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Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

lockitron.com

31–40 of 111 posts

Re: Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

#31

Playing devil's advocate here, but what is the hype surrounding this lock? I bought two 'aesthetic enough' keypad code locks from Home Depot and it' been serving me well since. It doesn't require my phone or launching an app from my phone (think bags of groceries in both hands and you forgot to preunlock), doesn't require Wi-Fi, and I can program temporary codes for Airbnb, etc. within seconds. The only draw back is…

It's great because you don't NEED a keypad. Also, for people who rent and can't replace their locks, this gets them all the functionality a keypad lock can give.

Re: Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

#32

@Lockitron, I recall the original story going: "We decided to host our own "Kickstarter" because investors did not seem interested and Kickstarter changed their policies." I am curious, have you found that investors have changed their tune due to your successes so far?

I think you're conflating two stories. Eric from Pebble originally went on Kickstarter because of investor interest. We created our own crowd funding platform because Kickstarter changed their policies. Both stories are detailed here: http://www.foundersatwork.com/1/post/2012/10/what-goes-wrong... In both cases, investor interest is a barrier but the core problem seems to be 1) making something people want, 2) findin…

you + are = you're

Re: Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

#33

Playing devil's advocate here, but what is the hype surrounding this lock? I bought two 'aesthetic enough' keypad code locks from Home Depot and it' been serving me well since. It doesn't require my phone or launching an app from my phone (think bags of groceries in both hands and you forgot to preunlock), doesn't require Wi-Fi, and I can program temporary codes for Airbnb, etc. within seconds. The only draw back is…

Consider everyone who lives in an apartment who doesn't have the option of replacing their lock (and I wouldn't really want to anyway... I rather prefer the unchanged external appearance of this product).

IIRC, you can also easily deauthorize users, so it's also the cheapest way I can think of to retrofit something into being a shared space where you want to be able to control access going forward.

It's not the perfect lock solution for every use case, but it's a really cool utility for a lot of purposes.

Re: Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

#34

This is bananas! Please, someone who has reserved one .. WHY do you need to open your deadbolt from anywhere other than your front door? Do you often find yourself down the street / at work / in an overseas hotel with the need to open the deadbolt? Don't you want to see who's there? Don't you have a second lock built into the knob? It's an interesting idea to control a mechanical object (lock) with an internet connec…

I haven't ordered one, but I could see it being useful to give access to certain people at certain times. Like if you're using AirBnB you can give someone temp access, or if you want to give new employees access to the office without having to make more keys/cards.

edit: You could also use it to detect when the deadbolt is used, presumably when someone you know enters/leaves, since a burglar would probably not use the deadbolt ;)

Re: Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

#35

This is bananas! Please, someone who has reserved one .. WHY do you need to open your deadbolt from anywhere other than your front door? Do you often find yourself down the street / at work / in an overseas hotel with the need to open the deadbolt? Don't you want to see who's there? Don't you have a second lock built into the knob? It's an interesting idea to control a mechanical object (lock) with an internet connec…

To answer your questions: 1) Why? Faster than keys. And I might forget my keys, but I won't forget my phone. Also, if a neighbor wants to borrow something, I can let them in remotely and lock the door behind me.

2) No, but I often am not sure if I locked the door or not. Or see the above example with a neighbor.

3) I don't see how that's relevant. If I'm home, I'll walk over and open the door. Or if they yell "It's John!" then I'll open it for them.

4) Nope, not in my apartment. And at my family home we never used the knob lock, only the deadbolt.

Re: Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

#36

Playing devil's advocate here, but what is the hype surrounding this lock? I bought two 'aesthetic enough' keypad code locks from Home Depot and it' been serving me well since. It doesn't require my phone or launching an app from my phone (think bags of groceries in both hands and you forgot to preunlock), doesn't require Wi-Fi, and I can program temporary codes for Airbnb, etc. within seconds. The only draw back is…

Consider everyone who lives in an apartment who doesn't have the option of replacing their lock (and I wouldn't really want to anyway... I rather prefer the unchanged external appearance of this product). IIRC, you can also easily deauthorize users, so it's also the cheapest way I can think of to retrofit something into being a shared space where you want to be able to control access going forward. It's not the perfe…

So .. it stops physical keys from working?

Re: Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

#37

I've been minimizing the stuff I carry in my pocket for a while now (for every day work). The wallet was the first to go. Then I stopped carrying IDs (I use public transport). Now I'm down to my keys, my phone, a credit card, and a metro pass. The day when all I need is my phone is getting closer!

> Then I stopped carrying Ids I assume you either a) don't drink or b) live in NYC.

Neither! Never got the acquired taste for alcohol. And I don't live in NYC - residing in Toronto atm.

Re: Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

#38

This is bananas! Please, someone who has reserved one .. WHY do you need to open your deadbolt from anywhere other than your front door? Do you often find yourself down the street / at work / in an overseas hotel with the need to open the deadbolt? Don't you want to see who's there? Don't you have a second lock built into the knob? It's an interesting idea to control a mechanical object (lock) with an internet connec…

To answer your questions: 1) Why? Faster than keys. And I might forget my keys, but I won't forget my phone. Also, if a neighbor wants to borrow something, I can let them in remotely and lock the door behind me. 2) No, but I often am not sure if I locked the door or not. Or see the above example with a neighbor. 3) I don't see how that's relevant. If I'm home, I'll walk over and open the door. Or if they yell "It's J…

1. Faster than keys? Wow .. you need faster keys .. it's WAY faster for me to pull my key out of my pocket than my phone. And I don't have to unlock my phone, find the app, launch it and anything else the app needs me to do (PIN?)

1b. That's the most expensive let-in-a-neighbour idea ever. My neighbours have a spare key to my place. If you're going to trust them once, why not just trust them?

2. Again .. a really expensive solution to this simple problem. How often do you actually leave your door unlocked? Or are you just scared and this device will give you needless peace of mind?

3. The point is that this device lets you unlock from anywhere in the world. Why would you unlock it from anywhere other than your house?

4. What if the neighbour in 1b decides to use the knob lock (after all, it's his habit to lock) and you left your keys at home because you have your phone?

Re: Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

#39

This is bananas! Please, someone who has reserved one .. WHY do you need to open your deadbolt from anywhere other than your front door? Do you often find yourself down the street / at work / in an overseas hotel with the need to open the deadbolt? Don't you want to see who's there? Don't you have a second lock built into the knob? It's an interesting idea to control a mechanical object (lock) with an internet connec…

I haven't ordered one, but I could see it being useful to give access to certain people at certain times. Like if you're using AirBnB you can give someone temp access, or if you want to give new employees access to the office without having to make more keys/cards. edit: You could also use it to detect when the deadbolt is used, presumably when someone you know enters/leaves, since a burglar would probably not use th…

I love that someone who HASN'T ordered one actually has a better real-life reason for using one!

Yes, I can see that temporary access would be a good use-case.

But it's probably cheaper to buy more swipe cards or keys at the office than pay to make sure everyone has a compatible phone with them.

Re: Lockitron exceeds $2,000,000 in reservations

#40

It really pays to check how ones company name sounds in different languages. Because in some cases connotations could be not even funny :( For example in russian, lockitron sounds very similar to 'lohotron' which translates as con game, scam etc.

Lockitron does not sound like lohotron to me in Russian. Not even close.
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