GE's smart light bulb reset process is a masterpiece of modern techno-insanity

Post by _carl_jung » Thu, Aug 15, 2019, 9:09 AM UTC

janekm wrote: post #29

acd wrote: post #21

If you have kids they play with turning the light switch on and off. So I can see the need not to reset by accident. A simpler solution is to have ordinary plain light bulbs. Probably friendlier to the environment due to less electronics. It’s hard to hack ordinary light bulbs so they are secure. Reset button makes sense though. Reset button are costlier for bill of materials so manufacturers save on that.

Reset button is actually a safety issue, as the bulb would have to be plugged into the mains to register the reset. A metal paperclip inserted into the body of the light bulb would be very problematic from an electrical isolation point of view. The big failure arguably is not testing the firmware sufficiently (or building in recovery algorithms) to necessitate a reset procedure in the first place.

Post by acupofnope » Thu, Aug 15, 2019, 9:12 AM UTC

perfunctory wrote: post #41

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. [0] http://www.econ.yale.edu/smith/econ116a/keynes1.pdf

Post by qball » Thu, Aug 15, 2019, 9:14 AM UTC

rusk wrote: post #46

huseyinkeles wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ...

Post by soufron » Thu, Aug 15, 2019, 9:17 AM UTC

acupofnope wrote: post #53

perfunctory wrote: post #41

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. [0] http://www.econ.yale.edu/smith/econ116a/keynes1.pdf

Where do you live that your can afford a 15-hour week without worrying about rent, food,..etc?

Post by the_mitsuhiko » Thu, Aug 15, 2019, 9:20 AM UTC

Phillipharryt wrote: post #3

I remember this being brought up on reddit. Yes it's ridiculously lengthy, but having a procedure instead of a reset button is actually a smart idea. So they've taken a kernel of a good idea and went overboard on trying to protect users from accidentally resetting. Having a procedure allows you to reset bulbs in hard-to-reach places or a whole set of lights in one room can be reset using the one lightswitch.