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Home automation - why? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by Loucypher@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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I am failing to see the interest in having tons of IOT devices to manage, connect, segment, etc… Why would someone want to do it? To be clear, I have friends deep in it but… I still don’t understand. Can anyone try to explain the magic I am failing to see?

Edit: Thank you all for sharing your experiences! The ones I found more interesting are those that can easily translate in reducing or tracking consumption. The rest I hear but makes more sense when I look at it from an hobbyist perspective.

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[–] unknowing8343@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

But you can totally build a smart home without Google or Amazon having to do anything with it. Just use HomeAssistant.

[–] not_amm@beehaw.org 2 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Oh, of course! I was referring only to Google and Amazon because I'd need to invest a lot more if I want an independent and open smart home, which is unnecessary and expensive for me right now.

Alexa and Google Assistant are the default option in México, shipping alternatives is both expensive and hard :)

[–] thequickben@beehaw.org 3 points 10 months ago

FYI, you can run homeassistant on a raspberry pi or even cheaper hardware, or on an existing or old machine.

[–] unknowing8343@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Hmmm... the price difference is almost non-existent. Do some research, I am sure you can find a cheap server (Raspberry Pi maybe) and a cheap Sonoff Zigbee hub for not much more than an Amazon Echo 4.

[–] not_amm@beehaw.org 1 points 10 months ago

I guess prices may have changed since the last time I checked, but I think some Raspberries still cost more than $60USD, plus the rest of the hardware.

I'll check again when there's money to afford it lol, thx for the suggestion btw