Even if you don't buy the latest Google or Amazon or Microsoft or Facebook HomeSpy, the ability to get away from other devices is ... difficult at best.
And not just PocketSpys and MobileAdDeliveryTablets.
I've recently been through the experience of replacing a major home appliance for a friend. One which need not intrinsically be electronically controlled. But is. With intrinsic BlueTooth connectivity (and quite possibly WiFi, I've been afraid to ask).
After units #1 and #2 arrived DOA, with electronic faults, I went through the exercise of looking for a device without integrated electronics. So far as I can tell, they simply do not exist. Perhaps if you were willing to buy a used model from the 1990s or prior -- and even in the 90s, there were electronics, they just weren't connected to anything else.
After unit #3 arrived with exterior physical damage matching a previous shipment (and directly over a very insufficiently armoured printed circuit board), and having failed to identify an alternative, we had all three boards replaced (at manufacturer cost). That's $300 in parts, or 20% of the cost of the unit, plus labour. I'm wondering how that breaks down on a per-unit basis, though our experience suggests "poorly".
I've no confidence that the electronics are suitably protected from environmental or other damage over the life of this appliance, which I estimate will be substantially less than the 20+ years of its far more robust 1960s ancestors. Which did the fundamental job very much as well.
This, I'll add, was an experience with an expensive and major purchase, based on physical characteristics. The amount of debugging and security proofing going into the $10 - $100 price-point light-bulbs, thermostats, toasters, humidifiers, security (hah!) cameras, etc., can be at most a very small fraction of that retail figure.
I'm less than enthused.
And feel that exceedingly strict legal protections will have to be imposed on manufacturers and/or retailers.
And not just PocketSpys and MobileAdDeliveryTablets.
I've recently been through the experience of replacing a major home appliance for a friend. One which need not intrinsically be electronically controlled. But is. With intrinsic BlueTooth connectivity (and quite possibly WiFi, I've been afraid to ask).
After units #1 and #2 arrived DOA, with electronic faults, I went through the exercise of looking for a device without integrated electronics. So far as I can tell, they simply do not exist. Perhaps if you were willing to buy a used model from the 1990s or prior -- and even in the 90s, there were electronics, they just weren't connected to anything else.
After unit #3 arrived with exterior physical damage matching a previous shipment (and directly over a very insufficiently armoured printed circuit board), and having failed to identify an alternative, we had all three boards replaced (at manufacturer cost). That's $300 in parts, or 20% of the cost of the unit, plus labour. I'm wondering how that breaks down on a per-unit basis, though our experience suggests "poorly".
I've no confidence that the electronics are suitably protected from environmental or other damage over the life of this appliance, which I estimate will be substantially less than the 20+ years of its far more robust 1960s ancestors. Which did the fundamental job very much as well.
This, I'll add, was an experience with an expensive and major purchase, based on physical characteristics. The amount of debugging and security proofing going into the $10 - $100 price-point light-bulbs, thermostats, toasters, humidifiers, security (hah!) cameras, etc., can be at most a very small fraction of that retail figure.
I'm less than enthused.
And feel that exceedingly strict legal protections will have to be imposed on manufacturers and/or retailers.