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

theregister.co.uk

181–190 of 235 posts

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

#181

"For some reason, GE decided not to install a physical reset button" Well, there might be some good reasons not to have a reset button. Without knowing GE's reasons let's brainstorm: - My first thought is that many light bulbs are not easily accessible. They could be high up, or in a casing that requires a tool to open. So being able to reset them remotely is a practical benefit. - If you google "accidents whilst cha…

Just hope you never have to do this process on a house full of these things. LOLOLOL.

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

#182

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?

You can definitely afford it, you just have to not live like a typical modern American.

You can arrange your life around riding the bike and taking public transport, get a roommate, cook your own meals, etc. etc. and live on $20k/yr or less. Not in an expensive metropolis (easily), but there are plenty of other places where you can live.

Look at how big houses were in the early 1900s. And how often people ate meat.

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

#184

This is why I don't buy the "IoT smart home" future. There's no such thing as a "smart" device that doesn't typically break within 4-5 years. Dozens of such devices in a house means you'd be dealing with a broken device every few months, which is my nightmare. I want the LEAST amount of complexity possible to control all my critical living functions, from fridges to windows to lights to cars.

Can you name the vendor?

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

#186

"For some reason, GE decided not to install a physical reset button" Well, there might be some good reasons not to have a reset button. Without knowing GE's reasons let's brainstorm: - My first thought is that many light bulbs are not easily accessible. They could be high up, or in a casing that requires a tool to open. So being able to reset them remotely is a practical benefit. - If you google "accidents whilst cha…

Every light bulb has to be accessible enough to be changed. Most in-home bulbs are accessible by hand. The remainder are accessible by stepladder or by an extendable pole tool that is easily affordable by everyone who has ceilings that high.

The obvious placement for a reset button is somewhere that it cannot be accessed while the bulb is powered, such as near the screw-in Edison base, accessible only from the direction of the base. If the bulb is still screwed-in, you just can't align your paper clip with the pinhole, because the socket hardware is in the way. So the user has to remove the bulb, maybe also letting it cool off, before performing a pinhole reset.

And adding a reset button does not preclude a switch-controlled reset procedure, either. Press the reset button OR switch off for at least 15 seconds, on for two beats, off for one beat, on for three beats, off for one beat, on for five beats, off for one beat, then on again to receive the reset feedback flashes. Allow some percentage variance in the timing, so the slower the tempo, the easier it is to trigger the reset. "Off-one-two-off-one-two-three-off-one-two-three-four-five-off-reset." No one is going to do a sequence of primes by accident. And if you adjust timing on the fly, a machine-controlled bulb-resetter could reset a bulb in less than a second using a clock pulse generator, while a human could still do it in less than ten seconds by switching to a steady musical beat or by watching a timepiece.

Really, the only reason we want a button is because their timed power-cycle reset process is so ridiculous. Your reasons for not putting one in are valid, mainly under the assumption that a reset button would be mutually exclusive with a reset process. There's no reason why a bulb can't have both.

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

#187

I have a story on point. My brother is a manager at a company which installs electrical and HVAC systems, working mostly with very high-end private homes. They had this couple as clients, both very fancy architects, who designed their new home to be completely computer-controlled, from window shutters to air conditioners to lights, without any physical switches (I guess there was a remote and sensors or something). T…

Wait, so the preferred solution was a (presumably RF) remote and voice activation? So you've finished watching a movie, and now have to search the couch cushions just to turn the light on? Or you are going to the bathroom late at night and have to say "OK Google" loudly enough for the mic to hear you, possibly waking people up? Carrying around a portable lantern sounds more convenient.

Congratulations, somehow this house's lighting system is less ergonomic than my great-grandfather's house that was lit by kerosene lantern.

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

#188
post #120

This is why I don't buy the "IoT smart home" future. There's no such thing as a "smart" device that doesn't typically break within 4-5 years. Dozens of such devices in a house means you'd be dealing with a broken device every few months, which is my nightmare. I want the LEAST amount of complexity possible to control all my critical living functions, from fridges to windows to lights to cars.

I decided to give away my "smart" door lock and test setup of "smart" light bulbs. I have better things to do than pretending to be tech helpdesk for mye house/family for things that aren't really giving me much benefit. The door lock had some nice features, but I had no secondary way of entering the house without breaking something so I decided it was too high risc. The Philips HUE lightbulbs are not capable of reme…

>The door lock had some nice features, but I had no secondary way of entering the house without breaking something so I decided it was too high risc.

Which smart door lock doesn't allow a key to unlock? Even if it malfunctions horribly, it's not as if the lock is powerful enough to prevent someone from twisting using the key. Most use AA batteries.

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

#189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So your goal is discovery of music? We used to have a great solution for this: disk jockeys. Some stations still do employ them as actual curators of music, not just a pleasing voice over the Clear Channel Top 40 feed. The problems of today are strange.

The loss of DJs to syndicated formats was tragic. These folks are pros, with vast experience, and they can put together a show by theme, or to tell a story, or to set a mood, or to challenge you with some new things. Most of them now press the button on whatever they're told and read the title out. But, every once in a while they sneak in a late night show now, maybe when mgmt isn't looking. I wonder if this would be…

It is the most common format for clubs in virtual worlds, and I've found a lot of new music that way. One of my favorites is the saturday afternoon show in Utopia Skye, which is simulcast on Discord, allowing people who aren't in the virtual club to listen and to interact with the DJs.

Utopia Skye Discord: https://discord.gg/hScth5T

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

#190
post #156
post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You never been in bed and then remembered to turn off the light in some other room?

No? Well, maybe I have done that somewhere in the past ten years. If that's the case then I probably got out of bed, turned it off and went back to bed again. And immediately forgot that it happened, because it is only a very minor inconvenience. Really a lot less hassle than dealing with this IoT tech.

Right? When you add up all the hassle of configuring everything and troubleshooting it... christ, give me a damn switch any day.
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