Belkin Plans to Add HomeKit Support to WeMo Line in 'Very Near Future'

I have a prediction on widespread connected homes / The Internet Of Things:

it won't happen. Not now. Not ever.

I feel like this is like the hoverboard.

Can it be done? Yes.
Is it cool? Yes.
Is it worth it? Not even close.

I realized that when MacRumors talked about the smart mixing bowl. That's exactly the kind of thing that people are talking about when they say "Internet of Things". But nobody wants a $100 mixing bowl, even if it can connect to your iPad.

Then there's your smart fridge.

Which with all its smartness can...
tell you you're out of eggs...

...

And uh...

...

...

..milk?

That justifies a huge price tag?

No. This entire idea is retarded. The conventional products work alright as they are. Making them "smarter" with these bells and whistles just makes for a longer list of things that will eventually break in your house and need replacement. And that replacement will also be costly.

There are some select items that making them smarter is a good idea.

But for the most part it's just a bad idea.

Smart Lights might be a good idea. Maybe. That's about where the line gets drawn though. Smart spoons, smart cups, smart bowls, smart fridges - these are all dumb. Really dumb.

Wow. You really lack imagination.

I've been buying individual home devices that have become a true smart home as they've begun to communicate with one another.

Here's a typical day made convenient and pleasant due to the Internet of things:

My Withings Aura wakes me up gently finding the best opportunity in my sleep cycle within a 20 minute window of my alarm. Using gradually increased volume and light colors that induce wakefulness, I awake relaxed, not the usual startle from traditional alarms.

I get out of bed and step on my Withings Body Analyzer as I stretch. The scale measures my weight and realizes that I'm falling short on my goal to put on weight. That turns my kitchen's Philips Hue LED strip red to remind me to get back on my high protein diet. My coffee pot hooked up to a WeMo power outlet had already gotten started after I stepped on the scale.

After breakfast, my dog and I head out the door to the park. While she plays, I put together my schedule for the day on my iPhone 6 Plus. I check up on her activity in the park using her Whistle Dog Activity Tracker. Once she's hit her goal, we head back home.

Along the way, I get a notification from my Wink Egg Minder that I'm almost out of eggs. I pick up some groceries and pay with a tap with ApplePay. As I approach the door to my condo with my dog's leash in one hand and groceries in the other, my August Smart Lock unlocks the door and I just walk in.

I hit play on my podcast playlist AirPlayed to my Harman Kardon Aura and catch up on news for the day. The lights in my office space glow a bright white using a Concentrate recipe from Philips Hue. It was triggered by the work schedule I just put together in the park. When I should be working, my lights help me concentrate.

I get work done on my iMac, doing photo editing, taking calls and having FaceTime meetings with colleagues back at the office. SMS relay and iMessage on OSX help me get through long chat sessions at my desk rather than on an iPhone which is docked in the bedroom. I need to read some PDF documents so I get up, grab my iPad Air and sit back on the couch.

Lunch time. My Hue spotlights light up my kitchen counter to remind me to make lunch. Putting on muscle weight requires a lot of food intake and I'd never remember to eat on a schedule. I'd usually eat when I get hungry. My lights keep me on track.

As the day goes on, my office lights flash red. I have a meeting marked as high priority in 30 minutes. Meanwhile, the Petnet dog feeder has been feeding my dog small meals throughout the day according to her activity. If she's sleeping all day, she's using up less energy and is fed accordingly to stay a healthy weight and avoid costly vet bills.

I step out to my meeting and lock the door behind me with August Smart Lock. My Nest thermostat sets itself to Away to save on energy when I'm not home. While away, it keeps my dog warm at a lower temperature than what I would set for myself. During the meeting, I get a notification on my iPhone. My Nest Protect is telling me there's a CO alert. It already shut off the heater to cut off a possible source of carbon monoxide. I quickly bring up my DropCam and have a look around. My dog is happily walking around so it looks like she'll be safe. I look at my Nest Thermostat notifications and I realize that I should have changed the filter which could be the cause of the spike in CO.

Back at home, the day is coming to a close and my lights have gradually gone on by themselves. The work day is over. My Concentrate recipe is turned off and my condo goes a deep purple to remind me to put work down and relax. Indeed, the colour induces a sense of calm and relaxation. I sit back on the couch and browse through my AppleTV for a movie to watch.

By the end of the evening, my bedroom lights turn on in a reddish hue. It's bedtime. I get into bed, tap my Withings Aura and it lulls me to sleep with sounds and colour. All my lights at home turn off, my August Smart Lock is verified to be locked and Nest cools my bedroom down for optimum sleeping temperature.

Good night. Tomorrow is another day in the smart home.

Okay... So I'm going to have to fall in the middle of somewhere between this response (from a home-office tech guru), and the post it was in response to (from a cynical aware human being).

