Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Is HA necessary

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Is HA necessary

    I found this quote on the Z-Wave web site as part of an article. Couldn't find the author's name.

    "Somewhere deep in my brain I must still be a flame-lighting caveman, because when I hear the growing buzz around ZigBee, the emerging home-control networking standard, I have a similar reaction: Do we really need wireless remote controls for our light switches? In an ordinary house, aren't wall plates good enough? This reaction despite my going to the trouble of wiring part of my own home with remote-controlled X10 switches. That, however, I still look at as a geek's affectation."

    I drifted into this conclusion a few years ago. I always had to listen to "such a geek" & "I hate all of these lights coming on by themselves" comments from family & guests and decided that only a true HA geek would like all this stuff. My Homeseer continued to run. But, I never touched it. After a hard drive crash I chose not to rebuild the HA system (lots of overtime at work). Gradually, family & frequent guests begin to complain about it not being on anymore. The family actually got agressive about this. So, I got interested again & I'm having lots of fun (not as much overtime at work now). But, I continue to hear all of the standard geek comments from family & guests.

    Anybody have similar experiences?

    #2
    I think people used to say the same thing about a TV remote. Who could imagine being to lazy to get up and turn the knob?

    Of course now you would sooner tear apart the entire house before turning a knob if the remote is missing.

    Comment


      #3
      My gf used to kinda laugh when I told her how much this stuff cost. Now try to remove the Zwave controller from her night stand. Most people that are it against it prob never has lived with or or at least a reliable setup.

      Comment


        #4
        No, its not necessary......but doesn't it make life so much nicer? I'll be the first to admit that all of my HA stuff are toys. Very nice toys that can cost a bit but toys none the less. Once you start living with those toys, however, you come to appreciate how much nicer life is with them. My wife is about as non-technical as you can get. She's said many times that if we hadn't of gotten married she'd have a $50 boombox, 19" TV and maybe a DVD player instead of the 36" TV with surround sound and controllable lights. That's kind of funny now because she'll also bug me when she can't hit one button on her remote control that I setup for her (not my remote, HERS) to watch her favorite shows. She also loves me being able to turn lights on in the bedroom for her when her hands are full and being able to turn the bathroom light on for our son while she's doing something.
        I still say the best way to get people who think are toys are unneeded or silly to appreciate them is to take them away for a week or two so they can see just exactly how much they've come to rely upon them.

        Comment


          #5
          Interesting info. I've noticed the same here. I think it's that people dislike (hate?) change. But once it has been "normalized" and you take it away, it's yet again a change! ;-)

          What gets me is the cost of the HA devices. I mean, it hard to justify having a $45 light switch when a $0.89 one does the job as well (and some argue better, as it is much more reliable). But I guess that's the geeky man-thing part of it.

          To fireball: this is exactly the kind of woman I've seen with my "geek" friends in most cases. And yet there are claims that woman are the technology buyers int he household. Sorry, I just don't see it. If they count appliances in the technology mix, then yes, the numbers are skewed because washer and dryers and fridges and dishwashers and everything else int he kitchen and laundry rooms counts, and that throughs off the HA aspects of the claims. But the claimants (usually you see this in technology and HA magazines that are edited by women) don't care. So they want the marketing types to start ctering to women more. That's ok by me. But really I don't care who they market it to - just make working, common sense devices.

          And dhanford: some devices today have functions that can't be accessed except through/with the remote! Talk about hunting for the remote... I think these are poorly-designed products and I avoid them as much as possible.
          |
          | - Gordon

          "I'm a Man, but I can change, if I have to, I guess." - Man's Prayer, Possum Lodge, The Red Green Show
          HiddenGemStudio.com - MaineMusicians.org - CunninghamCreativeMaine.website

          Comment


            #6
            Even though I'm just getting started and my wife's eyes kinda glass over when I start talking about HA, once you get used to it you miss it. She doesn't act too interested when I talk about my latest, greatest idea. But when the batteries go dead in the motion detector that turns on the lights when she walks into her office, guess what goes directly to number 1 on the honeydo list!


            No, HA is not necessary but when it works it sure is nice.

            Terry

            Comment


              #7
              Huggy,
              Yeah, I'm not a big believer in the big tech buying power of women. I hope I don't sound sexist or anything like that but from what I've seen its just not true. Look at the members of this board. Seriously, are there ANY women who post on here? Also, the only tech buying decisions my wife cares to be involved in are the ones where the answer is either "buy the cheaper one" or "if you have to buy it get the silver one instead of the black one." On a professional level (I work as a computer/network/web design tech) the majority of people who buy stuff are men and I don't think I've ever heard the phrase "well, I would have been happy with that cheaper, not as nice product but my wife just demanded more power."
              Like I said, I truly do apologize if I'm coming off as a jerk here. I really do wish women had more of an interest in this stuff and when my daughter gets older I will try to teach her about this stuff just as much as my son. Those are just some observations I've made over the years from southern Indiana/northern Kentucky.

