I agree when it comes to most "smart" home devices. However, I wired an ESP32 to my heat pump for remote control and automation, which has been absolutely fantastic. Also, I use a ton of ZigBee and zwave, since those are not "smart" by themselves and are local-only.

It's the cloud bullshit that always breaks and spies on users that I hate.

"no smart home crap" Yeah... That's just a choice. I have two homegrown smarthome solutions that are amazing and complex without creating security holes.

Tech here. Lots of smart home crap. All zigbee on Home Assistant

The fact these companies can release a $200 router or a $1000 smartphone and completely stop all security updates after only a few years is insane.

I always loved the saying, "The 'S' in IoT stands for security."

The more you understand tech, the more you trust the simplest version of it 😅

I just don't understand the desire to control everything in your house with an app. It's not like that app can load or unload the dishwasher or clothes dryer. That would be automation I could really get behind. And thermostats are programmable and then left to themselves. Even ice makers are automatically controlled with a microswitch.

And yes, I did try the internet enabled thermostat thing and found I never used the app. Nor is the journey to the thermostat so arduous that I can't get up and walk over to it if I should ever feel the need. Maybe I'm just too old to get it.

But if you like it and want it then have at it. I certainly won't stop you from enjoying it.

Home Assistant is a free and open source alternative for home automation. Don't have to completely give up the future.

This isn't humor, and most tech people have some of this shit. 3/10.

i've worked with highly competent programmes and sysadmins whose houses are entirely connected. they do exist.

Following computer security stuff makes every smart thing suspicious

This is me, nothing in my house needs automation for any reason. There is especially no need for internet connectivity. The closest to automation I have ever had is the timers that turn the lights on or off on my fishtanks.

I used to work the IT help desk as well and I didn’t want to fix broken shit in my spare time either. Friends and family were constantly on me to fix their shit or worse, help them setup their new thing / upgrade or whatever. The thing that always irritated me about it was that no one ever considered this a favor, you know, actual labor. To them, I just knew the secrets, and should simply share those secrets with them like a good friend. Because whatever they wanted to do, in their minds, was very very bad easy, they were just missing some small secret answer that would make it all suddenly work. And of course they’d only consult me late in the game after they’d made the purchase or whatever and gotten stuck because it didn’t work. Eventually I had to formally declare that I wouldn’t be helping anyone anymore.

Exactly.

My first personal e-mail way back in the 90s was with my ISP. Then I changed ISPs and saw the problem with that. So I moved to Yahoo.

Some years later, in the 00s I just decided to get my own, paid for, Internet domain and have my e-mail there, even though I could've carried on using Yahoo or get Google Mail (very popular amongst techies back then) for free. The main reason was that I realized I must made sure the e-mail address was MINE, not actually owned by somebody else with me allowed to use it under their conditions.

Twenty years later and guess it was pretty wise to not have my e-mail in the claws of "Definitelly Do Evil" Google.

Experience using and living with Tech, mainly once your understanding of it reaches the level of understanding systemic elements, naturally informs ones choices in Tech, and that often means chosing something else than the mass marketed "popular" stuff that's designed to lock you in, sell you stuff or sell your attention to others and eavesdrop on you and sell your data.

https://biggaybunny.tumblr.com/post/166787080920/tech-enthusiasts-everything-in-my-house-is-wired

Mechanical Windows

As opposed to what, wireless windows?

The dev I know who’s most into home automation using cloud services has also fallen the hardest for “AI will build all systems and nothing will go wrong with that”. Honestly, I should become a cyber criminal in this climate.