I love all the smart home ideas that have come out lately... but it is a complete waste of money and energy to get a refrigerator that tells you when you need milk or eggs... when you are out of milk and eggs, that is your cue that you need more milk and eggs. Set a reminder in your phone to buy milk and eggs. What has just been done is a type of consciousness that a smart refrigerator aims to destroy. Life is no longer being lived, rather, machines are living it for us. So when the milk/egg minder in your fridge goes bad, you will starve to death because you no longer possess the basic skill of grocery shopping consciously. God forbid the internet goes down for... an hour.

On the flipside... I love my nest thermostat, and my Automatic. These devices allow my house to be tolerably warm when I start the car at work to drive home. I'm imagining it saves me money in the process. At the very least, it's fun to tinker with. I like the smart lock idea too, it knows its you and unlocks the door for you.

For the average user, smart home frivolities are not justifiable. They are expensive, prone to breakdown, they relinquish just a little more of your humanity to the machine. People think when they read books, not when they watch TV. People think when they set their thermostats... not when the internet sets it for them. When their technology makes them a little more sedentary, and they stray from their "desired" weight... they act, or they don't, with a thought process, not because a machine tells them to. And the more prolific these connected devices become, the more prone to corruption.

I may also be a little jealous that your machine is so well oiled, you don't even have to "actively" walk your dog to get them their exercise (I'm actually worse as I just let mine outside and do my thing until they come scratching at the door to come in).

Anyway, rant over... that was fun.

It's not that machines are living my life for me. They're taking over tasks that they do efficiently and make room for meaningful tasks and thoughts in life.

Does your iPhone live your life for you? It takes care of your calendar and other mundane tasks so that those don't take up space in your mind and your life.

Would you rather spend your days washing clothes by the river and on your hands and knees scrubbing the floor? Machines take care of those tasks freeing you to have a more meaningful life. I'd rather spend my time being creative, being with the people that I love, traveling and other things. This background automation makes me more human, not less.

The beauty of this system that I have is that it's transparent running in the background. I don't manage it. It just does its thing. Sun light has scheduled our lives for millennia. These days we don't live our lives according to the Sun. I've set up a system that produces a schedule based on light and it works without my thinking about it.

Does anyone know if adding home kit will require new hardware in the WeMo line or will my current switch suddenly work with Homekit?

Okay... So I'm going to have to fall in the middle of somewhere between this response (from a home-office tech guru), and the post it was in response to (from a cynical aware human being).

I love all the smart home ideas that have come out lately... but it is a complete waste of money and energy to get a refrigerator that tells you when you need milk or eggs... when you are out of milk and eggs, that is your cue that you need more milk and eggs. Set a reminder in your phone to buy milk and eggs. What has just been done is a type of consciousness that a smart refrigerator aims to destroy. Life is no longer being lived, rather, machines are living it for us. So when the milk/egg minder in your fridge goes bad, you will starve to death because you no longer possess the basic skill of grocery shopping consciously. God forbid the internet goes down for... an hour.

On the flipside... I love my nest thermostat, and my Automatic. These devices allow my house to be tolerably warm when I start the car at work to drive home. I'm imagining it saves me money in the process. At the very least, it's fun to tinker with. I like the smart lock idea too, it knows its you and unlocks the door for you.

For the average user, smart home frivolities are not justifiable. They are expensive, prone to breakdown, they relinquish just a little more of your humanity to the machine. People think when they read books, not when they watch TV. People think when they set their thermostats... not when the internet sets it for them. When their technology makes them a little more sedentary, and they stray from their "desired" weight... they act, or they don't, with a thought process, not because a machine tells them to. And the more prolific these connected devices become, the more prone to corruption.

I may also be a little jealous that your machine is so well oiled, you don't even have to "actively" walk your dog to get them their exercise (I'm actually worse as I just let mine outside and do my thing until they come scratching at the door to come in).

Anyway, rant over... that was fun.

This is an interesting and philosophical point. On the one hand, technology promises convenience by automating the mundane or banal tasks in our lives, which should leave us more time to pursue the true meanings of life and happiness. On the other hand, we often find that technology fails to deliver on the promise or we fail to use any acquired time in the pursuit of anything meaningful. But you also seem to intuit another important point. Is it possible that these mundane and banal activities are actually part of our humanity and in some way help us along our journey in pursuit of all that is good?

I think these are important questions to be addressed so that we can leverage technology in the best way possible. However, this is MacRumors and this kind of thoughtful commentary is not welcomed here. Only Safari snappiness remarks are up voted.

Wow. You really lack imagination.

I've been buying individual home devices that have become a true smart home as they've begun to communicate with one another.

Here's a typical day made convenient and pleasant due to the Internet of things:

My Withings Aura wakes me up gently finding the best opportunity in my sleep cycle within a 20 minute window of my alarm. Using gradually increased volume and light colors that induce wakefulness, I awake relaxed, not the usual startle from traditional alarms.

I get out of bed and step on my Withings Body Analyzer as I stretch. The scale measures my weight and realizes that I'm falling short on my goal to put on weight. That turns my kitchen's Philips Hue LED strip red to remind me to get back on my high protein diet. My coffee pot hooked up to a WeMo power outlet had already gotten started after I stepped on the scale.

