

A tiny startup is winning the race to power the smart home - pdmahoney
http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/23/6832901/wink-relay-smart-home

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startupfounder
Tiny?

"Quirky, Wink’s parent company..." has received over $175MM[0] in funding, I
wouldn't call that tiny.

[0]
[http://www.crunchbase.com/organization/quirky](http://www.crunchbase.com/organization/quirky)

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aasarava
> "SmartThings, released a similar statistic, noting ... users opening the app
> four times a day and receiving fifteen notifications per day."

This sounds like hell. I don't need my house sending me notifications
throughout the day.

When I first bought a home, I was excited about adding automation to the
various fixtures and devices. I quickly came the conclusion that the simple
light switch is a pretty intuitive UI that doesn't need to be made more
complicated. I'm going to bet that's the real reason home automation hasn't
taken off.

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zippergz
For me it isn't about replacing the ultra simple UI of something like a light
switch, or getting a bunch of notifications. All of my automated light
switches act exactly like regular light switches when you use them that way.
But when I come home late at night to a dark house and hit the light switch
just inside the door, not only does the laundry room light come on, but so do
the lights on the path between the laundry and the kitchen. And when I'm
watching a movie in the dark and hit pause, the lights between the movie room
and the bathroom come up about 1/3 of the way (enough to find your way but not
to blind you). It's completely unobtrusive, and generally does obvious stuff.
It's a luxury for sure, but also very helpful. I agree I don't ever want to be
getting 15 notifications a day from my house. I only want a notification if
something exceptional happens and needs attention (e.g. I got one the other
day reminding me to replace the furnace filter -- that's helpful and makes my
life easier!).

~~~
MrMike
Can you go into detail about your setup? Sounds awesome.

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StavrosK
This reads like a PR piece.

~~~
tmuir
"Journalism is printing something someone else doesnt want printed. Everything
else is public relations." \- George Orwell

