Having resisted the 'smart' meters in my last house on the basis the benefits were all one way and not in my direction, I am now in a new build and have no choice. Still trying to figure out how it helps me, I have too many 'smart' things now.
Anyway my moan has to do with the new cooker hood. Took my eye off the ball cooking dinner and set off the smoke alarm, no idea how to switch it off so turned the cooker hood on to get rid of the smoke. I was deluged by a snowstorm of fluff, beans on toast then! Why couldn't they just give it a dust when they installed it?
"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it." Sir Terry Pratchett
Most 'smart' appliances are more gimmick than genuine use. On TVs they seem to stop updating apps after a couple of years, so then they ain't so smart after all. As for internet connected fridges, cupboards and kettles! What use are they really?
An awful lot of gadgets have unnecessary clocks. Judging by how many things break down just after the warranty expires, perhaps they're more useful to the manufacturers.
Do you remember vinyl - then reel-to-reel,cassette tape, eight track, DAT, minidisc, CD....each time the new formats offer something new (quality, portability...) and the old formats become 'obsolete'. Smarter becomes dumber. (this is quite entertaining - to see how many formats there have been for audio - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_audio_formats).
Smart meters will remain smart until they become dumber compared to new tech. It's frustrating as hell as the rate of change speeds up. What is the life expectancy of anything nowadays? TVs changed from 405 to 625 (or some such) lines didn't they? - but that was the only change I recall between getting a TV as a family when I was kid, until digital came along. Now the resolution of the screen is changeable and relatively immaterial, but how you receive the image varies more - and that causes issues. Radio ditto - SW, MW, FM, DAB - but all that is going as people stream. But what format is the stream and is the stream 'rights protected' in anyway?
I went smart on most devices, stupidly thinking that would semi safeguard me as I assumed the old formats would go before the smart option became obsolete. But it seems we still have FM radio (maybe even MW?) for the BBC but the smart streams have now changed. Ditto for the TV - old format (ie aerial broadcasts still work, but some latter apps don't) - maybe newer Smart apps are more resource hungry (memory/processing power) and the smart TV isn't smart enough to use more up to date smart offerings.
What will the power companies want in a smart meter in the future? Will they want feed back from each device? Data is power, power is control. Will devices not work in future if a power company says ' between 4pm and 7pm you can't use hair dryers'? What have they built into the firmware to stop the smart meters becoming obsolete in 10 years?
@pansyface, I recently replaced our phone as the answer machine was playing up and batteries in one of the handsets wouldn't hold charge, even with new batteries. On the old set a light came on to show you had a voice message. That was on the base unit and the handsets. All you had to do was press the illuminated button to get the message.
I read all the bumph before buying what appeared to be an upgraded version of the phones I had. I'm still battling to find out how to listen to the message on the handsets. I found it once, but can't find it again. You have to go through several menus and I generally lose the will to live before I find the message.
I know language and the use of words changes over time, but the use of 'Super' really drives me nuts. Everything seems to be 'super' hot, 'super' expensive etc. What's wrong with very or extremely, and what pillock decided to start saying 'super' instead?
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I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Anyway my moan has to do with the new cooker hood. Took my eye off the ball cooking dinner and set off the smoke alarm, no idea how to switch it off so turned the cooker hood on to get rid of the smoke. I was deluged by a snowstorm of fluff, beans on toast then! Why couldn't they just give it a dust when they installed it?
Personally, I'm still capable of switching on my own tv or radio, or closing my curtains etc. Ask me again in ten years time
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.