At the current level of economic and technological development we could all be working fifteen hours a week and still have a great life [0]. Instead we keep ourselves busy designing "smart light bulb reset process", producing instructional videos about that process, watching instructional videos, and being frustrated when it eventually doesn't work.
GE's smart light bulb reset process is a masterpiece of modern techno-insanity
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Re: GE's smart light bulb reset process is a masterpiece of modern techno-insanity
#42Here the reset procedure for Awox color light bulbs:
1. If possible, put your bulb in white (hot or cold no matter ...). The reset procedure works better when the bulb is white rather than color.
2. In the steps below, the power is turned off. It is not ON / OFF done using the remote control or the application, but electrical ON / OFF.
3. Your light bulb is off. This is the beginning of the procedure.
4. Turn it on briefly (one second) and turn it off
5. Allow 6 seconds
6. Turn it on a second time briefly (one second) and turn off
7. Allow 6 seconds
8. Turn it on a third time briefly (one second) and turn off
9. Allow 6 seconds
10. Turn it on for a fourth time (12 seconds) and turn off
11. Allow 6 seconds
12. Turn on the fifth time (12 seconds) and turn off
13. Allow 6 seconds
14. Turn it on. The bulb will then reset and flash green. Then it will return to its initial red state.
I never managed to get the bulb to flash green, however somehow I managed to reset the bulb anyway.
Re: GE's smart light bulb reset process is a masterpiece of modern techno-insanity
#43This is mind bogglingly silly. Just do this: On-off a bunch of times puts the bulb into a receptive state for 30 seconds, where it will stop everything else (other than the light being on) and listen for admin commands from a controller, one of which is "reset". Kids messing with the lights? If no admin command gets sent, it returns to normal operation after 30 seconds. Problem solved.
It's not about about technical problem that's idiotic, any HN reader could solve this way better. Imagine the bureaucracy and processes at GE that let this product to production. How many eyes looked at it and thought it's a good idea? It even went through a firmware refresh :) This will be an iconic product of the IoT era, not it a good way of course.
Re: GE's smart light bulb reset process is a masterpiece of modern techno-insanity
#44Resetting a lightbulb. What a time to be alive.
Somewhere there is retribution awaiting our species for this. Think of it, maybe this reset procedure is part of it.
Re: GE's smart light bulb reset process is a masterpiece of modern techno-insanity
#45If Apple had done this light bulb you’d have to buy a $70 “resetter” device, that would do the on/off cycling for you. If Facebook had made the light bulb, you’d have to unfriend the lightbulb for it to reset. If Google had made the lightbulb, well the reset function would be discontinued. If Microsoft had made the lightbulb, you’d need to call your active directory admin to perform the reset.
>If Facebook had made the light bulb, you’d have to unfriend the lightbulb for it to reset.
The funny thing is, I can see IoT enabled devices using social media accounts as an interface. You would be required to follow your appliances on Facebook or Twitter or whatever and your refrigerator would PM you when you were low on juice or something.
Re: GE's smart light bulb reset process is a masterpiece of modern techno-insanity
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines. I mean, I'm as geeky as it gets, but I'm still "amused" by the fact that we have lightbulbs with a firmware and a reset procedure, books that need to be charged and fridges that tweet.
The first time I had to upgrade the firmware on my smart lightbulbs, it was so weird. But you get used to it! And I think they were one of the best purchases I did to be honest. Some features I love; # When I come to my home during the evening, lights are automatically turned on. # When I leave my place, they automatically turn off. # You can set up alarms, like 30 minutes before my alarm goes off in the morning, lig…
I know its not quite as “smart” but we have had timers for lighting circuits for at least 50 years ...
Re: GE's smart light bulb reset process is a masterpiece of modern techno-insanity
#47I had a chat with Japanese lifestyle management consultant for the rich recently. In the 90's Bill Gates had networked house and automatically adjusting lights and it was the peak of luxury. Today networking and automating the house is so affordable that it's not signalling luxury lifestyle.
Apparently doing simple mundane tasks gracefully and carefully without feeling irritated is quickly becoming a way to signal to other rich people. Self regulation, education and taste has always been part of the upper class lifestyle. It's something that money can't buy. Tastefully understated lifestyle and restricting gadget usage is how the rich signal to their peers.
Re: GE's smart light bulb reset process is a masterpiece of modern techno-insanity
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines. I mean, I'm as geeky as it gets, but I'm still "amused" by the fact that we have lightbulbs with a firmware and a reset procedure, books that need to be charged and fridges that tweet.
The first time I had to upgrade the firmware on my smart lightbulbs, it was so weird. But you get used to it! And I think they were one of the best purchases I did to be honest. Some features I love; # When I come to my home during the evening, lights are automatically turned on. # When I leave my place, they automatically turn off. # You can set up alarms, like 30 minutes before my alarm goes off in the morning, lig…
Perhaps I'm missing something but why would I want any of that? It all seems annoying and useless.
Re: GE's smart light bulb reset process is a masterpiece of modern techno-insanity
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines. I mean, I'm as geeky as it gets, but I'm still "amused" by the fact that we have lightbulbs with a firmware and a reset procedure, books that need to be charged and fridges that tweet.
My shitty smart plugs sometimes don’t turn on. Can you imagine how frustrating not have your lights respond to a flick of a switch or request to turn on!? It’s infuriating! Also this reminds me I need to put all my lights on a DMZ.
I had one of those remote control light things back in 2007 - it was great until somebody out on the street would bleep their car alarm and all my lights would turn off. It was this experience that resolved me to not waste my time with smart technologies unless they we’re at least as convenient as their dumb counterparts.
Re: GE's smart light bulb reset process is a masterpiece of modern techno-insanity
#50Could people remind me why they need these "smart" bulbs in the first place?
I'm not sure why this is getting downvoted. It's a legitimate question. The use-case is not clear to me either. Is it to create atmosphere with the various colors? Have them turn on automatically to give the impression the home isn't empty when I'm on vacation (à-la "Home Alone")?
You can use the various colors for atmosphere, but it's useful when it's late at night and you either need to focus on something (so you shift to white/blue), or you want to slow down and get ready for bed (shift to red- F.lux helps but why not the whole room?).
Most wall timers can only turn lamps on and off on schedule, but they make a mess of the light's functionality if the light is not in the state you want it outside of that schedule, and they can't control ceiling fixtures. Smart lights make both tasks easy.
Old apartments don't have dimmer switches, so if you want less light you're out of luck. Smart lights are dimmable on any circuit (though less effective if dimmers already exist on said circuit).
They're worth less if your home already has custom lighting options installed, uses bulbs that don't have a smart option available, or are badly designed like this GE product (though others aren't that much better). Otherwise, the cost per light upgraded with a good smart light bulb beats the cost of that same light + a timer + bulbs that emit other colors and the non-financial costs of how inconvenient those things are.
I'm not saying it isn't a luxury product, because it very much is, but if you have any of those goals/constraints there's nothing else on the market that can do that.