zlacker

>>pictur+(OP)
Rachel nailed it, as usual. I was an early adapter and have a houseful of Hue stuff, but over the last year or so I've switched to buying Nanoleaf bulbs. Hue is a little nicer, but not enough to make their terrible app worth the hassle.

I've seen a few recommendations now for the Ikea Dirigera hub, so fine. I've ordered one. Assuming it works as expected, I'll migrate everything next week. So long, Philips. I liked your stuff, but why'd you have to get greedy? Was being twice the price of your competition not enough?

>>kstrau+W3
As an electronics guy with both backend and frontend programming experience for me there are three routes when it comes to my home infrastructure:

1. Buy something dumb, non-smart, non-cloud

2. Build it myself

3. Buy something that can be hacked and used with my own infrastructure

The problem isn't even their infrastructure, it is that they decide when they want to change it. Even if it was all good faith changes, that could be a reliability issue and force me to dedicate time to the issue on their whim. I don't like that. If I run such things myself I can decide myself when to update and how much time I want to invest when (provided the system is decoupled from the public internet).

And this point isn't even about any single company trading the good will of their customers bit by bit — it is just about me not having to jump when their service changes or ends for whatever reason (and there are many).

>>atoav+eH
Exactly. I violated this rule once when I bought a Nest thermostat because it was elegantly designed (this was pre-Google). Then Nest started forcing random updates that not only bricked the device a couple of times (fortunately not permanently) but also changed the UI so that at random times when I wanted to fiddle with a setting I had to relearn how to work the thing.

Finally I got smart and changed my wifi password so the thermostat couldn't talk to the Internet any more, at which point I had a very elegant, unconnected thermostat that eventually became unreliable because it couldn't draw enough current from my two-wire system to keep itself reliably charged up. I tossed it in the recycle bin and bought a $25 dumb thermostat to replace it and I couldn't be happier.

Some general notes to the idiots in C-suites at every company making home automation devices:

1. I don't work for you.

2. You have competitors.

3. You do not get to make demands on my time to re-learn your UI, download software updates, advertise things to me, or sign new EULAs whenever you so desire. I have a life and it doesn't revolve around your company.

4. You do not get to spy on me with your device and sell information about my personal habits.

5. You do not get to use your cloud connectivity to force me into a recurring payment plan just to continue to use your device.

6. If you disagree with any of the above, I would ask that you carefully reread (1) and (2). Misbehavior on your part will result in your product being thrown in the trash, no further purchases from me, and my social network being immediately warned to avoid your company like the plague.