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Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

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

#131

Post by bartonfink »

sgt wrote: post #29
huytersd wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Automated lawn mowing is relatively mature at this point and works well, assuming you have a relatively flat lawn. A one time purchase price of 20k would be acceptable. $20-30k per year is ridiculous. For that price you can hire a person to come and clean your toilet for 5 hours a day, every single day.

So... I have a gardener. He works two days a week doing all kinds of stuff. The mowing itself (and trimming) takes 5% of his time, or even less. Funny how people enjoy automating the part that you easily could do yourself without a massive time impact.

That's part of why tech products disappoint. The MO is to reduce a complex problem to a simple base case (our robot can vacuum an entire house provided you have no stairs or furniture), half ass solving the complexities, and market your product as if they don't matter.

I'll continue doing stuff myself or paying humans. My time is too valuable to waste on empty promises that tech will save me time.

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

#132

Post by petre »

paxys wrote: post #21

I know being late to the game and doing the tech "right" in terms of design and usability is kinda Apple's thing, but lately it seems like they have been only picking areas that weren't successful for a reason, like insurmountable technical difficulties or lack of customer interest, and no amount of Apple's design or marketing magic can fix that. See – self driving, AR/VR, smart speakers, folding phones, now home rob…

Good luck to them. Xiaomi has been already doing it for years at approachable prices. They now also have a car, the Su 7, a project which Apple gave up on. Of course, it possibly comes with th CCP/PLA embedded spyware.

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

#133

Post by crabbone »

kccqzy wrote: post #64
crabbone wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also profiteering and security issues. Thermostat that wants to connect to "cloud" and needs to know my street address, my name etc.? -- Not happening. Companies selling "smart" devices instantly overcomplicated relatively simple appliances making them beyond DIY repair level, and, on top of it, wanted to sell service of supporting these overly complicated devices. It's just very hard to see the benefit, when…

> it just doesn't save that much money, even if it works well You should see how wasteful typical American households are when they use a dumb thermometer. The best energy-saving feature is simply at-home vs away-from-home detection. I don't want my HVAC at home to run when I'm away at work or worse away at vacation, unless the temperature is really extreme. This easily saves me hundreds of dollars for a month-long v…

How does the thermostat know you are going on a month long vacation?

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

#134

Post by astrange »

sidibe wrote: post #116
npunt wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing about Apple is things can make sense for them to explore that don't make sense for others to. They have a big enough ecosystem, enough cash to do R&D on an idea for decades , and a culture of killing things that aren't good enough that make them an ideal place to determine whether ideas are a conceptual dead end versus just haven't been executed well enough (or tied to the right ecosystem to make them work)…

> They have a big enough ecosystem, enough cash to do R&D on an idea for decades They can but do they? For all their flightiness on products, the company that actually does this is Google. They've poured money into very long term, questionable return projects at a rate Apple doesn't seem willing to do

Apple is beholden to normal shareholders; Google is owned by Brin and Page, and the only reason it does those weird projects is they like them.

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

#135

Post by sgt »

huytersd wrote: post #35
sgt wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So... I have a gardener. He works two days a week doing all kinds of stuff. The mowing itself (and trimming) takes 5% of his time, or even less. Funny how people enjoy automating the part that you easily could do yourself without a massive time impact.

It depends. My backyard lawn is about 2 acres in size. It takes me 1.5 hours to manually mow it with a small 21 inch powered push mower. I just let the auto mower do its thing continuously and it charges itself. Costs almost nothing since I sharpen the blades about once a month myself. It’s also nice because the grass is always trimmed. You don’t have to go through the let it get tall and the landscaper mows it down…

Oh yeah, I my lawn isn't that large. But I try to have less lawn and more plants and interesting flora. I also feel that is better for the environment somehow, although .

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

#136

Post by astrange »

mmcconnell1618 wrote: post #56

Japan makes incredible bidet toilets that got some traction during the pandemic. The jokes write themselves but a smart toilet that had health tracking features liked to the rest of the Apple fitness eco-system could be interesting. The security camera, door lock, and thermostat space has room for improvement. The annual subscription model for cameras combined with their privacy gaps opens a space for Apple. My car u…

> Japan makes incredible bidet toilets that got some traction during the pandemic.

But Google actually got rid of theirs because they can't be used with recycled water/greywater, since it isn't clean enough.

> Urban gardening pods that allow anyone to grow healthy food at home.

Pretty much anything involving urban gardening is a fake hippie pastoralist idea. Centralization and professionalization is good.

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

#137

Post by sgt »

lunfardl wrote: post #115
sgt wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So... I have a gardener. He works two days a week doing all kinds of stuff. The mowing itself (and trimming) takes 5% of his time, or even less. Funny how people enjoy automating the part that you easily could do yourself without a massive time impact.

says the guy paying someone else to do it

You created an account on HN just to say that?

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

#138

Post by ikekkdcjkfke »

nostromo wrote: post #41
7thaccount wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also can't imagine a home robotics use case that I would get excited over. Can anyone think of anything? I would guess any new product would be more complex, less efficient, and a security risk. It'll be cool and trendy for a few months and then die off. Just like the Alexa and Google speakers that can tell you the weather or adjust your lights...is it REALLY that useful outside of entertaining your nieces and neph…

I'm shocked by your comment. Everyone that doesn't enjoy cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, mowing the lawn, or taking out the trash would LOVE a home robot that really works. Of course, these are very hard problems to take on -- much harder than a "smart" light switch -- but the market is absolutely there.

Everything that can be automated, should be automated

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

#139

Post by LightBug1 »

KerrAvon wrote: post #98
CharlieDigital wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Everyone that doesn't enjoy cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, mowing the lawn, or taking out the trash would LOVE a home robot that really works. We are far, far away from any of the remaining tedious parts of those things being done competently by a robot. - Dishes: dishwashers already do the majority of the labor intensive part. - Laundry: the washer already does the labor intensive part. - Mowing: if you don't t…

If they were invented today, dishwashers would be the same product but be called dish-washing robots. It's essentially what they are. Being mobile isn't essential to robotness.

AI Powered Robotic Cleansing Assistants ...

Breakthrough technology.

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

#140

Post by [deleted] »

ENGNR wrote: post #79

For me the "transformative" aspect of personal robotics is... maintenance Why does every store have self opening doors, but no houses do? I think it's because paying ~$500/year to get it running again when it breaks feels like a waste to almost any home owner. The same with other random innovations, like a car stacker to push your car into the garage roof when not in use so you can use the garage (the hydraulics woul…

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