After breakfast, my dog and I head out the door to the park. While she plays, I put together my schedule for the day on my iPhone 6 Plus. I check up on her activity in the park using her Whistle Dog Activity Tracker. Once she's hit her goal, we head back home.

Along the way, I get a notification from my Wink Egg Minder that I'm almost out of eggs. I pick up some groceries and pay with a tap with ApplePay. As I approach the door to my condo with my dog's leash in one hand and groceries in the other, my August Smart Lock unlocks the door and I just walk in.

I hit play on my podcast playlist AirPlayed to my Harman Kardon Aura and catch up on news for the day. The lights in my office space glow a bright white using a Concentrate recipe from Philips Hue. It was triggered by the work schedule I just put together in the park. When I should be working, my lights help me concentrate.

I get work done on my iMac, doing photo editing, taking calls and having FaceTime meetings with colleagues back at the office. SMS relay and iMessage on OSX help me get through long chat sessions at my desk rather than on an iPhone which is docked in the bedroom. I need to read some PDF documents so I get up, grab my iPad Air and sit back on the couch.

Lunch time. My Hue spotlights light up my kitchen counter to remind me to make lunch. Putting on muscle weight requires a lot of food intake and I'd never remember to eat on a schedule. I'd usually eat when I get hungry. My lights keep me on track.

As the day goes on, my office lights flash red. I have a meeting marked as high priority in 30 minutes. Meanwhile, the Petnet dog feeder has been feeding my dog small meals throughout the day according to her activity. If she's sleeping all day, she's using up less energy and is fed accordingly to stay a healthy weight and avoid costly vet bills.

I step out to my meeting and lock the door behind me with August Smart Lock. My Nest thermostat sets itself to Away to save on energy when I'm not home. While away, it keeps my dog warm at a lower temperature than what I would set for myself. During the meeting, I get a notification on my iPhone. My Nest Protect is telling me there's a CO alert. It already shut off the heater to cut off a possible source of carbon monoxide. I quickly bring up my DropCam and have a look around. My dog is happily walking around so it looks like she'll be safe. I look at my Nest Thermostat notifications and I realize that I should have changed the filter which could be the cause of the spike in CO.

Back at home, the day is coming to a close and my lights have gradually gone on by themselves. The work day is over. My Concentrate recipe is turned off and my condo goes a deep purple to remind me to put work down and relax. Indeed, the colour induces a sense of calm and relaxation. I sit back on the couch and browse through my AppleTV for a movie to watch.

By the end of the evening, my bedroom lights turn on in a reddish hue. It's bedtime. I get into bed, tap my Withings Aura and it lulls me to sleep with sounds and colour. All my lights at home turn off, my August Smart Lock is verified to be locked and Nest cools my bedroom down for optimum sleeping temperature.

Good night. Tomorrow is another day in the smart home.

Okay... So I'm going to have to fall in the middle of somewhere between this response (from a home-office tech guru), and the post it was in response to (from a cynical aware human being).

I love all the smart home ideas that have come out lately... but it is a complete waste of money and energy to get a refrigerator that tells you when you need milk or eggs... when you are out of milk and eggs, that is your cue that you need more milk and eggs. Set a reminder in your phone to buy milk and eggs. What has just been done is a type of consciousness that a smart refrigerator aims to destroy. Life is no longer being lived, rather, machines are living it for us. So when the milk/egg minder in your fridge goes bad, you will starve to death because you no longer possess the basic skill of grocery shopping consciously. God forbid the internet goes down for... an hour.

On the flipside... I love my nest thermostat, and my Automatic. These devices allow my house to be tolerably warm when I start the car at work to drive home. I'm imagining it saves me money in the process. At the very least, it's fun to tinker with. I like the smart lock idea too, it knows its you and unlocks the door for you.

For the average user, smart home frivolities are not justifiable. They are expensive, prone to breakdown, they relinquish just a little more of your humanity to the machine. People think when they read books, not when they watch TV. People think when they set their thermostats... not when the internet sets it for them. When their technology makes them a little more sedentary, and they stray from their "desired" weight... they act, or they don't, with a thought process, not because a machine tells them to. And the more prolific these connected devices become, the more prone to corruption.

I may also be a little jealous that your machine is so well oiled, you don't even have to "actively" walk your dog to get them their exercise (I'm actually worse as I just let mine outside and do my thing until they come scratching at the door to come in).

Anyway, rant over... that was fun.

I love having the newest things so this intrigues me, even if I'm not 100% sold on the usefulness. But wow is that WeMo stuff expensive. I think the light bulbs are the hardest pill to swallow. $29.99 a piece will add up in a hurry. And I like how a three-pack is $89.97. Yes I'm aware that $29.99 x 3 = $89.97. What I don't understand is the point of a three-pack if there's no incentive to buying more at once. If you're going to simply multiply the price why not just sell them individually?