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The lightbulb reinvented

kickstarter.com

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Re: The lightbulb reinvented

#71

Post by james33 »

swah wrote: post #62
godsdead wrote: post #28

$70 for ONE bulb, so that's $280 for 4 in one room, You could hack an LED bulb together to cheap using cables instead of Wifi, A better future proof idea would be to have a very very customizable app that you sell, An app that let's you interface with computer controlled Lights

$49 for 4+, and yes the DIY is much cheaper. But the Kickstarter is about paying more to support the idea. The final product should be substantially cheaper...

Eventually it will be substantially cheaper, but don't expect it to be cheaper out of the gate.

Re: The lightbulb reinvented

#72

Post by sheriff »

eps wrote: post #59

This. Is. Featurebloat. Seriously, color changing? Dimming? Make a simple natural light bulb, a smartphone app and a wifi wall switch. Latter is far far more important than an ability to drown my kitchen in a shade of green. Keep it useful, damn it. Not a single home automation company gets this. Usability is a key to adoption.

Belkin's Wemo[1] line does pretty much what you're suggesting. I've got a few of their units, and I've been pretty happy with them.

[1] http://www.belkin.com/wemo/

Re: The lightbulb reinvented

#73

Post by Scene_Cast2 »

adamcox wrote: post #69
bluthru wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The WiFi radios 2 decades from now will probably be much different, anyway. Just look how quickly we've come since 802.11 A.

Even more reason for the double screw idea. You can upgrade the WiFi radio when your network becomes incompatible in the future.

This is definitely feature overload for a typical person.

I find it funny how on HN there arguments that non-replaceable batteries in MBPs are okay, and at the same time, that a small gadget must have user-replaceable radio.

Re: The lightbulb reinvented

#74

Post by Kiro »

eps wrote: post #59

This. Is. Featurebloat. Seriously, color changing? Dimming? Make a simple natural light bulb, a smartphone app and a wifi wall switch. Latter is far far more important than an ability to drown my kitchen in a shade of green. Keep it useful, damn it. Not a single home automation company gets this. Usability is a key to adoption.

Well, I love it and think it's very useful.

Re: The lightbulb reinvented

#76

Post by chLouisN »

Scene_Cast2 wrote: post #73
adamcox wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even more reason for the double screw idea. You can upgrade the WiFi radio when your network becomes incompatible in the future.

This is definitely feature overload for a typical person. I find it funny how on HN there arguments that non-replaceable batteries in MBPs are okay, and at the same time, that a small gadget must have user-replaceable radio.

It'll be a bit costlier, but as long as it comes in one piece (with separate parts screwed into each other), then it'll look exactly the same to the typical person.

Except that those who bother to read the manual will find out they can save some money by not chucking away the whole thing.

Re: The lightbulb reinvented

#77

Post by TeMPOraL »

Scene_Cast2 wrote: post #73
adamcox wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even more reason for the double screw idea. You can upgrade the WiFi radio when your network becomes incompatible in the future.

This is definitely feature overload for a typical person. I find it funny how on HN there arguments that non-replaceable batteries in MBPs are okay, and at the same time, that a small gadget must have user-replaceable radio.

This is a hardware project, not a software one. In virtual world we can talk about keeping features to the minimum and iterating the product as fast as we can. But we don't live in post-scarcity world where energy is free. Designing products for more-less planned obsolescence, while maybe good from marketing point of view, strikes me as wrong and harmful to the global society.

Re: The lightbulb reinvented

#78

Post by TeMPOraL »

Freestyler_3 wrote: post #36

Because I enjoy all the radio signal pollution and I want more. Y won't they make this, but in the light bulb use the lan over power, then plug a lan over power adapter in where your router is. Connect it to the router, and you can then control it via your network (sorta like a media box). But then you have the problem that every lightbulb is a "computer" on the power network and I don't know how that would work.

> Because I enjoy all the radio signal pollution and I want more.

Unless you're operating some sensitive specialized radio equipment, is it really a problem?

> But then you have the problem that every lightbulb is a "computer" on the power network and I don't know how that would work.

IPv6.

Re: The lightbulb reinvented

#79

Post by INTPenis »

ForrestN wrote: post #52

From an efficiency/sustainability point of view, I have a basic discomfort with the idea of throwing away all the wifi/controller stuff each time you need a new bulb. I know LEDs don't run out very fast, but they do run out. This has cost implications too. What about a setup where there are two levels of screw: the LED bulb screws into a fixture with the wifi stuff inside, which then screws into the light fixture? Th…

No, I agree. This idea is braindead because it's much more effective to focus on a device you plug in between the outlet in your wall and the devices you want to control power to. A standard already exists for half the project which is called x10.

Re: The lightbulb reinvented

#80

Post by nandemo »

swah wrote: post #61
nandemo wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My previous company used to use this: http://www.patlite.com/product/category0002_000000.html For instance, you can use yellow for "warning/important" level and red for "critical" level, and lights-only for staging environment and light & sound alarm for production environment, for instance. Pretty expensive, though.

I can't even find the price on this page, and already made a negative image about this company just because of this :)

I understand that sentiment is popular on HN, but not listing prices is pretty standard for B2B. At least in Japan (where Patlite is based), most businesses will not discard a potential vendor just because they don't list prices on their webpage.
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