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It takes 5 cloud services to hear my doorbell

blog.vghaisas.com

31–40 of 282 posts

Re: It takes 5 cloud services to hear my doorbell

#31

The interesting thing here is that Samsung thinks they are going to get people to pay for API access to their smart devices, when "app access" is free. We are now past the point where LLMs can automate the apps. You don't even need to write the code, the LLM will do it for you. As a recent owner of a Samsung fridge, I'm really curious to know what the plan is here. The probability of me paying a monthly for my refrig…

Is app access really free, or do you have to pay for a developer account or something?

Re: It takes 5 cloud services to hear my doorbell

#33
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I literally just said it solved my problem. Most casual crime is opportunistic, and cameras and lights add uncertainty to the opportunity. Most people aren't willing to chance the camera for an opportunistic score.

> Most casual crime is opportunistic, and cameras and lights add uncertainty to the opportunity. Most people aren't willing to chance the camera for an opportunistic score. People have been stealing things from stores which have had cctv for decades. Your premises are manifestly false.

The question isn’t whether people EVER steal when there is a camera, the question is whether they will still LESS.

Just because something doesn’t work 100% of the time doesn’t mean it can’t be effective.

Re: It takes 5 cloud services to hear my doorbell

#34
post #29

>an over engineered It’s not, that’s called a duct tape solution, which is the opposite of engineering, that’s poor design and bad practice, there are so many failure points and moving parts that it’s eminent it will fail. The engineering design should be reliable, simple, and efficient. Instead of that cluster chaos you made, you could have had a relay wired inside the bell that simultaneously trigger a normal and s…

in the age of LLM's this is all too common.

"look at what i can do with the assistance of an LLM"

shows an rube goldberg construction sure it works. but geez support and security is a nightmare.

Re: It takes 5 cloud services to hear my doorbell

#35
So... you already owned Google Home minis... why not buy Google's Nest doorbell, which rings every Google Home device out of the box with none of the absurdity? If you have a Google 4k TV Streamer, it even pops up on your TV when someone rings the doorbell...

Re: It takes 5 cloud services to hear my doorbell

#36
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People steal things from stores which have had cctv for decades. I have no idea why people think these goofy webcams have any effect other than invading the privacy of your neighbors.

I literally just said it solved my problem. Most casual crime is opportunistic, and cameras and lights add uncertainty to the opportunity. Most people aren't willing to chance the camera for an opportunistic score.

I’m not sure how it’s so hard for people replying to you, to understand, cameras are a deterrent. Crime is often opportunistic. I grew up in 80s Miami, the common tactic was knock on your front door to see if anyone’s home, when no one answers, they’d kick in the backdoor.

Cameras deter crime. Not ALL crime. Criminals aren’t stupid and will simply go burgle someone that isn’t recording.

Re: It takes 5 cloud services to hear my doorbell

#37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People steal things from stores which have had cctv for decades. I have no idea why people think these goofy webcams have any effect other than invading the privacy of your neighbors.

And criminals have been caught using CCTV footage for decades.

Famously the big companies like Target will let people steal until they cross the amount for a felony then throw the book at them

Re: It takes 5 cloud services to hear my doorbell

#38
post #6

It's crazy these things don't have much interopability with third parties. Is it so difficult to expose a MQTT thing or some other random HTTP server, default off but configurable in some developer settings, that could be used to control the device/read state? It would certainly make the minority that is us power users happy.

There are plenty of devices that support a lot of integrations.

However, those companies don’t make the kind of perpetual revenue that bring in capital, and the companies that make the devices that don’t make you pay for their service end up not lasting as long as those that do.

Sadly, it seems that the prudent business decision is to lock your customers into your ecosystem.

Re: It takes 5 cloud services to hear my doorbell

#39

I am constantly amazed that people rely on anyone else's compute infrastructure for things like doorbells, cameras, locks, switches, or sensors (network infrastructure is, at the moment, a seemingly acceptable integration for isolated communication.) There is inevitable over-pricing and capture by these companies; it's in their nature. Add to this the security and downtime risks, and the equation really doesn't look…

[deleted]

Re: It takes 5 cloud services to hear my doorbell

#40

So... you already owned Google Home minis... why not buy Google's Nest doorbell, which rings every Google Home device out of the box with none of the absurdity? If you have a Google 4k TV Streamer, it even pops up on your TV when someone rings the doorbell...

Indeed the Nest integration is pretty solid.

That said, the author might also consider installing an actual doorbell, which is a device their home should have had decades ago. You'll also want something to provide power to the Nest, so this is almost free.

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