Slashdot Mirror
The Missing Piece of the Smart Home Revolution: The Operating System
An anonymous reader writes with this story about who will lead the IoT revolution, and whether it will follow in mobile's footsteps. "As these technologies sense and and react to changes in your environment, there are obvious parallels to computer operating systems, which receive input and return output. What does the 'operating system' for the smart home of the future look like? Alex Hawkinson is trying to help answer that very question. The founder and CEO of IoT company SmartThings is not only a leader in the market, he’s a consumer. He suggests there won’t be a singular, cohesive operating system for your home, that this stuff isn’t one-size-fits-all. 'I think it’s up to everyone to determine their own bits,' Hawkinson said. 'Some people love cameras in house, my wife wants none. It’s up to your preferences.'”
After reading a few Slashdot articles ago about ransomware, and given what can happen via hacking such devices, the last thing I want is more of my home-based devices going online. The last thing I want is for my IoT thermostat (of which many exist already) to get hacked. I can see the thermostat's screen now...
"We turned your thermostat up to 85 degrees and you can't change it. We want $5000 worth of Bitcoins in 72 hours--or we find out if your furnace perpetually on full-blast will burn your house down. Think we're kidding? We also know that you have an [some brand name] WebOS-based TV (it was easy--the IP address was the same as your thermostat) and an [some brand name] Android-based refrigerator that we also pwned. In 24 hours fridge will be set to 50 degrees spoiling your food, and in 48 hours your TV will be permanently stuck showing random videos from Xtube. So, your only options are to pay us or cut off power to your house--but when it comes back on, we still own your pwned devices! Good luck replacing the devices we pwned but didn't mention here... TIMER: 71:59:59...71:59:58...71:59:57......."
Seriously, I'm not for government regulation in a competitive landscape, but such devices, especially given their manufacturers will abandon writing security updates for them--6 months after the new model comes out, are ticking time bombs... I'm not about to replace my oven, furnace, dryer, refrigerator, thermostat, dishwasher, home security system, TV, toaster, and toilets every 3-5 years because someone thinks such devices should be IoT and wants to gather even more "big data" about me...
Windows 3.1x calc: 3.11 - 3.10 = 0.00
What is missing from the 'automated home' is a amazing use case.
my brother and his wife just had their first baby, and when it came time for the wife to go back to work they got three dropcams and put them throughout the house - living room, nursery, and a third place I forget. Now they can check in at any time of day to see what the baby is up to and what the nanny is doing. I agree, it's weird. But it gives them peace of mind and the nanny knows about the camera, so the system works for them.
For many people, "Allows me to check on my infant daughter" is an amazing use case. Consider the all-in was $600 for three cameras, plus $20/month for hosting. Connects to the existing wifi system, no wires to run. Monitored through an ipad or iphone app, which they already have. For me it woudl be super creepy, but it works for them and they love it.
So you may not see a business case here, but for many people (perhaps millions) the combination of utiity plus low cost plus easy setup plus easy use will be very compelling, even considering the tradeoffs.