Smarthome - General question of meaning

Then it says, I can't change anything anyway. Continuing like this, however, makes it unbelievable.

That was not me who said that, but your buddy.

And yes, I am not super consistent either. I can't manage that. The world is organized in such a way that, for example, it is too much effort for me to give up a smartphone.

I brought up the issue of electronic waste and environmental damage because I would like to understand how one can accept that for the added value/"added value" of home automation without, it seems, having given it any thought.

exactly what you describe is also the goal of a truly intelligent home, for my part one could also call it a smart home. Exactly to have the coffee ready when it is desired and to keep the blinds up when necessary.

And meanwhile this also works quite well. The fear that the house will patronize and decide for the person is unfounded. The person is always in control and the repetitive tasks are taken off the person or things that one doesn’t think of or forgets, or simply does not want to do.

For example, I do not want to run through the house every time before I leave to turn things off, close windows, or turn off the heating.

However, I want my house to save energy when I am away and depending on the season to do this or that without my intervention in order to achieve this goal.

The list could go on forever. But truly intelligent buildings always align with the residents and never against them. You just have to teach the houses what they should do or avoid, which things are to be considered fixed or variable, and how to react in which situation.

The goal in a smart home is for everything to run automatically or based on logic as much as possible. It starts with the lighting, then shading, ventilation, heating, cooling, garden irrigation, etc.

That is clear to me. I think the smart home has an advantage especially in the interaction of several technologies (like the ones you mentioned). For me, shading, ventilation, and cooling don't come into play at all. That probably doesn’t make sense for me. I agree with the opinion of , I still want to do some things manually in the house, especially if they don’t require much effort. Hard to explain, but that way I have more of a “feeling” for my house and living.

exactly what you describe is also the goal of a truly intelligent home, for my part one could then just call it a smart home. Exactly then to have the coffee ready when it is desired and to keep the blinds up when necessary.

And by now it works quite well. The fear that the house patronizes you and decides for the person is unfounded. The human is always in control and the always recurring things are taken off the person or things that one does not think of or forgets. or does not want to do at all.

For example, I do not want to run through the house every time before I leave and switch things off, close windows or turn off heaters.

However, I want my house to save energy when I am away and depending on the season do this or that without my intervention in order to achieve this goal.

One could go on forever with the list. But truly intelligent buildings always align with the residents and not against them. You just have to teach the houses what they are to do or not do, which things should be considered fixed or variable and how to react in which situation.

Then please explain to me how that is supposed to work. How does my house know that I have to leave today at 8:30 and want coffee at 8 if that is not the case every day? How is my house supposed to know tomorrow that I want to have breakfast at 10:57, which I only decided myself at 10:56? How is my house supposed to know that I want to be woken by the sun tomorrow morning, which I will only decide myself tonight? How does my house know whether I’m just going into the garden and of course it should not close everything, or if I’m going away for longer? These are all things that do not fall under any automatism.

Frankly, I can imagine few situations in which any automatism would be possible, at least in my life. That may be different for others, especially if you have to go to work at the same time every day. But maybe you can convince me otherwise?

How does the house recognize during automation whether I am just going into the garden and not all doors should be locked, or whether I am leaving the property?

Just because you don't know how it works doesn't mean it's bad. Or can you technically explain exactly how your car knows that a key is inside the car and therefore cannot be locked from the outside?

If I can close all doors with the push of a button, that's a comfort gain; I would like that for the house too. But the feeling that my house closes all doors on its own doesn't please me.

Same example. Do you find it more comfortable with the car, or do you have a problem with it locking itself when you leave with kids and everything and unlocking again without searching for the key when you come back fully loaded from the supermarket and are standing in front of the trunk? This is largely fear of technology and lack of understanding of it. The sequence only varies in some cases. No one has to live in a smart house. It is definitely an expensive luxury that some want and some don't. That is why some people also buy new cars full of technology and some buy a Dacia Duster as a base version. I do find it quite interesting to read the sometimes very consistent environmental protection arguments in a home building (!) forum on the internet (!).

The cup of coffee in the morning is, in my opinion, an incredibly bad example for smart homes, because that is something for which I need a lot of sensors for little gain (is there a coffee cup under the machine, is water and coffee powder available) and I either have to clean and refill it myself anyway or it is enormously complicated (technically). It is possible, but those are automations that, in my opinion, are far from the first steps.

If you don’t have a regulated daily routine, then your shutters in the bedroom are simply operated manually (via a switch). But all the others in the house are regulated in a way that makes sense based on the weather and saves energy. Not having to reach for the light switch anymore is pleasant (if well configured). And with a single button press, the night scene could be activated – so that the lighting doesn’t go to 100% when you wake up at night but is pleasantly dimmed, especially if you go to bed at different times every day and cannot control it by time. With Keyless-Go, the car locks when you walk away from it and unlocks again when you approach and operate the door handle. Why shouldn’t that also work in the house?
And is your daily routine really so inconsistent, or are you convincing yourself of that? My mother is a nurse with shift work. She cursed the automated shutters... until she had to live with the crank again for a while. Does it really make so much fun to regularly water the flowers on the balcony, and reminders related to the house (like the garbage collection, the chimney sweep, or maintenance work) are only helpful for us; nobody else needs them, or you keep them in every resident’s calendar – my car also tells me when I need a service?
There are more than enough regular routines in almost everyone’s everyday life. NO, I do not have and will not automate everything, but the possibilities are sufficiently given for everyone. But there are meaningful applications that make life easier. Whether it is worth the money to someone and whether one is willing to engage with the new is everyone’s own decision.

With us, it is not the "fear" of something new and unknown, but rather the feeling that the house (or rather the automation) basically rules over us.

But as you write, it is a feeling that this now triggers in you. You don’t know whether the feeling would remain if you lived in an automated house and whether the feeling is justified. So maybe it really is the 'fear' of the unknown after all.