Technology

Smart home devices have been a godsend for accessibility though. My dad's got Parkinson's disease. He couldn't adjust our lamps without knocking them over and he couldn't use the pullcords on the ceiling fan lights without losing his balance. Smart bulbs + Google Assistant are the only reason why he doesn't need someone to turn the lights on/off for him.

Not everyone has the same needs, and unfortunately if these things weren't mass market products they probably wouldn't exist, or only exist at a price point that nobody living on disability payments could afford.

I'm looking into moving him over to a locally hosted setup, but this tech is still critical for a subset of people and definitely needs to exist at an affordable price.

Exactly! A "dumb" home is just a liittle bit more inconvenient, but at least I don't need to worry about being policed by a megacorp

We should stop calling cloud-connected iot devices "smart". How is it "smart" to connect to the internet just to check if you can use your internet-connected doorbell?

Actual smart home devices are AWESOME. If your iot devices use standard, open protocols, don't connect to the internet, except for your local network and can be controlled from anywhere in your house by using tools like Home Assistant, then they're ACTUALLY smart devices.

We should start calling cloud iot devices "dependent" devices.

The term "dependent" more accurately represents the nature of these devices: they are reliant on internet connectivity and proprietary protocols, limiting user control and adding unnecessary complexity to simple tasks. Unlike truly "smart" devices, these "dependent" devices are less functional and flexible, due to their need to always be tethered to the cloud.

Think about it: if your internet goes down, your "smart" doorbell becomes nothing more than an ordinary doorbell. If the company's servers have an outage, your "smart" security system can't alert you of potential dangers. You're left completely in the dark, with supposedly advanced technology that's completely useless when it's most needed.

With truly smart devices that use standard, open protocols and can function independently of the internet, you maintain control and can adapt your system to meet your needs. Even without internet, these systems can continue to monitor your home, control your lights, and more. That's the real power of smart technology.

So let's change the language we use and the expectations we set for this technology. Let's demand independence from the cloud, security, and reliability from our devices. It's time to transition from "dependent" devices to truly smart home technology.

There are ways to have a fully smart home that doesn’t rely on internet access at all.

I have smart home devices, luke a doorbell, but I limit all traffic on them to be local network traffic only. No random requests or connections to outside servers and if I need to access it away from home I jump on a VPN. Not a solution for everyone, but it gives you a lot more control over your devices.

Oh yeah, for sure. Don't trust Amazon for shit.