Open SmartHome System "Prototype for Everyone"

Yes, KNX is the absolute reference when it comes to reliability. Really great system, no question.

I am fully aware of the contradiction between my statement about maintenance-free conventional electrical systems + Shellys. If it ever comes to the point that I feel like tinkering with this, I will install it very sparingly. The great thing about these devices is that, for example, if the Wi-Fi fails, everything still continues to work. The Shelly itself just must not fail. No idea how prone they are to failure and what the "long-term" experiences with them currently are. If I have to uninstall and reinstall them more often in the future, they will end up in the trash, that much is certain.

We have rotary switches from Gi Gambarelli in the house. Brilliant look and feel - and can still be operated even with a declining brain. Low-tech made of porcelain and solid metal. Nevertheless: The future certainly belongs to [Smart Home].

I always wonder, what is "Smart Home"... Unfortunately, for most people, it is Alexa, smartphone app, and co. But "Smart" is actually what I no longer have to operate, but runs by itself. What is smart about voice control...? This has nothing to do with superzapp, but it comes to mind. If you reduce it to that, the project is very exciting.

I believe that being smart also includes Alexa and the like. Presence detectors and power measurement actuators with lighting scenes are also partially smart. Nevertheless, despite the presence detectors, etc., I have planned some switch boxes because I still like to switch manually.

If in 1985 someone had given a lecture to Stasi officers and painted a future in which people pay money to be accompanied at home by microphones and cameras, they would have dismissed it as utopia or been very pleased.
A smart home serves its residents by offering them convenience, comfort, and transparency. In return, it costs money, data, and thus privacy and ultimately potentially freedom.
We consider the price in data too high and the technical advance into privacy too intimate and a possible infringement on freedom too risky. Others judge this differently with good arguments. The only important thing is to know what you are paying with.

I find it downright paradoxical that in daily life one is practically flooded with information about data protection or that people sometimes live in genuine fear of data theft, but on the other hand leave no opportunity unused to disclose this data. I do not see - for myself - the advantage in not having to operate a light switch anymore. Sometimes I like light and at other times, in the same situation, I do not like it. I do not want to leave it to a machine to find that out. At the same time, I can understand the currently existing interest in such technology or the often embraced trend, even if it does not affect me at all.