I realised recently just how many of the giant tech companies have moved into our homes…..Apple, Google, Amazon and Samsung all have smart home systems, phone apps to help control them and digital assistants you can talk to or wave at.
And they’re just the biggest. Lots of other tech companies, telcos and an army of startups are also touting systems, connected gadgets, home hubs, sensors or apps to help run our homes. Even insurers like Medibank want in!
And the public now seems to like what it sees—a new study just said Aussie homes would have around 30 web linked gadgets at home by 2021, 14 of them smart home focused.
And that’s a huge change. The smart home is now a thing, not a niche idea for early adopters or the rich. The ubiquitous smartphone has helped change all that as its got smarter, simpler and a lot more useful, and other companies have made gadgets they can control.
But does it look like a free for all? It does to me. Apart from the sheer deluge of smart home and Internet of Things gadgets hitting the market each month, companies are acting in self-imposed silos, offering systems that don’t generally work with each other or with even a small percentage of home devices.
Add to that the wide number of industries taking an interest-everyone from media to security, appliances, energy, telecoms, building and a lot more-and the fact that there are few or no standards, government policies or consumer protections in place.
If I’m confused, then how about the public? And that’s a fundamental problem if the smart home market is to become mainstream, but even more importantly add real value to people’s lives.
Its time all the many competing interests and voices in this fledgling if rapidly expanding market started talking together and hopefully working collaboratively to grow this market sustainably. I can’t imagine that will be easy, but it sounds like a smart move to me.