this time we talk to Richard Gunther (@richardgunther), host of the HOME: ON Podcast, a show about diy home control and automation.
Hi Richard. Can you tell us a little about your background and what brought you to the wonderful world of smart home tech and presenting the Home: On Podcast?
I’ve been pretty much of a tech geek since I was young. I remember when I was a kid my grandparents had an old X10 system from Sears to set up timers for some lights around the house. While most kids saved up for bikes and sports equipment, I spent my money on things like stereo equipment and slide and movie projectors. I remember spending all my book money for my first year of college on a first-generation CD player! As I got older, I became more interested in consumer entertainment, smart home, and kitchen tech. When blogs became a thing, I wrote about DVRs and such to an audience of…maybe dozens. A decade or so later, when I started Home: On, I’d been writing and podcasting at The digital Media zone for a few years, and I always looked for ways to talk about home automation in one of our other shows – where it didn’t really fit. eventually I decided to break it out into its own show.
After 5 years and over 100 episodes in the archives, whats been the secret of your success and what keeps you motivated?
I think our roster of guest co-hosts is what keeps the show fresh, interesting, and growing. I feel like I hit the smart home market and podcasting at just the right time. guests were curious and eager to join me at the beginning, and now the momentum of the show helps pave access to even more interesting guests. We just had Jamie Siminoff, the founder of Ring, on the show. He was on over four years ago when they were a promising start-up with one product. now they’re huge! and that just completely jazzes me – getting to talk with and share my conversations with interesting people and companies like that. Our audience is worldwide, with the largest segments from the US, UK, Canada, Germany, and Australia. hearing from our listeners, particularly stories about how they’ve tried products we’ve discussed or learned something that helped them, is more motivating for me than anything else, though.
Can you tell us a bit about your own smart home setup?
As a blogger and reviewer in this space, you can think of my place is a bit of a Frankenstein house. It kinda drives my partner nuts. The bulk of my home runs on Insteon. I’ve used Insteon products since their introduction over a decade ago. but over the past few years, I’ve added many products, including Nest thermostats, a ring doorbell and cameras, Lutron shades, Philips hue lighting, Amazon Echo devices, and Sonos speakers. There’s a little area in my attic I affectionately refer to as Hubland, housing all of the different hubs and bridges, along with an array of network switches, to make it all work.
While the choice for diy smart home owners is bigger than ever, integration still remains a substantial issue. Do you see this improving any time soon?
It’s a mess, isn’t it? and with the GAFA players involved now, it’s getting worse, I think. Easier, perhaps, but more fractured. I was thinking of a joke the other day. Alexa, Siri, and Google’s assistant walk into a bar where Cortana and Bixby are already sitting. Cortana asks, “hey, can we talk?” “¡NO!” they all yell. I’m still working on that one, but my point is that we went from multiple “standards” (protocols, more accurately) to that plus these newer fiefdoms, all vying to be “the one system.” The same thing is now happening in the smart kitchen, too.
So if you had to bet your house on Insteon, Z-Wave, Zigbee, HomeKit or any of the other standards or frameworks emerging as a market leader, who would you back?
Since you didn’t explicitly stipulate “one,” I’m going to say Insteon and HomeKit. HomeKit, of course, is a bit of a cheat, though, because between WiFi, Bluetooth, and various bridges to other protocols, they cover the gamut. Z-Wave and Zigbee are also great, and they’ll definitely continue to grow, but the bulk of my home is already built on Insteon, and I’m not turning away from that.
What’s your opinion of Cloud based home automation services like IFTTT?
The cloud offers immense opportunity to consumers to bridge between otherwise disconnected devices and ecosystems. services like IFTTT, Stringify, and Yonomi have essentially taken the place of the hub for many people. but I’m still a proponent of local control, where possible, so I don’t ever think of going hubless. Cloud systems can still be slow and less reliable.
Will manufacturers get to grips with IoT security or is it going to remain a threat for the foreseeable future?
Security is a cat-and-mouse game with dire consequences. We’ve dealt with security issues before in databases, sales systems, and customer records. The problem is that each nEl tipo de dispositivo IoT EW establece nuevos vectores que pueden ser explotados y deben asegurarse. Eso requiere tiempo y recursos que muchas empresas simplemente no tienen. Yo diría que algunos sustos de seguridad IoT han sido exagerados, que generalmente requieren acceso al sitio al dispositivo supuestamente vulnerable. Pero otros, como los que pueden explotar los fabricantes, la pereza o la ingenuidad de los propietarios o la ingenuidad de los propietarios pueden ser bastante graves, como vimos con Mirai. Asegurar adecuadamente el IoT requerirá acción de todos en la cadena, desde diseñadores hasta usuarios.
¿Cuál es el único producto que todos deberíamos tener en nuestra configuración de casa inteligente?
Soy un gran defensor del termostato inteligente. Dependiendo de su hogar y estilo de vida, su valor puede variar desde una conveniencia agradable o un ahorro de dinero sustancial. Claro, los termostatos programables han existido durante años, pero la mayoría de ellos nunca se programan, son torpes y confusos. Algo sobre su capacidad de aprendizaje o incluso la capacidad de programarlos desde un teléfono o tableta hace que los termostatos inteligentes de hoy en día sean mucho más útiles. Tengo amigos y oyentes que informan cortar sus facturas de energía hasta $ 50/mes solo mudarse a un termostato inteligente.
¿Qué le emociona la mayoría de los próximos 5 años para la industria de la automatización del hogar? ¿Qué tipo de nuevas categorías de productos podríamos ver?
Dos cosas: Primero, nunca pensé que estaríamos tan avanzados como en el control de la voz. Gracias a los esfuerzos pioneros de Amazon para traer voz a las masas (cualesquiera que sean sus motivaciones), el control de la voz del hogar se está moviendo de la ciencia ficción a la vida diaria. La oportunidad de aprovechar la voz probablemente mejorará significativamente en los próximos años.
En segundo lugar, creo mucho en “el hogar consciente”. Ya tenemos mucha tecnología que puede hacer esto posible con teléfonos Bluetooth, levas y sensores. La pieza faltante es un software de bajo costo que puede ofrecer los algoritmos necesarios y el hardware compatible para que todo sea posible. Pero no estamos muy lejos de ese día cuando la iluminación o la música pueden seguirte a medida que te mueves a través de tu día, sintonizados con la temperatura, el brillo y el género de color apropiado, dependiendo de dónde estés, qué estás haciendo, y que hora es. ¿Te va a trabajar? No hay problema. Esa estación a la que escuchas te sigue a tu auto, y la casa se asegura mientras conduces ya que eres el último. Estamos tan cerca de hacer realidad escenas como esta, pero todavía hay demasiadas variables, demasiados componentes dispares y demasiada intervención manual requerida para que funcione. Debe ser un geek serio para beneficiarse de cosas como esta hoy, pero esto llegará a más consumidores a medida que compañías como Google empujen el sobre en la IA en el hogar.
Finalmente, ¿dónde está el mejor lugar para que las personas sigan su trabajo y escuchen el podcast?
Publico en casa: On ocasionales artículos de entretenimiento digital y casero inteligente en la zona de medios digitales, que ayudo a administrar. Inicio: ON también está en todos los lugares habituales de podcasts. Si está interesado en Smart Kitchen Tech, también contribuyo ocasionalmente a la cuchara.
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