Dumb Home

I have looked into the firmware, the security implications, and the legal implications of many IoT devices, and they scare the short hairs off of me.

For example, a Ring doorbell can have its footage accessed by any LEO, no warrant needed. How long will it be until LEO units start scanning the footage for something other than the perp on hand? What about my privacy?

And there are so many devices that send immense amounts of data back up to the mothership, frequently in China, for unclear reasons. Most of the time there is no need for connected services -- since when does a vacuum cleaner need a server in China to talk to?

And then there is the locked-down nature of these devices, either via DRM or actual cert signing to accept an update, combined with short life cycles that force constant (sub-decade) replacements. You no longer own these devices - the manufacturers do. When they want you to stop using a device, or when they abandon it, you have no other choice but to obey.

I bought an older house in 2020, right during the height of the first COVID lockdowns. Got stupendously lucky with a 1972 split level that a company just wanted to wash their hands of. And while I am in the middle of a slow-moving gut to upgrade it to 2020’s standards (electrical, R-rating, etc.), it will never receive a modern IoT device.

Will it have tech? Of course. A completely airgapped CCTV system that I fully control, sure. Purpose-made sensors that can alert me of conditions, such as lights left on or doors left unlocked. And eventually a lot of other convenient enhancements. But all of them, without exception, 100% under my own control.

The house will be very much as “dumb” as I can make it.

Personally, I love my smart home stuff. Homeassistant has been utterly reliable, automating things in node-red is easy and fun. I can use IKEA's stuff or buy from any of dozens of other Zigbee manufacturers. My plant lights go on and off at sunrise/sunset, my phone notifies me when there's movement on my porch or driveway, living room lights offer a nice ambience when I come home at night, etc.

It's mostly inessential stuff but it's nice. I tinker with the system maybe an hour or two every year and it all just works without any real drama or troubleshooting.

I’ve got a similar setup (home assistant and smart plugs) and it’s been pretty trouble free for years and really useful.

I do agree though that smart home tends to be rather fragile if not actively managed towards simplicity and robustness

> They work a generous 90% of the time. The other 10% I use the physical wall switches to turn off

That sounds oddly low. Mine always work unless I broke something on the network in dramatic fashion

I love the 1990's personal web site theming - and it's done well, to boot!

As far as Smart Homes are concerned, every manufacturer wants to "own" the space and refuses to cooperate with anyone else. It's a consumer nightmare and the libertarians' claim that the market will swoop in and solve all these problems have failed to materialize.