In the UK, 47% of consumers don’t want more technology in their lives at this point in time, and 45% think owning so many devices just means another thing to worry about when something goes wrong. And in the world of the smarthome filled with so-called smart devices, the consumer world of the Internet of Things is proving to be broken and anything but smart.
Hive by British Gas was hit by a DNS outage in March this year which meant customers were unable to control their heating remotely.
“…the last two days has seen our Hive service hit by an unexpected outage, caused by our Domain Name Service (DNS) provider. The knock on effect meant that some customers weren’t able to use Hive remotely during this time which is absolutely not the experience we want you to have.”
And if connectivity to the internet becomes a major flaw for most devices, then when it can’t be achieved what happens next for objects like a Lumma connected pill dispenser ? The market as it is today is rife with the current trend by OEM companies to “stick a chip in it” in order to connect it to the internet and render it "smart", without any real value to the consumer.
But there is now another threat to achieving the vision of the smarthome outside of just connectivity. Just this week it has become known that the
In another example, the Samsung RF4289HARS smart fridge apparently stopped displaying
However, with the latest changes in Google Calendar API, I can no longer sign in to my calendar. I receive a message stating " Please check your email in Google Calendar website". I can sign in fine on my home PC and have no problem seeing the calendar on my phone.
The problem was discussed openly on a Google product forum but it highlighted another major issue with smart devices; if a third-party changes their API, it is outwith the control of the manufacturer and will render purchased devices with limited connected functionality, if any at all.
For the average consumer, they expect to purchase a smart device and it should work. They should not be expected to scour forums for advice on how to update firmware or trust that the manufacturers partners will adhere to providing ongoing connected functionality as advertised.
Remember DNLA ?
The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) was founded in 2003 by a collection of global companies with a vision to easily connect and enjoy photos, music and video among networked consumer electronics, PC and mobile devices.
In order to achieve the vision of a digitally connected home, DLNA published industry design guidelines that allows OEMs to be involved in a networked device market, leading to “more innovation, simplicity and value for consumers.” According to the Alliance, this ultimately meant that industry collaboration and standards-based interoperability produced compelling products. And it worked. Why isn't there a similar collaboration across the smarthome industry for the same reasons. At the time of writing there are a myriad of different consortiums and alliances vying to be the proprietary standard for smart, connected devices, but it is still a fragmented effort with little sign of a champion emerging.
Meanwhile the consumer suffers.
The Consumer Electronics Show will kick off in early January in Las Vegas with the continued promise of smarter devices for the general public and the consumer looking to take a leap into the home of the future, but until device strategies have been resolved, and the nonsensical moves by companies like Philips to lock-out open interoperability with other manufacturers without warning, the smarthome will be filled with very expensive and dumb items that the average buying public will have no time for.
And aren't these supposed to simplify our lives ?
