This past summer I crossed a metaphorical bridge and got my first true "thing."
All of my things before then were really computers of some form or another.
The Roku box sort of straddled the fence, its computer like. as is the Smart TV.
I got a Garmin Vivoactive hr watch but that only talks to my phone as a proxy which talks to the world.
no I got a Garmin scale. I climb on and it recognizes me and uploads my degree of fatness to the cloud. via wifi of course.
fortunately, it's not judgemental. they have other programs for that.
I was just looking at the owners manual for a clothes dryer. For a brief moment I thought I soon might have another thing.
But alas, It only talks to a phone and only over NFC ( near field communication) which basically mens th e phone needs to be touching the washer.
I'm not sure how that is helpful, I can just looks at the machine and tell. So nope not another thing.

But have you got any things yet?
like thermostats or fire alarms or other cool toys?
doorbells?

 

I have a flip phone and drive a 19 year old truck as a daily driver. I have no desire to own any of the items mentioned. I like the camera on the wife's iPhone 7 and since she has one I don't need one. I'm making her wait until Christmas before letting her play her games on the iPad Air 2 that I got her. That's as cool as internet toys get in our house. Most of the new items I see make me think what the heck would we want that for. When they come up with an internet toy that will shovel my driveway, I'll bite.

 

I keep looking at the Nest thermostats and security cameras, but I have not pulled the trigger yet. I find the price point to be a bit high and since I don't have internet down the Cape it is easy for me to resist the pull. Essentially I'd need to subscribe to Comcast and then add two $200 thermostats and 3 or 4 $200 cameras. Having lived without them this long, it is difficult to justify the cost of entry. I have seen cheaper gear on Amazon, especially cheaper cameras, but I do not know enough about the quality and durability of this stuff to justify buying any of it.

On my boat (which is now sold to another) I had a network of Garmin GPS, radar and sonar that I certainly could have connected to the internet. It communicated with satellites and brought me all sorts of important and useful information. It was also connected to my DSC equipped VHS radio that was MMSI registered with the Coast Guard. Who knows what information it transmitted to the government? I know that other boaters with DSC and MMSI could see me on their GPS screens just as was able to see them if I was so inclined to do so.

A few weeks ago I was listening to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me and heard a story about hackers gaining access to people's coffee makers that were connected to the internet. Apparently the connected coffee maker and other "things" are easy portals to your phone where hackers can obtain your access codes. You could read and study articles like this one to try to figure out how to prevent such shenanigans, or you could just say "I don't really need a bunch of stuff connected to my phone" an save a lot of time and money.

How to use Coffee machines and stay safe from hackers?Security Affairs

 

on the security front bill.
My suspicion is it would be good to have two wifi domains.
one for the important real computers and one for the 'things."
I don't know how practical that is in reality. my roku won't recognize a controller if it isn't on the same subnet domain.

 

I have three WEMO outlets attached to table lamps. We also have two more WEMO outlets that we use for outdoor Christmas lights and the indoor Christmas tree. Nothing else is connected.

For the new house I am looking at a outdoor camera system but I have not decided if we will get one yet. I am letting my son do most of the research as he supervises crews that install them.

I don't trust the "cloud" as being safe so I avoid it at all costs.

 

I have Honeywill wifi thermostats in both houses. Very handy when forgetting do drop the heat a bit during week long absences and the like. I do NOT have the available wifi door locking systems. Both houses are alarmed. And fully insured.

-- Chuck

 

We spent all our money on Amazon Prime, a Porsche and camera stuff. We have no money left for the things you speak of.

I'm still amazed by the GPS in the car, smart TVs and the iphone. That's all my brain can handle.

 

I've thought about getting into some home automation in the next house, but I'll be retired by then and question the need for it. Not to mention with how quickly technology changes, the stuff will be outdated and unsupported before I move in!

 

In the back of my mind is the question, what do you do when the software maker goes out of business? Think about that when you buy your first self driving car. I'm reminded when hand held calculators were in fashion. OMG they could do so much and were so small. I wonder how many of those companies are around today?

I have a simple checkoff list when we leave for any length of time that includes set the temp, unplug coffee maker, set timers for lights, etc. Hasn't failed me yet and I can update it whenever I want.

 

We have the Nest Thermometer and camera, a WEMO humidifier, two Rokus, 2 Apple TV's and that's it.