Normally I’m a pretty earlier adopter of new technology but home automation doesn’t appeal to me because I don’t want to have to constantly pay a subscription to someone to process my commands when I have a perfectly functional computer.
I want to have a doorbell that does not financially commit me to a monthly fee I do not think that’s too much to ask.
To be fair, I use a simple smartlock whose only purpose is so I alone can unlock my bedroom door without needing my physical key duplicated for others to enter at desired times.
To also be fair, I have a hodgepodge of smarthome lights and plugs linked via ifttt that I am now worried will not have any replacement option in 15 years. Maybe I made a mistake, but I do actually have a need to rely on a smartswitch to turn off the lights when I leave home.
Agreed, but there are choices. Even for the Ring doorbell, you can choose not to have a subscription if it suits your bpberds to have live video only, no history. But there are also full featured choices that do not require a subscription.
For me, I haven’t yet upgraded from Ring because I’m not ready to take on an NVR, nor build out the full system I want
Normally I’m a pretty earlier adopter of new technology but home automation doesn’t appeal to me because I don’t want to have to constantly pay a subscription to someone to process my commands when I have a perfectly functional computer.
I want to have a doorbell that does not financially commit me to a monthly fee I do not think that’s too much to ask.
There’s plenty of products without subscriptions… Including your doorbell example.
Maybe you haven’t actually researched this enough?
For me, a doorbell that is more than a doorbell is a perfect example of tech built to fill a need no one had.
To be fair, I use a simple smartlock whose only purpose is so I alone can unlock my bedroom door without needing my physical key duplicated for others to enter at desired times.
To also be fair, I have a hodgepodge of smarthome lights and plugs linked via ifttt that I am now worried will not have any replacement option in 15 years. Maybe I made a mistake, but I do actually have a need to rely on a smartswitch to turn off the lights when I leave home.
Agreed, but there are choices. Even for the Ring doorbell, you can choose not to have a subscription if it suits your bpberds to have live video only, no history. But there are also full featured choices that do not require a subscription.
For me, I haven’t yet upgraded from Ring because I’m not ready to take on an NVR, nor build out the full system I want