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Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

bloomberg.com

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Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#11

Post by leetharris »

zachbee wrote: post #3

"Smart home" has really fallen flat across the board, from smart speakers to the Roomba. It would be great if Apple changed that, but I'm not optimistic. I just don't think people really want smart home devices all that much.

I think it's that most actually useful smart home stuff was very quickly saturated. It is great to be able to adjust my lights easily. It is great to turn my TV off in the other room. It is great to have a robot vacuum.

But a smart coffee maker? A smart clock? A smart dishwasher? All this garbage ended up being gimmicks and it ran out of steam so quickly.

I hope the things that are useful continue to get support as the big players abandon smart home expansion.

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#12

Post by ramenmeal »

zachbee wrote: post #3

"Smart home" has really fallen flat across the board, from smart speakers to the Roomba. It would be great if Apple changed that, but I'm not optimistic. I just don't think people really want smart home devices all that much.

From what I hear, it's a nightmare to get Siri to know what light you want to turn on. Unfortunately it seems like apple is trailing the pack in the smart home area.

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#13

Post by modoc »

zachbee wrote: post #3

"Smart home" has really fallen flat across the board, from smart speakers to the Roomba. It would be great if Apple changed that, but I'm not optimistic. I just don't think people really want smart home devices all that much.

I really do want smart home devices! My biggest issue so far has been stability and interoperability issues between each vendor and system. Those things have gotten better, but are still a headache. Apple is in a pretty good position to solve those pain points (at the cost of buying new devices (Apple brand or Apple Certified maybe?). Or maybe I need to dive deeper into HomeAssistant...

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#15

Post by pquki4 »

TheFuzzball wrote: post #10
zachbee wrote: post #3

"Smart home" has really fallen flat across the board, from smart speakers to the Roomba. It would be great if Apple changed that, but I'm not optimistic. I just don't think people really want smart home devices all that much.

Sonos would like a word.

I'm not holding my breath after seeing their stock price.

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#17

Post by newhotelowner »

I want something that cleans my bathroom and toilet. I will buy it for my business and will pay 20-30k/year.

Also, something to Clean my dishes (Load in the dishwasher, turn it on, and put it away).

Doing my laundry - load, wash and fold. Mow the lawn.

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#18

Post by vineyardmike »

zachbee wrote: post #3

"Smart home" has really fallen flat across the board, from smart speakers to the Roomba. It would be great if Apple changed that, but I'm not optimistic. I just don't think people really want smart home devices all that much.

As another commenter alluded to, good Smarthome tech becomes an appliance, which isn’t a desirable high margin business, and bad tech becomes a nuisance which is also not a desirable business.

That’s why Google is slowly getting out of it and shifting their focus from Nest. That’s why Apple never did much beyond a few speakers, and it’s why Amazon is right at home in that business (but even they’re getting out of the money-losing voice assistant aspect).

Robotics… seem like a miss to me. Very few tasks at home are as simple as vacuuming, but maybe I just lack the creativity and vision. Apple surely has some great tech left over from the car R&D so who knows. Apple is unfortunately not great at a “communal” perspective when making things.

I think a big issue no one talks about will be robot storage/garages. It’s already an issue for Roomba and anything bigger will be a no-go for many households. That is probably apples best chance - make it pleasant to look at and a status symbol.

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#19

Post by chongli »

zachbee wrote: post #3

"Smart home" has really fallen flat across the board, from smart speakers to the Roomba. It would be great if Apple changed that, but I'm not optimistic. I just don't think people really want smart home devices all that much.

I like smart devices for their automation potential. I use smart plugs to turn on and off lights, coffee makers, grow lights, heating mats. The ability to quickly program a plug to turn on every morning at 10am and turn off again at 10pm is valuable to me. It's even more valuable if you get into hobbies like aquarium keeping where you can automate lights and fish feeders.

Yes, you can do all of these things manually, but are you good at keeping a flawless schedule? It may not matter if you forget to turn on the coffee maker but it matters a lot if you forget to feed the fish. And you won't always be available to handle these things every single day, unless you work from home and follow an extremely rigid schedule.

Re: Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

#20

Post by nostromo »

ilovetux wrote: post #8
zachbee wrote: post #3

"Smart home" has really fallen flat across the board, from smart speakers to the Roomba. It would be great if Apple changed that, but I'm not optimistic. I just don't think people really want smart home devices all that much.

I want a smart home, but I also do not want to send my data to anyone else and I don't really have the time to cobble something together. If apple can refrain from sending the data to icloud or any other servers, then I would be very interested.

That exists today. Apple's Homekit is the only real solution for a smart home that doesn't send everything to/from the cloud.
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