02-01-2016 , 02:00 AM
Okay, so explain to me why I would want to talk to my refridgerator or washer. I can just imagine standing in front of my refridgerator trying to convince it to stop freezing my lettuce. Heck, I can't get my 2006 Prius to listen to me, why would I expect my toaster to? If the toaster were able to raise the pop-up out of the toaster for my husband, it probably wouldn't do so for me. So as to Windows 10 being able to interface with new household gadgets...I don't see that as a reason to upgrade.
In the latest Consumer's Reports, it was noted that a high-technology home may not be a desirable selling point when it comes to selling your home. Technology changes quickly, dating your home, and just like having too many bells and whistles built into your car, having a lot of gadgets in your home requires that you be willing to provide lots of maintenance to keep them all working. If the buyer of a new home isn't as tech-savvy as the previous owner, the new owner may find her/himself in a situation where there are problems with the heat and lights, and they aren't able to fix it. Its great when the gadgets work, but when they fail--and you know they will--trying to find replacement parts for a system that is years out of date can be a serious problem.
I read that wealthy home owners don't just hire butlers to help maintain their homes while they are away these days, but they are looking to hire tech-savvy butlers just to keep the gadgets in their expensive homes working. For those who can't afford a butler, much less a tech-savvy one, they're stuck trying to find the old manuals and figure out the mess that the previous owner left in order to turn the lights on!
On the surface, it seems great to be able to turn the lights on before you enter the house, but if you can turn the lights on remotely, it probably wouldn't be too hard for a hacker to mess with them too! I'm not sure how much of an advantage it is to be able to verify that the garage door is closed while the owner is away knowing that it isn't difficult for people with the right equipment to drive down the street opening random garage doors and checking out the contents while the house is empty. It wouldn't be fun to come home to find that somebody remotely turned up the heat in the house and left the owner with a giant heating bill--or worse, turned off the heat and left the owner with frozen pipes.
Even a remotely-controlled security system can turn into a headache. These systems go off un-necessarily all the time, becoming a nuisance to the local police and the neighbors. And again, if you can turn it on remotely, somebody else can find a way to turn it off remotely. When the owner and the neighbors get tired of responding to false alarms, the owner stops activating it, so why have one in the first place?
It seems neat to have step-saver devices built into your home, but until the security is worked out, and the technology stops evolving, it is probably better to stick to using wall light-switches, manual or simple electronic thermostats, and manually disconnecting the garage door while away from the house.
In the latest Consumer's Reports, it was noted that a high-technology home may not be a desirable selling point when it comes to selling your home. Technology changes quickly, dating your home, and just like having too many bells and whistles built into your car, having a lot of gadgets in your home requires that you be willing to provide lots of maintenance to keep them all working. If the buyer of a new home isn't as tech-savvy as the previous owner, the new owner may find her/himself in a situation where there are problems with the heat and lights, and they aren't able to fix it. Its great when the gadgets work, but when they fail--and you know they will--trying to find replacement parts for a system that is years out of date can be a serious problem.
I read that wealthy home owners don't just hire butlers to help maintain their homes while they are away these days, but they are looking to hire tech-savvy butlers just to keep the gadgets in their expensive homes working. For those who can't afford a butler, much less a tech-savvy one, they're stuck trying to find the old manuals and figure out the mess that the previous owner left in order to turn the lights on!
On the surface, it seems great to be able to turn the lights on before you enter the house, but if you can turn the lights on remotely, it probably wouldn't be too hard for a hacker to mess with them too! I'm not sure how much of an advantage it is to be able to verify that the garage door is closed while the owner is away knowing that it isn't difficult for people with the right equipment to drive down the street opening random garage doors and checking out the contents while the house is empty. It wouldn't be fun to come home to find that somebody remotely turned up the heat in the house and left the owner with a giant heating bill--or worse, turned off the heat and left the owner with frozen pipes.
Even a remotely-controlled security system can turn into a headache. These systems go off un-necessarily all the time, becoming a nuisance to the local police and the neighbors. And again, if you can turn it on remotely, somebody else can find a way to turn it off remotely. When the owner and the neighbors get tired of responding to false alarms, the owner stops activating it, so why have one in the first place?
It seems neat to have step-saver devices built into your home, but until the security is worked out, and the technology stops evolving, it is probably better to stick to using wall light-switches, manual or simple electronic thermostats, and manually disconnecting the garage door while away from the house.