this post was submitted on 31 Mar 2025

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Have we overcomplicated everything? (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 days ago by The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world to c/whitepeopletwitter@sh.itjust.works

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[–] midori_matcha@lemmy.world 28 points 1 day ago (2 children)

It's overcomplicated because it's not immediately easy to keep the smart functionality totally local to your own network.

Almost every company that sells an IoT product wants you to make online accounts, download their special app, sign up for subscriptions, download useless firmware updates, and have all the hardware connect externally with their mothership cloud servers in order to function, all because they want to run a data harvesting racket disguised as an "ecosystem".

I'd use mechanical switches in the house, but at the same time, yelling at Siri to turn on my lights for the third time is the closest thing we currently have to sexbot servants. I only have so many years left on this planet, and I wish to embrace the future now.

[–] Viskio_Neta_Kafo@lemm.ee 1 points 9 hours ago

That creepy as fuck having companies sell to data farms your normal everyday habits.

Like when you turn on and off the lights or open your fridge.

[–] Aux@feddit.uk 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Home Assistant + ZigBee devices.

[–] Fillicia@sh.itjust.works 4 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

If only ZigBee was reliable. I had to send back a wall switch because I deactivated the default on/off in favor of hassio handled response. When it lost ZigBee connectivity I couldn't put it in pairing mode because the on/off was deactivated and holding both wasn't recognized.

[–] Aux@feddit.uk 4 points 14 hours ago

ZigBee is reliable, your specific device might not be.

[–] frezik@midwest.social 35 points 1 day ago (14 children)

My rule for smarthome stuff is that it's self-hosted, and it has to have a low-tech way to use it. A light switch can be on Zigbee attached to my Home Assistant server, but it needs to function as just a light switch when the network is down.

Have some old stuff that doesn't follow these rules, but I'm slowly replacing them.

[–] 7toed@midwest.social 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

All fun and games until you get a power outage and one of your nodes doesn't boot properly which means no quorum to start HAOS which means no lights

But that's what flashlights are for :p

[–] lka1988@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

That's why my HAOS instance runs on bare metal 😁 (Lenovo M710q, G4560T, 4GB RAM)

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[–] Donkter@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

All fun and games when a grey hat hacker "hacks" his way into your living room through your window and starts turning on your lights without your permission.

[–] frezik@midwest.social 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

And someone could throw a brick through my window and take all my stuff. There are some threats that we take care of by having a society where people don't break other peoples things just because they can.

[–] FreakinSteve@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Usually it's due to fear of repetcussions, but now anyone in a MAGA hat can throw bricks through your window and take all your stuff whenever they want

[–] meliaesc@lemmy.world 2 points 21 hours ago

Can I program my light bulb to recite the bill of rights, so it will play at max volume once stolen?

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[–] Puzzlehead@reddthat.com 11 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I will never use smart technology. I prefer analogue technology. Imagine using a subscription in your home for lights and TV and AC and heat and appliances and then boom, they decide to terminate your subscription and now your home is inaccessible for habitat.

[–] Ronno@feddit.nl 4 points 15 hours ago

There are ways you can set up a smart home without subscriptions, for instance using Home Assistant. But most people somehow chose to be stuck in these cloud apps with subscriptions. Ring, with a subscription for a doorbell, is wild to me.

[–] Aux@feddit.uk 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You already have a subscription for water, electricity and heating. Your parents had and your grandparents too.

[–] mad_djinn@lemmy.world 6 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

yeah, because those are necessary for survival? like, fundamental components of a comfortable modern life? being forced to subscribe to things that used to be one-and-done purchases is ridiculous attempt to make us rent our pleasures. have fun with that

[–] emberpunk@lemmy.ml 2 points 18 hours ago

And they're two different services that can't be comparer.. One for energy and other utilities, and the other a subscription to use software to turn on the lights lol

[–] Aux@feddit.uk 0 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

They are not necessary. They are convenient. You pay for convenience.

[–] petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Water?

[–] Aux@feddit.uk -1 points 9 hours ago

Water what?

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[–] lka1988@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I like smart tech, as long as I can make it work for me and not just another data vacuum for some faceless corporation. I've got Home Assistant handling a lot of my stuff now, and I'm moving things over to it and replacing corporate-app-only things with things that can work locally.

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[–] Trollception@sh.itjust.works 17 points 1 day ago (22 children)

I've had my Phillips hue bulbs for over 10 years now. I own like 20 bulbs and have only had a single failure. Never had any issues with the bulbs. Google Assistant however has let itself go.

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[–] greenwood@midwest.social 32 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Mr. Bean demonstrating the principle of "it's not stupid if it works".

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[–] Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yes. Yes we have. This is why the internet isn't fun anymore. I use YouTube like 20th century folk used TV. But at least I have control over my shit in that case.

[–] taxiiiii@lemmy.world 17 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (6 children)

Most people use YouTube without an addblocker. In which case, your content comes with about ten times the amount of advertisements than if you'd have used a TV back then.

While we're at it: I remember when opting into adds was a choice for creators on YouTube. Quite a few refused, even popular channels. Can't imagine growing up with this shit now and thinking it's normal.

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[–] lena@gregtech.eu 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

!lemmysilver

[–] edgesmash@lemmy.world 2 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

!lemmysilver

[–] lena@gregtech.eu 2 points 10 hours ago

!lemmysilver

[–] ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The only "smart" light fixture I have has its own separate remote for switching between modes and adjusting light. I will never buy a device that either needs Bluetooth of Wi-Fi.

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[–] gagootron@feddit.org 28 points 1 day ago (23 children)

I build my own smart lights to avoid this kind of bs. Thanks to ESPhome i didn't even need to program them myself. Everything is in an offline VLan and connected to Homeassistant.

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