              Comment


                #8
                I think that the Geek Factor is also related to just how far you take the hobby. For example, if you have the kind of house that everything is automated, voice controled etc then automation is in your face and family / friends can't help but notice it, Geek factor will be high. However if you take the approach of making automation less obvious, a little bit here and there to assist rather than take control then people still feel in control and may not even notice the magic happening behind the scenes.

                Phill

                Comment


                  #9
                  Well this is an interesting thread to say the least! It is kinda' like the Kobiashi Maru' (Skibum will get this one) which translates to a "no win situation" for all of you non-Star Trek fans out there.

                  Now my discalimer, this is NOT to be taken as sexist in any way, but as mentioned MANY times, in MANY other posts, more guys are into HA that women as a general rule of thumb. Please look through the profiles on this board, and correct me if I am mistaken. Please, Please. PLEASE take this with a grain of salt, as most of us will TOTALLY relate to the following.......
                  This could almost be a David Letterman Top 10 in some way shape or form
                  That said:

                  From the womens point of view on HA (Good things):
                  - Turning on the front porch light when she pulls into the driveway at night.

                  - Reminding YOU of your anniversarry or other important dates that we would otherwise forget.

                  - A friendly reminder for YOU to take out the trash on a given day of the week

                  - Leaving the bathroom fan on for 10 minutes after you leave.

                  All of these things are usually VERY high on the WAF..... and almost take the place of them to nag us in the first palce. But God forbid any of them do not function EXACTLY as planned, no matter what excuse you can come up with!

                  Now the other side of the coin.....

                  Unfortunately there is not a list for us guys, as we just get our kicks from ALL of the HA, so we now resort to the womens "not interested whatsoever" catagory, which translates, in the long run to our "Kewl list of things to do".

                  From the womens point of view.... in the not interested catagory...

                  - Women do not care what the temperature in Deluth Minnessotta is, even if you can ask for it by voice, and get the actual city we asked for after the 4th try.

                  - They do not care that we can create a shopping list by voice, as it implies more stuff for them to pick up.

                  - Having the TV listings on the computer is an incoviennance when you can just turn to the preview channel.

                  - It is also a pretty given fact, that they do not care what the memory usage, processor usage CPU temperature and hard drive usage are on the computer. Even if it is displayed live in a web page with pretty graphics and colors.

                  - The do not want to see the last 50 callers displayed in a web page (Unless it was her mother calling of course).

                  - They do not care about having to walk over to a computer, go to a certain page, then a sub page, and clicking on an icon to turn off a certain light, when there is a perfectly good light switch right there on the wall.

                  - Instant messaging everyone about the new born, at the push of a button. Totally Negative WAF here.... This totally bursts her bubble about being able to make that first phone call to close friends and family to say "Guess What!!!?!?!?!?!"

                  - A BIG no-no here, asking here to "Come here! you gotta see this!" which is usually at the time she is the very least interested in getting up and stopping what she is currently doing.

                  - And lastly, and foremost, they do not ever care to hear the term "Home Seer" and what you just read about that someone else just came up with to do something. (usually means more money, and you spending even more time (yes, more than usual) at the computer).

                  Again this is all meant in fun, but I honestly think that all of us can relate to this in one way or another Share this with the other half, and I am sure they will agree to say the least












                  .
                  Last edited by johnwpb; November 19, 2004, 05:06 AM.
                  Visit My Home Seer Site at:
                  www.JohnWPB.com
                  Created with LCARS

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Not necessary, but I don't want to be without it

                    About 15 years ago, we were presented with a problem/opportunity. My wife is an only child and her parents had to give up the family farm about an hour from where we live/work. So to prevent it from disappearing, we took it over as our weekend farm/future retirement home. I started with a CP290 and a couple of modules. Now, HomeSeer is my hired farmhand that watches over things when we are away. I used to go crazy worrying, especially in the winter, about power failures, and the general well being of the place. Now I know everything that has happened (complete with pictures) since our last visit.

                    I've said on this board my wife called our HA system "Demon Seed". Things are far from perfect from her perspective, although as others have said, a lot of that has to do with just wanting things to work the first time. But I heard my wife advising a friend to be sure to talk to me about wiring her new home and the need for a wiring closet in addition to the wine cellar. That IS progress!

                    bt

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by fireball
                      No, its not necessary......
                      Of Course it's not necessary, and things would probably be a lot simpler if we did not have it.

                      However;
                      How would we spend those hours trying to get the dam thing to work?

                      What would we find to spend all that money on that would give us the same sence of satisfaction and grief?

                      How would we find a way to raise our nose at the neighbours when our courtyard light come on automatically when we get home and they scrabble about in the dark looking for the switch?

                      We would not have this comunity, commaradery, and friends all over the world willing to help: But yes Home Automation is a hobby, an excuse if you like, the one thing it is not, and will never be is a necessity, just a bit of fun.
                      sigpic
                      A founder member of "The HA Pioneer Group" otherwise known as the "Old farts club!"

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by Gogs
                        What would we find to spend all that money on that would give us the same sence of satisfaction and grief?
                        1) Wife
                        2) Car
                        3) HA

                        Comment

                        Working...
                        X