it.

>Some landlords will install a £100 smoke alarm when they realize that they can get real-time notifications that one of their buildings is on fire.

Not even on fire, maybe people are smoking inside when they aren't suppose to be. Maybe someone burns their food commonly and that needs investigated before they burn the whole damn place down one time. I can see lots of reasons for that.

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