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Reset C by GE Light Bulbs [video]

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Re: Reset C by GE Light Bulbs [video]

#81

Post by seren »

bdamm wrote: post #14
seren wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a software guy working on embedded systems, working with HW guys, more often than not the SW is always considered "free" while the cost of the BOM is always scrutinized to the cent. I am pretty sure in this instance the initial design had a reset button, and someone had the great idea to remove it to gain a few cents. Be sure that the people working are sure this is a really poor design, but often cost considerati…

My bets are that the firmware developers never had a problem because they're JTAG'd, simulated, or running insecure firmware with a built-in back door, and it wasn't until late in the product cycle where the need was even discovered (likely by a QA team.) At that point, this is the best they could come up with.

This could also be possible and more charitable for the poor HW guys I have denigrated, but at some point, someone (Product Manager?) has decided to go ahead with that weird pattern, which seems a bit odd.

Re: Reset C by GE Light Bulbs [video]

#82

Post by gumby »

jjoonathan wrote: post #22

Labeled Buttons >> Unlabeled Hieroglyphs >> Morse Code Button >> Morse Code Side Channel Why do I so often find products where the designers have chosen a less usable option even though size constraints would have easily permitted a more usable option? Here it's debatable, but every time I find a desktop app / website that has replaced labeled buttons with hieroglyphs in a hamburger menu I die a little inside. Also,…

>Labeled Buttons >> Unlabeled Hieroglyphs >> Morse Code Button >> Morse Code Side Channel > Why do I so often find products where the designers have chosen a less usable option even though size constraints would have easily permitted a more usable option?

I assume the designers were responding to management's insistence of reducing BOM costs.

And by "designer" we're talking about EEs -- high volume low-cost hardware applications rarely have any UI team at all.

Re: Reset C by GE Light Bulbs [video]

#83

Post by alkonaut »

reaperducer wrote: post #69
alkonaut wrote: post #24

Stop buying smart bulbs. It’s an absolutely horrible idea from beginning to end. What people want is a way to switch a lamp on and off. For that you need a smart switch . For it to work you can’t have a dumb switch in your wall first - because when the dumb switch is in the “off” position, the smart lightbulb doesn’t work! What do people that buy smart bulbs do, tape their light switches in the “on” position so you c…

What do people that buy smart bulbs do, tape their light switches in the “on” position so you can no longer use the most convenient way to switch off? You seem to assume that every lamp in every home maps 1:1 to a wall switch. This is far from true.

No but nearly all lights have a switch, that may be in the off position if the wall switch was used. Of course you can dim 10 smart bulbs individually that sit behind a single switch and that’s a great bonus - but for that to work properly you need one smart switch and 10 smart bulbs. I’m not saying smart bulbs are bad, it’s just that the most important feature (switching on and off) isn’t solved without a smart switch, and with a smart switch you don’t need a smart bulb unless you have niche uses (multiple bulbs to dim, color changes etc)

Re: Reset C by GE Light Bulbs [video]

#84

Post by alkonaut »

tomcam wrote: post #67
alkonaut wrote: post #24

Stop buying smart bulbs. It’s an absolutely horrible idea from beginning to end. What people want is a way to switch a lamp on and off. For that you need a smart switch . For it to work you can’t have a dumb switch in your wall first - because when the dumb switch is in the “off” position, the smart lightbulb doesn’t work! What do people that buy smart bulbs do, tape their light switches in the “on” position so you c…

> Stop buying smart bulbs. I must confess when I read statements like that I am inclined to do precisely the opposite. My favorite comments on HN are those expressed with less preaching and more reason.

It was a rant for sure - and obviously I shouldn’t care what others do, but the smart bulbs seem to have limited the market for what we really need which is the smart switch.

One of the reasons I hate them is when you e.g enter an AirBnb and find the switches taped and a manual for how to switch on the lights using your phone. This really is a thing.

Re: Reset C by GE Light Bulbs [video]

#85

Post by alkonaut »

tzs wrote: post #61
alkonaut wrote: post #24

Stop buying smart bulbs. It’s an absolutely horrible idea from beginning to end. What people want is a way to switch a lamp on and off. For that you need a smart switch . For it to work you can’t have a dumb switch in your wall first - because when the dumb switch is in the “off” position, the smart lightbulb doesn’t work! What do people that buy smart bulbs do, tape their light switches in the “on” position so you c…

The reasons I have a small number of smart bulbs are: 1. I want to be able to turn them off without getting out of bed to use the switch on the wall or the lamp, for the case where I fall asleep reading in bed. 2. I want good dimming. The dimmable LED bulbs I've found that work with regular incandescent dimmers have not been very good--they don't go as dim as I'd like and they often flicker a lot when dim. There are…

A smart bulb solves the “turn off from bed” problem, but I just feel it’s limited if you can’t solve the “turn on remotely” problem because there is a 50/50 chance of the walk switch being in off position.

I don’t mind smart bulbs at all - I do mind the combination “single smart bulb behind dumb switch” which is the most common scenario and yet completely broken.

Re: Reset C by GE Light Bulbs [video]

#86

Post by delusional »

throwaway34241 wrote: post #59

I've had these bulbs and done this reset process more times than I can count. For years the software was some of the worst I've ever used. It would constantly lose pairing with the bulbs. In order to re-pair with the bulbs, all the bulbs had to be reset individually using this process, and then all configuration had to be deleted from the app and every bulb needed to be re-added as a new bulb. Pairing was error-prone…

Ikea's smart lights have some switch like buttons you can use to turn on and off the lights (you can also adjust the brightness by holding down the buttons). It's pretty nice to be able to just place those little buttons wherever you think you want to turn on the lights.

Re: Reset C by GE Light Bulbs [video]

#87

Post by 2Ccltvcm »

alkonaut wrote: post #24

Stop buying smart bulbs. It’s an absolutely horrible idea from beginning to end. What people want is a way to switch a lamp on and off. For that you need a smart switch . For it to work you can’t have a dumb switch in your wall first - because when the dumb switch is in the “off” position, the smart lightbulb doesn’t work! What do people that buy smart bulbs do, tape their light switches in the “on” position so you c…

From the comments it seems like smart bulbs are a good choice for people are not capable of or not willing to replace wall switches.

Good news is there are ways to integrate smart switches with open source home automation systems.

https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/8apv64/hue_t...

Re: Reset C by GE Light Bulbs [video]

#88

Post by karmakaze »

> ...the software...

I thought it was already bad when our DVRs, TVs, cars and personal electronics take time to 'boot' because they're running OSes. Now were at the point where we'll put software into just about anything and deal with the fallout. The IoT age is about to be a very inconvenient one.

Re: Reset C by GE Light Bulbs [video]

#89

Post by chupa-chups »

chupa-chups wrote: post #3

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20242805 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20244885 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20235376 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20235221

@downvoters: you're right, despite i was annoyed by seeing the same article submitted 5 times in a few days: it wasn't noticed by the community and as such it counts as a new submission.

Thanks for the feedback!

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