Is it just me, or does the smart remote market suck?

[ProtoSyren]

Especially now with Logitech leaving the game and killing off Harmony. I get that most people probably use their phone for control of media devices, but does that really mean dedicated smart remotes shouldn't be a thing?

The closest I ever found to something I would use was the Sling Touch Remote. And of course it only works with Sling products.

 

After some quick Google searches, I found this; the YIO Remote. A Raspberry Pi based touch screen remote. Awesome! And Open Source to boot. But, not quite what I'd want.

 

 

A couple years back I saw images of the Essential Phone "Gem", a concept for the next version of the Essential Phone. I mean, come on... That is a PERFECT design for a smart remote!

 

 

 

Is this too much to ask for? (Probably, yes, but I can dream.)

 

[Haraikomono]

sure it sucks, Id rather have a remote that is smart, and that I can install into my couch arm rest. That would be so much better than picking up the remote

[manikyath]

the problem with smart remotes reaches way beyond the market of smart remotes.

 

generally, anything where they need to put 'smart' in the title.. is usually because without pulling the focus away of the main task of the item.. it's actually horrible.

 

"smart car": yes it's small, yes it's got an efficient engine, but it's horrible to drive and you cant bring anything wherever you're going because it's got no boot.

"smart light bulb": i have a revolutionary idea, instead of connecting our light bulbs to the internet, let's connect them to let's say a switch, that could be right next to the door.. so you could operate the light when you enter the room?

"smart kitchen appliance": i have a smart oven, besides the 5 different modes it has for making pizza, it's been nagging to do a cleaning run for the past week because it doesnt remember we actually did it 3 times already. oh, and actually turning on the oven takes actual MINUTES as opposed to seconds.

"smart TV": great invention, lots of data harvesting, app nonsense, netflix support until the manufacturer decides you need to buy the new one, ... it just sucks at one very key aspect: being a TV. when i turn my dum TV on it's on the channel i probably wanted it to be on. when i turn a smart TV on, i gotta button input shit until i'm actually where i wanted to be in the first place.

 

there's probably more, but you get the point...

[ProtoSyren]

10 minutes ago, manikyath said:

the problem with smart remotes reaches way beyond the market of smart remotes.

 

generally, anything where they need to put 'smart' in the title.. is usually because without pulling the focus away of the main task of the item.. it's actually horrible.

 

"smart car": yes it's small, yes it's got an efficient engine, but it's horrible to drive and you cant bring anything wherever you're going because it's got no boot.

"smart light bulb": i have a revolutionary idea, instead of connecting our light bulbs to the internet, let's connect them to let's say a switch, that could be right next to the door.. so you could operate the light when you enter the room?

"smart kitchen appliance": i have a smart oven, besides the 5 different modes it has for making pizza, it's been nagging to do a cleaning run for the past week because it doesnt remember we actually did it 3 times already. oh, and actually turning on the oven takes actual MINUTES as opposed to seconds.

"smart TV": great invention, lots of data harvesting, app nonsense, netflix support until the manufacturer decides you need to buy the new one, ... it just sucks at one very key aspect: being a TV. when i turn my dum TV on it's on the channel i probably wanted it to be on. when i turn a smart TV on, i gotta button input shit until i'm actually where i wanted to be in the first place.

 

there's probably more, but you get the point...

I completely agree with all of this, and it's honestly the reason I haven't adopted many smart devices yet.

 

But I do want smart everything, if possible, but in a tasteful way.
Smart TV: Dumb TV with a media PC attached to it.
Smart Oven: Let me know if I forgot about my pizza rolls. (Notifications only, basically)
Smart Laundry: Same as oven, notifications only. Why would you need to set a cycle from your phone. You have to stand in front of it to load it.

Smart Bulbs: I actually love the idea, but I hate that they connect externally. Natively support LAN only operation and we're golden.

Smart Car: No. I've always disliked that one... Lol

 

Basically I want someone to make the hardware, and leave all of the software up to the Open Source community. Might get less crappy, less data harvest-y smart devices that way.

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, ProtoSyren said:

Smart Bulbs: I actually love the idea, but I hate that they connect externally. Natively support LAN only operation and we're golden.

i like the 'old way' of doing what was called "home automation" back in the day: seperate power line to each lighting point and each control point, and one central 'hub' next to the fuse box controlling everything.

 

for me any connection to an outside system (the local network is still considered "outside" in this regard) to perform the basic tasks of a system, is a possible point of failure.

the premise of 'smart' is usually the idea of trying to do complex things, forgetting that simplicity is almost always the key to success.