Got roasted for my 'smart home' setup being too complicated. Changed my whole approach.

A buddy who's an electrician came over and saw my place. He said, 'Dude, you have 12 different apps to turn on a light. My grandma could hack this.' He was right. I had a different brand for lights, thermostat, locks, and speakers, all on separate hubs. I spent more time troubleshooting than using it. I ripped it all out 3 months ago and went with one ecosystem that uses a single app. Now everything just works on a schedule or with one voice command. Has anyone else simplified their setup after getting similar feedback?

3 comments

3 Comments

quinn60625d ago

Honestly, who cares if it's a bit complicated? It was your hobby, and hobbies are messy sometimes. Seems like you just swapped one setup for another.

jenkins.elizabeth25d ago

Oh man, @quinn606, you just made me remember my old fish tank phase. I had this crazy setup with tubes and lights everywhere (it looked like a science project). Then I "simplified" it down to just one fancy filter system that needed its own instruction manual. You're totally right, it's just trading one kind of messy for another. Hobbies have a way of doing that, where the fix becomes its own whole new thing.

singh.harper25d ago

Ngl @jenkins.elizabeth, that "fix becomes its own whole new thing" is why I just stick to houseplants now. At least they don't need instruction manuals.