The lightbulb reinvented • Hacker News Board

Re: The lightbulb reinvented

#81

Post by m0nastic » Sun, Sep 16, 2012, 5:34 PM UTC

Wistar wrote: post #3

If you had a few of these in your house a an iPhone camera app could be made that controls the lights so that you could compose the shot and the lighting. It could even briefly brighten the lights like a flash setup for just the duration of the exposure. That way the lighting needed for the moment of the shot needn't interfere with the ambience of the room. Interesting things could be done by having lighting shifts p…

You might be interested in this other product that does what you're talking about: http://riftlabs.com/kick-overview-betterpics/ (it was also on Kickstarter).

I'm not affiliated with them, but I was super impressed and eagerly await buying a bunch.

Re: The lightbulb reinvented

#82

Post by BryanB55 » Sun, Sep 16, 2012, 5:41 PM UTC

I like it. Not that I want my entire house to be purple and green but they mentioned something about changing the light color when receiving a notification. I'm thinking it would be cool to have the light on my desk turn to red when Pingdom reports one of my websites offline. Or to have the lights flash red when my security cameras report motion.

Re: The lightbulb reinvented

#83

Post by count » Sun, Sep 16, 2012, 6:00 PM UTC

pflats wrote: post #51

jaxonrice wrote: post #44

Wouldn't it make more sense to make the actual lightswitch wi-fi controllable rather than the lightbulb?

It looks like their goal is to make the entire project "electrician-free". Replacing a light switch is still intimidating for a large number of people.

Or not possible if you're renting.

Re: The lightbulb reinvented

#84

Post by larrys » Sun, Sep 16, 2012, 6:05 PM UTC

eps wrote: post #59

This. Is. Featurebloat. Seriously, color changing? Dimming? Make a simple natural light bulb, a smartphone app and a wifi wall switch. Latter is far far more important than an ability to drown my kitchen in a shade of green. Keep it useful, damn it. Not a single home automation company gets this. Usability is a key to adoption.

I agree on the featurebloat. And the video is to long imo. Make your sale and get out of dodge.

In any case this product, while cool, reminds me a little of what Steve Blank calls a "novelty" effect (I was at SM with Steve at the time of that product).

http://steveblank.com/2009/05/11/supermac-war-story-x-the-vi...

Re: The lightbulb reinvented

#85

Post by ChuckMcM » Sun, Sep 16, 2012, 6:08 PM UTC

dakrisht wrote: post #7

Wistar wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Color Kinetics has locked up almost everything useful with RGB LED arrays.

I'm assuming the LIFX did their due-diligence and attained "freedom to operate" before undergoing this venture - or is "assumption the mother of all f-ups"?

Strangely most people who come up with these sorts of ideas independently usually operate with one of two perspectives:

1) I know I thought of this idea so I've got a right to use it.

2) This idea is pretty obvious, it just hasn't had anyone willing to implement it.

Both of which give the implementer a false sense of security. People who've done this once or twice and been hit on the head by the stupid patent hammer, will look around to see if anyone has done something similar, especially 15 - 20 years ago, and if they can create a credible path to their idea which doesn't involve things that are patented. Then they file a provisional patent to be sure they don't get stomped on.

Re: The lightbulb reinvented

#86

Post by thedufer » Sun, Sep 16, 2012, 6:09 PM UTC

INTPenis wrote: post #79

ForrestN wrote: post #52

From an efficiency/sustainability point of view, I have a basic discomfort with the idea of throwing away all the wifi/controller stuff each time you need a new bulb. I know LEDs don't run out very fast, but they do run out. This has cost implications too. What about a setup where there are two levels of screw: the LED bulb screws into a fixture with the wifi stuff inside, which then screws into the light fixture? Th…

No, I agree. This idea is braindead because it's much more effective to focus on a device you plug in between the outlet in your wall and the devices you want to control power to. A standard already exists for half the project which is called x10.

Right, because there's no difference between the average person changing a lightbulb and messing with their wiring.

This is probably how things are going to work until its commonplace for houses to be built with x10.

Re: The lightbulb reinvented

#87

Post by larrys » Sun, Sep 16, 2012, 6:10 PM UTC

ForrestN wrote: post #52

From an efficiency/sustainability point of view, I have a basic discomfort with the idea of throwing away all the wifi/controller stuff each time you need a new bulb. I know LEDs don't run out very fast, but they do run out. This has cost implications too. What about a setup where there are two levels of screw: the LED bulb screws into a fixture with the wifi stuff inside, which then screws into the light fixture? Th…

" the LED bulb screws into a fixture with the wifi stuff inside"

I would also think that the electronics could be small enough to simply be an insert between one of the conductors and the bulb. There are, for example, inserts (size of a coin iirc) that simply can flash a bulb when seated in between the screwbase and the bulb.

Re: The lightbulb reinvented

#88

Post by Codhisattva » Sun, Sep 16, 2012, 6:14 PM UTC

pfhorsworn wrote: post #9

So, how would one go about connecting it a password protected network?

I think I'd prefer the bulbs to all be Zigbee and instead drop a dongle on an ethernet port on the router.

Re: The lightbulb reinvented

#89

Post by drcube » Sun, Sep 16, 2012, 6:34 PM UTC

Scene_Cast2 wrote: post #73

adamcox wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even more reason for the double screw idea. You can upgrade the WiFi radio when your network becomes incompatible in the future.

This is definitely feature overload for a typical person. I find it funny how on HN there arguments that non-replaceable batteries in MBPs are okay, and at the same time, that a small gadget must have user-replaceable radio.

Non-replaceable batteries are not okay. And while I've seen plenty of Mac fans here, I can't say I've seen anybody defend this particular anti-feature.

Re: The lightbulb reinvented

#90

Post by dave5104 » Sun, Sep 16, 2012, 6:59 PM UTC

eps wrote: post #59

This. Is. Featurebloat. Seriously, color changing? Dimming? Make a simple natural light bulb, a smartphone app and a wifi wall switch. Latter is far far more important than an ability to drown my kitchen in a shade of green. Keep it useful, damn it. Not a single home automation company gets this. Usability is a key to adoption.

For a good portion of the video, I was thinking the same exact thing. I can't see the average person either needing or even /wanting/ most of those features. From a work perspective, I want to turn my lights on. And I want to turn them off. That's it.

I think the part of the video that really demonstrated where money will be made was when he spent 5 seconds saying "Lifx has commercial applications as well." Now there I can see all these features being useful. (But I suppose tailoring a Kickstarter video towards restaurant/club/bar owners wouldn't net as much capital. :P)