Every few decades the entertainment landscape makes a shift that gives the consumer more choices. [Read more…]
Using Amazon Alexa to Build the Smart Home of Your Dreams
It wasn’t all that long ago when images of the Jetsons receiving phone calls by video and the ability to tell your house to open the curtains, seemed a little fantastical. But in 2019, that’s become a way of life as our homes get smarter and more connected each year.
Technology is Often Bad for Mankind
Raise your hand if your tech runs your life. I can’t see you in the back, can you turn the flashlight on your smartphone or let your FitBit start blinking?
I wrote a paper back in 1972. My first paper. I was 10 and attending Saint James Grammar School in Red Bank. The topic escapes me, but my paper was entitled “Technology is Often Bad for Mankind”. At that time pollution was big deal and we saw things all around us trying to get us as individuals to be better. Remember the Indian Chief on the side of the road standing next to all our trash with the tear running down his cheek? That was the image I recall and what drove me to create my opinion piece. The central message was one of trade-offs, especially when it came to business. While our factories were being more efficient and cranking out products at a high rate to stay competitive in a growing global market, we were sacrificing clean air for the kids and the waterways were so bad our fish were dying. To go along with the paper, I made a poster and it got submitted to some committee in Red Bank celebrating their centennial and I won a ship in a bottle! It’s still in my office at home somewhere.
Fast-forward to today. How has technology affected us? Our workplace, our home life and relationships? Our society as a whole? I think it has solid arguments on both sides of the issue.
On the plus side, we really kind of need certain things to even function. Consider email or the smartphone. Without them we can’t communicate in the workplace or even with our grandkids! I tell many grandparents who want to be steadfast and insist their grandchildren call them or come over if they want to speak with them. That’s ok, but if you want a relationship with the grandkids where conversations are more frequent and maybe more meaningful, you better learn to text!
Is technology bad for mankind?
It really runs our lives these days. The question is, is it good or bad? Let’s consider a typical tech-savvy person and what their typical day might be like.
- The SmartPhone wakes you with a gentle and soothing alert
- You say, “Alexa, good morning”. With that, the temperature changes to 72, certain lights turn on and the weather report for the day is read.
- You check your FitBit and see that you slept for 6 hours and 33 minutes (need to work on that)
- You shower and dry off and realize you’re running low on shampoo and toothpaste. “Alexa, add toothpaste and shampoo to my cart”. People can check this site link for the best skincare products.
- While dressing you turn on the SmartTV and check out the local news using Hulu Live. When done, “Alexa, turn off the TV” and you head down for breakfast.
- While fixing your coffee, your SmartPhone alerts you and says it’s time to meditate
- After meditation, “Alexa, play The Doobie Brothers in the kitchen”, which will activate Sonos speakers in the kitchen. Ooooh, China Grove is playing. “Alexa, turn up the kitchen”.
- MyFitnessPal app on the SmartPhone advises you on healthy breakfast options
- Open the SmartPhone and hit the car app to start and warm-up the car while clearing your dishes from breakfast
- “Alexa, I’m leaving”, which stops the music, turns off the lights and drops the temperature to 66
- Get in the car and say, “Siri, what’s my calendar look like for today”?
- Arrive at work and throughout the day the FitBit tells you to get moving. Trying to get at least 250 steps in an hour. Fancy fireworks if you do, annoying buzzing if you don’t
- The SmartPhone reminds you about calls to make, meetings to attend and always tells you about emails.
- You remember that you need milk. “Hey Siri, remind me to get milk when I leave work” and she will remind you when the GPS in the phone realizes you left the office.
- You enter what you ate for lunch into MyFitnessPal app so you keep track of calories and such
- I check the dog camera to see how Sparky is. You notice that he used the doggie door a few times based on the alert notices on the phone each time he went in and out. You call to him and he comes up to the camera. You talk with him and make kissing noises and then dispense him a treat…”good boy Sparky”. You can read his comment is here about the amazing response that his dog gave while testing this camera.
- The video doorbell rings on the SmartPhone. Fed Ex is at the house with a package. You open the app and talk with the delivery guy. “Can you leave it in the milk box”? “Sure, he says”. Nice guy. I have to remember to tip him at Christmas. “Hey Siri, remind me to tip the Fed Ex guy on December 15th”.
- Head home and when leaving the parking lot, the phone alerts you to stop for milk…duh
- Google Maps says there’s traffic on the normal route and sends you home a different way
- “Hey Siri, text my wife”. “What would you like to say”? “I’m stopping for milk. Do we need anything else”?
- Arrive home and “Hey Siri, open the left garage door”.
