"[...] and manage everyday tasks"
What exactly do we want to automate at home? I think this whole home automation and smart home stuff is complete bullshit. Obviously there are some nice things, like "play me song xyz", but IMHO it is completely oversold. There are just not that much things to automate at home.
And this does not mean that I think 640K are enough memory for everyone.
1. read the news (1x per day)
2. play music (~3x per day)
3. turn on/off lights (~8x per day)
4. set a timer (~2x per day)
5. feed the cat (~2x per day... blog post forthcoming)
For me the time saving is just too low compared with the alternative of wrestling with some kind of UI, but I may change my mind if I try it out for some time? Let's see.
//edit:
And I think turning lights on/off and playing songs is a really bad example. It is like the Fibonacci sequence of programming language PR. I really do not think one goes with a PL because it has a short solution to generate the Fibonacci sequence. It is nice. But not useful.
well... its more convenient!
* order more $thing
* schedule an appointment with (doctor|vet|dentist)
* start the dishwasher at 4 P.M.
* turn on the oven when I get home
etc. Just because you can't think of how it will benefit you doesn't mean it's bullshit.
- grocery list:
So some kind of Todo list. But you can do that with your mobile computation device, or just take notes physically?
- order $thing:
I do not think that humans need more convenient buying-experiences than what is already there (think Amazon, food-delivery services, etc.). I guess most people want to _see_ what they pay for and look up specific apps?
- doctor schedules:
The scheduling problem. Maybe I am out of touch, but I would write an e-mail and/or call?
- dish washer cron:
Ok, I do not get that? Why would you want to schedule a dish washer job for a specific time?
- turn on the oven:
Yeah, but there is surely a UI for the oven, that has the functionality to turn on the oven (seems like a core feature). If it's really oldschool, it has a button that one may press (or a slider). That may seem inconvenient, so it may have a web-ui. However there is NO reason whatsoever why it should be connected to the "cloud".
You could use your phone or take notes on paper, but being able to make a note that i need more flour the second i reach for the bag in the back of the cabinet is significantly easier.
- order $thing
Again, you might not think so, but instead of just making a note that i need more flour, i'd love to be able to just ask for more flour and know it will be my "normal" brand and will be here in a day or 2.
- dish washer
Because it's loud, uses up hot water, and at least I often forget to start it until it's too late. I'd love to remember "oh shit i forgot to start the dishes" and just call out to have it go (or say to start at 1am when i'm asleep).
- turn on the oven
Again, in a perfect world i'd love this ability. I start on dinner and can just ask the oven to be at 425 in 15 minutes. Nobody is asking for it to be connected to the cloud specifically, but if it is and is secure i'd have no problems with it.
Plus... An API to remotely turn on your oven is really dangerous if it isn't completely secure. I don't think I'd trust any IoT company to make one I'd have in my house.
Solutions that solve the wrong problem are not solutions.
In the dishwasher case, sometimes i'm forgetting, others i just want it to go on at a specific time. Sure, I could fiddle with the current method of a button that adds +1 hour wait time when pressed (and doing math in my head to figure out when 1am is...), or it could have yet another clock i need to reset when the power goes out and i could schedule it via time, but those are clunky and have a poor interface.
I don't want my washer going on it's own, we often load it as much as possible before turning it on to avoid wasting electricity and water, that means it may sit there a few days 70% full waiting for a few more dishes before we start it. And if electricity is cheapest while i have guests over, I don't want it running then (as it's pretty loud and front-and-center in our house). Also dishwashers have a bunch of settings (most of them i believe useless, but they are there anyway). Being able to tell the dishwasher to turn on tonight when i realized that i forgot to start it right as i'm going to bed would be convenient.
It's not revolutionary or anything, just a small nice-to-have. Just like how having a connected thermostat has made it nicer to be able to adjust the temperature from the couch or bed, and how having "smart" light switches makes it nice to turn on the fan or turn off the porch light without having to get up. Nothing that will change the world, but each one is a small improvement in my life.
The alternative is to crank the TV up to hear it over the dishwasher or start the dishwasher in an hour after your show is done - but that's easy enough to forget. It's a very real scenario.
As for the pre-heating the oven. Maybe I'm at my desk (I work from home) and wrapping up my day. I look at today's meal plan and see I need to bake some chicken. I can ask Google Home to get the oven started while I wrap up my day.
It's very easy (don't have to get phone out or find paper) to say "Alexa, add Cornflakes to my shopping list" and then when I'm at the shop, have a live list to check off.
The timer function is simple but effective as well. "Alexa, set a timer for 10 minutes" when cooking pasta. I get so sick of getting my phone out and doing it that way.
These sound like tiny things, but they're so much more natural.
My three year old asks "Alexa, how tall is an elephant?" etc.
- laundry: separate my dirty laundry, load and run the washing machine when a laundry bucket is full enough, dry it and fold it
- same with dishes: load the dishwasher, run the correct program, put the dishes back in the cupboard
- vacuuming, dusting, cleaning windows, etc.
- fetch and OCR my (paper) mail, sort by bills/appointments/ads, automatically schedule appointments in my calendar and stage payments for authorization by me. Throw out the flyers.
That should suffice for the next 15 years.
The forth one is solved by hiring a personal assistant.
Fuck you. I did not get into technology just so we can replace one type of menial labour with the exact same thing, just a different human. How does your proposed solution scale to include the maid's household?
My friend's house turns on the front porch light when he gets home, auto-locks the front door if unlocked for more than X minutes, alerts of outside doors that have been open for more than X seconds, dims the lights when he turns on the TV, alerts him when his wife is almost home (she hates that), yells at the dog if he goes into his office, and a hell of a lot more. That said, he's logged dozens of hours getting everything working.
So the motive of your friend is security for himself and surveillance of his wife.
The motive of cloud home automation stuff (e.g. Homeseer) is surveillance of its customers, e.g. your friend.
It is like turtles all the way down.
This is my favorite one
I'm definitely not entering a room with this thing.