IVB
Senior Member
well to be blunt, we're not really talking about home "automation" here, we're talking about home "alternative manual control". Automation means the user doesn't have to do anything (ie, the HA system turns on the light when it senses a car in the driveway). This isn't that. The user has to take an action, all we're discussing is the best type of action and the stability of the underlying architecture to support that action.
There's really 3 layers of manual control I have:
Level 1) Voice control. (via cloud)
Level 2) App-based control (ie CQC, Homeseer, Harmony "smarthub", whatever)
Level 3) Get your butt up and turn stuff on/off.
If you have a volatile cloud connection, don't implement Level 1. But if you do and it goes down, you can always fall back to Level 2. Keep in mind that controllers break too. I could just as easily say "Control 4, AMX, Crestron, HomeSeer, PC-based HA can be really cool. It's just not always there."
In which case, get your ass up and turn things on/off by themselves one at a time.
In which case Level 2 is broken, and I have to resort to Level 3.
Same argument about a manufacturer pulling support or exiting the market for either level 1 or 2.
There's really 3 layers of manual control I have:
Level 1) Voice control. (via cloud)
Level 2) App-based control (ie CQC, Homeseer, Harmony "smarthub", whatever)
Level 3) Get your butt up and turn stuff on/off.
If you have a volatile cloud connection, don't implement Level 1. But if you do and it goes down, you can always fall back to Level 2. Keep in mind that controllers break too. I could just as easily say "Control 4, AMX, Crestron, HomeSeer, PC-based HA can be really cool. It's just not always there."
In which case, get your ass up and turn things on/off by themselves one at a time.
In which case Level 2 is broken, and I have to resort to Level 3.
Same argument about a manufacturer pulling support or exiting the market for either level 1 or 2.