- Walk in the door and “Alexa, I’m home”. Lights come on, temperature adjusts and music starts playing. Need to figure out an app to pour me a glass of Merlot. You’ll be rich! “Hey Siri, remind me to find an app developer when I get to work tomorrow”.
With all this goodness, how can there be any bad?
OK, there’s plenty of bad. Lack of human interaction…”texting neck”…distracted driving. Loads more I’m sure, but as a tech lover I’m enjoying the more efficient ways I can get things done so that I can spend more time with my family and friends.
Technology is often life-changing for mankind. You get to decide whether it’s good or not.
How “smart” is your home?
The whole movement kind of started with devices we could plug into the wall and add a lamp to it. Then we could add that device to our wifi (albeit painfully) and install an app on our smartphone to turn it on and off. Amazing stuff! You could create a schedule where it turned on and off at the same time each day. Wow, that’s progress!
Fast forward to 2018 and there’s loads of devices that work using our in-home wifi to control our stuff. Maybe it’s a Nest thermostat, the front door lock, garage door opener, holiday lights, outdoor spotlights, smoke and CO detectors or a video camera or two that you were able to get working in your home…with a little finesse and some patience. But things have gotten better and easier.
There’s still a few unrelated technologies that allow these items to work in our home. They are considered protocols and go by the names of Z-wave, Zigbee and Thread to name a few. Then there’s the ones we already know, like ethernet, wifi and Bluetooth.
The idea is to integrate some needed tech into our homes and make it easy to control and manage it. That’s not always how it goes. I started doing this a while ago when Verizon actually had their own solution which included a video camera, thermostat and smartplugs. It was good, but not great and didn’t really grow beyond the initial offering and eventually fizzled and they abandoned it. Short of buying something really expensive and high-end, I was forced to cobble together something that suited my needs. I did loads of research and decided I was going to settle on Nest.
First, I added their thermostat. That’s an amazing device! It saves money, gives you feedback by learning your habits and one of the best things is the ability to raise or lower the temp from my smartphone…from ANYWHERE in the world! Nothing better than cranking the heat or the AC when you’re in the airport and come home to perfect temperature. You may consult an expert in ac replacement and ac installation services on the things to consider when installing a smart thermostat and to prevent damage to your AC. A local air conditioning services contractor can also help in maintaining the functionality and efficiency of your hvac system.
Then I added Nest cameras. I put one inside aimed at the front door and one outside aimed at the same front door. When I’m away I can put the motion detection on and know when the kid comes to feed the cat or when a package may get delivered because I get an alert on my phone. The quality is great and it is in the same app as the thermostat. I love it when the items play nice together!
Nest also has some other products, so I added the Smoke/CO detectors. I have 2 and know from the same Nest app on my phone if there’s a smoke condition (Alex, stop putting the cast iron pan on so high when cooking your steaks!) or if the batteries need changing. I also have the door lock, which has a keycode system so I can see who comes and goes. I can give separate codes for each person and even give out temporary codes to allow one-time access. Nest has even more products, like video doorbells, an alarm system and more. I want to do more in my home, but Nest doesn’t have ALL the stuff I need and want, so now what?
Enter Alexa.
Actually, it’s the Amazon Echo, but we all just call it Alexa. Since Nest can work with Alexa, I can simply say, “Alexa, lower the temperature to 72 degrees” or “Alexa, is the front door locked?”. Alexa has these “skills” that can be added to control the other devices in my home that are not Nest products. I have light switches and smartplugs that control all kids of things like the island lights in the kitchen, table lamps in the living room and family room, outdoor lights for my deck and pergola and even the Christmas tree. “Alexa, turn on the Christmas tree”. Or better yet, create a “routine” where items can be set to turn on or off at certain times…all controlled with your smartphone app or asking Alexa. When I come down in the morning, I say, “Alexa, good morning” and she turns on a few lights and tells me the weather report for the day. I even have a Sonos wireless sound system that Alexa can control. “Alexa, play Grateful Dead on the deck” or “Alexa, play my party playlist in the whole house”. The possibilities are almost endless.
There are many smarthome devices out there to make your home more efficient, more convenient or just more fun! The idea should be to create an easy to manage collection of devices that can be controlled with your smartphone or your voice. I see almost no need for a permanent wall-mounted control panel solution that will become outdated. I avoid anything that requires a control panel.
Think about the things you could control or monitor; temperature, lights, TVs, security system, door locks, cameras, sprinklers, water spill or high/low temperature alarms, robot vacuums, window shades, garage door openers and more coming each day! To get going with this in your home, start small with a thermostat or video doorbell and then start adding on. Try to stick with devices that use wifi and work with Alexa to make things easier.
Have fun with it and in the end you and your home will be smarter. Plus, it’s really fun to show off to family and friends!