Thriller on ARD on 15.12. "The House"

Hehe, no, at the workplace. Saturdays are always quiet.

but simply found it annoying to have to talk all the time.

Isn't it? I also always find it crazy. And it is increasingly being pushed by the manufacturers or more and more assistants are coming onto the market under the pretense that this is the future and that’s great! At least that’s my impression based on the well-known advertising campaigns, etc.

In our house, no voice assistant has ever really caught on so far. Well, maybe in the morning for the weather forecast and switching between music streams or yes, quite regularly reading or showing the news as a video. Otherwise, not really.

Because I also (using your words) just find it annoying to have to tell the house something. How is that supposed to be smart? The house should just do all these tasks itself. Without me having to butt in with my commands.

That gets tedious and unsatisfying in the long run. After the initial hype is over.

It’s also interesting to see in smart home presentations that as soon as someone calls a voice assistant one and can control a few bulbs and the TV, suddenly it’s considered a smart home.

But constantly being heard in the house or overhearing what others are doing…

It simply isn’t thought through and is just a movie that’s supposed to play on our fears.

But pretty spooky for me. I think the movie shows some people the downside of the technology.

It’s good that the movie shows where the weaknesses are and maybe some will realize that the big companies want to sell us the perfect world and the "future" with their voice assistants, but in reality it’s a listening station with all the consequences.

This is simply due to the average citizen. Real Smart Home requires an effort that is simply not suitable for the masses.

The problem with Smart Home is still not feasibility, but convenience.
Yes, I could give each of my blinds a name and then raise and lower them with Alexa, yes, I can assign each blind a room and a floor and then raise and lower the whole group, yes, I can also do it time-controlled, except on weekends and during holidays and when it’s a full moon, because I sleep poorly and therefore longer then...
And configuring all of this is currently just so little smart that it simply is no fun for the average person.

Let's be honest. In a smart home, you hardly ever operate the blinds yourself. They do what they're supposed to do on their own, and yes, 2/3-10 times a year you have to temporarily override the automation for reasons that just happen to arise at that moment.

For some reason, most people want to control the shading/darkening manually. Just because of these exceptional cases.

Because it might be...
But what if...
And what if not?

And this is where it starts again, that the possible "intelligence" of the house is gradually or completely thrown overboard, because people don't want to give up control over things like blinds/shading/venetian blinds/lights/heating, etc., no matter what.

Yet life is actually quite good if you only have to/can press switches at most those 2/3-10 times a year or control them by voice command.

I personally have enough biological intelligence to handle light, shading, and yes, even shopping myself. Conveniently, nature has equipped me with two hands and ten fingers to help me with that. I am very grateful to my house for keeping me warm and dry, and in my opinion, it also looks good and offers beautiful views. I don’t ask for more than that. If I ever feel the desire to talk to objects (you get a bit strange as you age), I’ll get myself a parking meter :)

Otherwise, I thought the landscaper did a good job at the film house – the tidal pool was also well done ;)

Let's be honest. In a smart home, you basically don't operate the blinds anymore. They do what they're supposed to do all by themselves, and yes, 2/3-10 times a year you have to temporarily override the automation for reasons that just happen to be there at that moment.

But for whatever reason, most people want to control the shading/darkening manually right at those moments. Because of these individual cases.

Because it could be that...
But what if...
And what if not?

And this is where the possible "intelligence" of the house starts to fall apart piece by piece or completely, because people simply don't want to give up control over things like blinds/shading/venetian blinds/lights/heating, etc.

Though life is actually quite good if you only have to/can press switches a maximum of those 2/3-10 times a year or control them by voice command.

I’m with you, but is there already a system available for the average user that works well enough? I haven’t seen any setup assistant that guides me through this. "When do you want to get up in the morning? Do you sleep longer on weekends? Should the blinds only be raised once nobody is left in the bedroom?"

All of this still has to be programmed just as bluntly and dumbly as 20 years ago. There is still no "standard set" of smart roller shutters with PIR sensors for the bedroom in the mass market that automatically discover each other in the home network and just work.

And yes, all of this is possible, but it just hasn’t arrived in the mass market yet and currently requires too much individuality.

The thing is that a smart home is really a tailor-made thing like a suit, and in my opinion, it will largely remain that way (at least in the foreseeable future). Certainly, the house can already "learn" a little and eventually adapt itself more to the residents over time as technology advances, but I doubt there will ever be a setup assistant that truly covers everything. At least not with "standard sets" — that will all remain more or less in the toy corner.

"When do you want to get up in the morning?

Sometimes I don’t even know myself, and I don’t want to be asked all the time. A time window is defined, and if necessary, one sets an alarm. Within these parameters, the system acts and should neither wake me too early nor too late. Opening blinds and natural light are not necessarily disadvantageous and are considerably more pleasant than beeping sounds from a device on the nightstand.

Do you sleep longer on weekends?

Here too, it depends on the situation, and the house should recognize that and react accordingly. This scenario already works quite well these days if you have the right technology.

A setup assistant is also overrated in my eyes. The house’s electrical work must be done by a qualified electrician anyway. There’s no way around that, and as long as we haven’t cracked Tesla’s secrets, we are reliant on electric cables. So why shouldn’t the electrician also take care of setting up the smart stuff?

And only then should the house learn independently or by instruction and offer me options to adjust its behavior as I need it. Because no two houses or residents are the same. Why should there be sets that are suitable for the masses?

Personally, I have enough biological intelligence to manage light, shading, and yes, even shopping myself.

Fine, you probably just enjoy it, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Of course, you can get around with a carriage too. But there’s more out there.