I was shocked by new figures showing a soaring problem with broken home technology.
Just as surprising-most try to fix it themselves or ask a friend to help, some do turn to a technical person and quite a lot do nothing about it at all. The do nothing group jumped 240% in just 12 months!
The other big take out from the Parkes Associates study was the fact that around 80% of people install smart home tech themselves.
The problem in both cases is a strange reluctance by consumers to turn to experts when it comes to technology. How come? Most of us usually call a plumber or electrician when we need them.
The study made it clear that home tech is not only getting more complicated, but that it all depends on reliable connectivity to work as advertised.
That doesn’t figure much in all the home technology marketing. Very little of the smart home advertising talks about the need for stable, robust & secure broadband running right around the house. Even for gadgets that will work primarily on wi fi.
So it was really pleasing to see the New Zealand Government is now telling people there to wire their homes for technology—and providing a number of guides on how to do it.
As they advise in their “Are you wiring for a smart home?” if you’re building or renovating “Installing the correct wiring can save you time and money down the track by ensuring delivery of existing and future telecommunications services.”
They’re spot on and I’d love to see something similar by the Australian Government.
A lot of home tech needs knowledge about broadband, networking, multiple room systems that communicate with each other and how to make technology work as a whole system.
A professional in other words.