Reply With QuoteThe advancement of technology never seems to improve spelling though, does it.
Just had the bathroom done and had a new shower put in, just a standard Mira shower, well that's what I thought. Turns out I now have a shower that I can turn on using an app on my mobile. Why the hell does anyone need to turn a shower on from a mobile?
It has an extra button out side the shower enclosure as well so now I can turn the shower on with my mobile, if I forget that I can walk in the bathroom and turn it on before I get in and failing all that I get in the shower and turn it on there.
Are we just over engineering things because we can rather than there is a need?
The advancement of technology never seems to improve spelling though, does it.
Presumably you could also turn it off/down if family spending too much time in there.
Or suddenly make it go icy cold?Originally Posted by Kingstepper
Sometimes do turn water temp down on boiler in kitchen if son running late for school.Or suddenly make it go icy cold?
It all started when smoke alarms became wifi enabled so they could call you and tell you that your house was on fire!
The trouble is that technology is advancing a little too rapidly and I fear all current 'smart home' tech will be redundant or embarrassingly basic within a very short space of time. Most of it, like your shower, provides a solution to a problem which doesn't exist!!
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There are certain items that are definitely going to far. This thread reminds me of the ikettle, that you can turn on from your phone. Still have to get up to put water in the bloody thing though, so what's the point!?
You can infect my laptop with ransomware but if you infect my kettle grrrrrr
I can see an advantage, albeit a small one.
Each morning I open my shower door, reach in and turn in the shower and retract my arm as quickly as possible as not to get it showered with the cold water in the shower head and pipes. Then after 10 seconds maybe the flow is warm and I'll get in.
Being able to turn the shower on from outside the shower would avoid this treacherous affair and guarantee my arm not ever see a drop of cold water.
But a simple button on the outside would suffice.
Totally agree.
That could provide a separate thread on its own!
Turning the kettle on was one of the applications suggested by Hive a while back - boil the kettle when you got up in the morning; simply put a £40 sensor on the bedroom door and that would switch on the £40 mains socket that the kettle was attached to.
Apart from the £80, it would rely on me switching the socket off from the app after the last tea/coffee/chocolate of the night, filling the kettle and turning the kettle on ready. Not going to happen.
My biggest moan about all this stuff is the amount of time I spend resetting and fannying about with stuff that should "just work".
What would be more useful is a gadget that automatically returns the bath mixer taps to the `tap` position after each shower - this would prevent the very irritating instances of a jet of cold water hitting the back of your head every time you reach over and turn the water on for a shower each morning..
When electricity was first invented, all sorts of weird and wonderful inventions hit the market and exactly the same happened when radium was discovered. New technologies always spawn ideas, many of which are totally pointless or even plain dangerous. No doubt when we've tried out all the possible things that interconnectedness brings, we will also whittle those down to those that are actually practical and end up laughing at the more esoteric ones, like 'connected taps'.
http://mentalfloss.com/article/12732...derstood-risks
I wonder what would happen if next doors had the same kit. Could they operate your shower, and vice versa ? Could be fun.
Stuart
The irony is that apps for mindfulness are taking off at the same time as apps that make everyday tasks ever more mindless.
Most of it seems fairly pointless but I think the bigger problem is that everything has its own app. For it to be of usable value there needs to be just one app that does the lot.
So clever my foot fell off.
In China WeChat seems to be heading that way, if not yet so much in automation.
I was just watching a clip on BBC news where geeks are having chip technology implanted into their hands!
The example showed a guy unlocking his door with a hand swipe
Lol - nuts
But I'm a serious note this tech will eventually aid less able bodied etc for sure
Also we tag our cats and dogs - could this be used in hospitals to avoid mistakes or you have your medical records uploaded so you can be identified if in an accident?
The shower thing is funny though
Many mixer taps work on pressure so that the diverter "drops" back to tap mode when the water is turned off.
You then have the situation of getting the right temperature before you pull the lever but being showered with the cold water left in the shower tube for a couple of seconds until the hot comes through.
I don't keep up with all this, I just don't find the mobile phone/app culture appealing. Most of this sems to be tech for tech's sake, but having clever central heating control makes a lot of sense because it'll save money. I could probably achieve this by fitting thermostatic valves to every radiator then fine-tuning the settings! Flushing all the rads thoroughly to remove any sludge would be a good move too, would improve efficiency at source.........somehow I doibt whether folks will find doing this work anything like as appealing as having an app ob their phone to switch the heating on and off remotely!
Paul
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