Why is my lightbulb in need of an online account? That thing goes in the bin.
Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account
221–230 of 338 posts
Re: Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account
#222Earlier quoted context omitted.
So how do the Hue light switches work?
Hue light switches (well, the ones I have) simply stick on the wall with no wiring. The _real_ light switch is permanently on, and the _hue_ light switch sends a beacon to the hub to turn the configured lights on/off (the light bulb socket is always-on)
No, some switchers and dimmers can also control lights without a hub present. Some products come as a paired bulb and switch, with only an optional suggestion that you later extend into the ecosystem.
Re: Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account
#223Smart bulbs are a PITA anyways. If you just need on/off/dim (most people) a Lutron Caseta based system is way more reliable and you don't need to worry about unintuitive light switches.
Re: Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account
#224About 10 days ago I was climbing upstairs late headed to bed. I stared at the Hue app on my phone confused. Was Hue really asking me to agree to a new terms of service (ToS) before it would allow me to turn off lights in my own home? Lights that I had purchased outright without Phillips financing more than 8 years ago? Indeed it was. What value as a customer do I get from these hilariously timed, intrusive ToS update…
It’s not about the value you get, it’s about the value they get. How is this even legal is beyond me.
Re: Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account
#225Earlier quoted context omitted.
Smart lights are incredibly useful with infants/pre-verbal toddlers in the house. E.g. a quick "hey Google, set kids room lights to 20%" whilst trying to convince an energetic 2 year old to get ready for bedtime. They become rapidly less useful when the toddler learns to say "hey Google" and decides to make all lights green all the time.
How is this easier than just having a dimmer switch inside the bedroom door? That's what I've done in our house. Lots of dimmers. Some are "rocker switches with a slide along the side," other are more digital "push button to turn lights on to the last setting, small rocker to adjust light level, you can always come up from 0 by using the rocker" types.
Having moved twice with a toddler, and gone without voice activated lights in the nursery for a couple of days, it's huge. Usually I am carrying them up the stairs, with both hands; they're squirming, set them directly on the diaper changing table, and then plop them (again, both hands) into the crib. There is almost never a time when I am not holding thing(s) with both hands in that room.
Or in another case, most of the lights are low in the living/play room, and I forgot to turn down the nursery lights, they're already winding down, walking up the dark stairs and into a dim nursery helps keep them chill. Walking into a blinding daylight blue room and then turning down the lights is liable to add an extra 20 minutes to our bedtime routine.
I will never not have voice activated lights so long as I can afford them.
Re: Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account
#226Earlier quoted context omitted.
Smart lights are incredibly useful with infants/pre-verbal toddlers in the house. E.g. a quick "hey Google, set kids room lights to 20%" whilst trying to convince an energetic 2 year old to get ready for bedtime. They become rapidly less useful when the toddler learns to say "hey Google" and decides to make all lights green all the time.
How is this easier than just having a dimmer switch inside the bedroom door? That's what I've done in our house. Lots of dimmers. Some are "rocker switches with a slide along the side," other are more digital "push button to turn lights on to the last setting, small rocker to adjust light level, you can always come up from 0 by using the rocker" types.
A dimmer switch has some inconveniences:
* it requires you to physically go to the switch (inconvenient whilst holding a squirming child);
* it controls only one hard-wired fixture - there is no master physical dimmer for all light sources (overhead, standlights, bedside lamps or whatever else) in a room;
* it's harder to install a switch than to screw in some smart bulbs
Re: Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account
#227Philips used to make products I wanted to own. I now make sure I don't allow them them in my life. (Not just Philips, btw.) I wonder why large corporations/brands do not care anymore? Have they become too big to remove them from our lives and do not need to listen to us?
Philips sold all the bits that made them great. It's a zombie.
Re: Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account
#228I'm surprised they didn't already require this, but I think it's probably safe to say it was a likely and foreseeable outcome in any case. That, combined with a dearth of use cases that made sense (for my life) is what's kept me from using these products. About the only reason I could think of to buy smart lightbulbs would be to suddenly turn all the lights in the house red, and yell "torpedoes in the water, brace fo…
These products are mostly targeted at the the Youtuber/streamer market that need to add variety to their backdrops.
Literally every person I know has these, even my family in west Texas with the deer head hung on the wall.
Re: Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account
#229About 10 days ago I was climbing upstairs late headed to bed. I stared at the Hue app on my phone confused. Was Hue really asking me to agree to a new terms of service (ToS) before it would allow me to turn off lights in my own home? Lights that I had purchased outright without Phillips financing more than 8 years ago? Indeed it was. What value as a customer do I get from these hilariously timed, intrusive ToS update…
It’s not about the value you get, it’s about the value they get. How is this even legal is beyond me.
They are losing my value, as I will definitely be more open to competitors and less open to expanding my commitment to their products. A light switch should be dependable and simply work, there should never be a dialogue unless I request one. Imagine toilets with a ToS.
Re: Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account
#230The door refused to open. It said, "Five cents, please." He searched his pockets. No more coins; nothing. "I'll pay you tomorrow," he told the door. Again he tried the knob. Again it remained locked tight. "What I pay you," he informed it, "is in the nature of a gratuity; I don't have to pay you." "I think otherwise," the door said. "Look in the purchase contract you signed when you bought this conapt." In his desk d…
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