To just want to use a fucking light switch

[Iwrotethelyricstoaxlf]

We’ve had Alexa bulbs (other smart bulbs available) for the last few years.

Alexa is getting more stubborn at turning the bloody things on.

Would I be unreasonable to ding the whole
fucking lot out and just use the bloody switch instead.

Its honestly driving me nuts.

I suppose the same could be said about any new technology. Why would anyone want a newfangled automobile when the horse and buggy work just fine? What if it runs out of gas or has a some other mechanical problem? You'll be left stranded. It just seems lazy and unnecessary when old Bessie has always been reliable.

I love my Alexa lights! Here’s a couple of ways I use them.

• Routines
• Morning kitchen a small light turns on low about 2 min before my alarm goes off -no big light and I can see what I’m doing
• Bedtime- one command and all my living room and any kitchen lights go off. A small bedroom lamp turns on and then over the next 10 minutes gets dimmer until it’s off. Just enough time to get into bed and get settled
• Evening- living room lamps turn on at dusk
• Travel - too many to count… I have music that plays for certain time periods, lights are turned on and turned off at different times
• Holidays -Christmas decorations (inside and out) set to go on and off at specific times, some of my lights get changed to decorative colors during the holidays
• Lights in general
• My back yard light switch is not convenient (in the garage not near the door) I hated that light. Now I just say ‘turn backyard on’
• Colors I can change the colors of different lights depending on activity
• inconvienent lights in general. Behind furniture, small lamp in my dining room table base, one that I’d have to get up and turn off after finally sitting down etc
• Smart things in general
• plugs to turn on small appliances like my space heater and to turn it back off on a timed schedule
• ‘window fan in the bedroom that I set to exhaust for an hour then to draw in cool air for an hour before bed
• Alexa is set up to ‘say good night’ to me to remind me to wrap it up and go to bed. It’s saved me from the ‘oh shit it’s 1am and I got sucked into a book and didn’t realize’ more than once.

I mostly have gone to routines so don’t have to command much. My next purchase will be Alexa enabled blinds. Mostly for travel but also because I feel like I spend half my life opening and closing blinds!

A couple of people mentioned teenagers and leaving on lights… just create a routine to turn them off at the same time late at night. Then you really don’t have to think about it.

Alexa isn’t perfect, but it’s good enough for me as she gets better.

I refuse to get smart big appliances. Give me a basic knob washer and dryer and my oven is about 70 years old and still going strong. If I have to use my phone to control something… no thank you.

Call me old fashioned but I have no problem with getting up, walking two paces and pressing a switch. Honestly, I don't need my lights to switch on and off all the time when I am not there to press a switch. If we want lights on while we're on holiday we use plug in timers in a socket.

I would never trust an Alexa in the house. DH who has a relevant background is totally against using one.

I'd love to have smart blinds. It would be fabulous to have blinds on a timer. I could open and close all the blinds with pre-programmed commands and I could sleep in without depriving plants of morning sun. I'm sure the price is more than I want to pay, though, especially as I have cats and I sometimes need to replace chewed blinds.

If I have to use my phone to control something… no thank you.

Our robot vacuum/mop has changed my life. We can control our heating remotely too. I don’t think we’re important enough to worry.

@Begsthequestion

Why would anyone with the ability to flick a light switch install this tech instead?

See other answers

What happens if you want to switch a light on without speaking loud enough to disturb someone sleeping?

Wouldn’t turning on the light be just as disturbing to a sleeping person? Regardless of switch use or voice command? But you can always use the phone or tablet app to operate silently or use the voice command from a different room.

What happens if there's a flaw with the software or hardware one day, like a problem with your devices, or a bug or hack or bad update?

Don’t the impact would be huge

Can you still use the light switches manually, or would you need to get the candles out?

All light would cease to exist 😜 or everyone would just use the manual switches.

I bought a robot vacuum and had to concede it wasn’t right for me. I didn’t even open the box before returning. As I looked around at the cat toys strewn all over the floor I realized that it was just never going to be the ‘set and forget’ that I hoped it would be… sigh maybe one day.

I always think this about "smart" stuff and try to keep everything dumb in my house. As well, I try to have things that aren't battery operated, if a manual version is available. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Same. I can't imagine anyone being bored enough to be interested in my light and bathroom fan usage.

I just miss the days when lightbulbs actually emitted light. Ok, so they last for years now but it's years of murk.

You could just buy smart switches best of both worlds.

This! We have heating, lights, alarm and security cameras (I know DH has these isolated for security but haven’t a bogs notion how it’s set up) all able to be operated from Alexa. It means I can set the heating when out, set a light routine on holidays, see the whole exterior of my house from my phone.

The fact my house has 6 smartphones, 4 smart TVs, 5 tablets and numerous other smart devices or stuff connected to wifi negates the security worry for me. And if someone fancies hacking into my lightbulb to hear the riveting conversation that occurs daily in my house more power to them

I would never have them by choice. Using a switch is so simple. Complicating the simple is just going to bring issues.

Well of course, everyone should do what works for them. I’m very much an early adopter and enjoy trying new things, keeps me interested in what’s happening and is good for the brain. I don’t think the technology is up to scratch for people who don’t enjoy that challenge yet and very much understand OP’s frustration with voice recognition.

It’s all very much an experiment, and while not everything works out, some do. I don’t tend to throw out the old until I realise I haven’t used it years.

I have a kindle but prefer reading paper books at home - especially in bed. However, the ease of being able to take a dozen books on vacation without worrying about the weight or, with recipes, of being able to look something up in the supermarket as well as at work or on the train (and finally in the kitchen!) when I suddenly realise I’m cooking tonight and don’t have anything planned is a boon over only having paper books.

I have a CD player but haven’t used it a long time (probably should get rid of it, along with my iPod!) because having to find a track is much harder when you need to look through a hundred CDs, especially if you can’t quite remember who it’s by!

My DVD player and a stack of DVDs also sit idly in the cabinet because streaming makes it far simpler to watch what I want. And no need for 15 remotes, it’s all done through Chromecast. I have way fewer remotes, switches and other interfaces that I have to interact with now than I did before I automated and no turning the sofa upside to find the one that slipped all the way down the back!

With the way technology is going I’m much more concerned about ownership of media and the switch to subscription models for seemingly everything than I am about having to adapt to a new interface.

I think this is one of the reasons we need so many lights, especially in the lounge and kitchen! I have found brighter bulbs recently. They still don’t seem quite as good as I remember lights being, but that may be age. It’s been a long time since I had incandescents everywhere!

It's amusing. I bet the majority of the people saying "I don't see the point, using the switch is so simple" use the remote to turn their TVs on and off, and unlock their car doors with the fob rather than the key.

People who think it is just about turning the big light on and off have no imagination.

Using a switch is not just about turning the light on and off?

🥴

Using smart bulbs, no.

Are you really comparing the horse and cart vs a car to this?

It's not a useful analogy in any way.

Can you still use the light switches manually in case there's a problem with Alexa or your device?

I am totally resisting smart anything when it comes to tech. It’s not like using a light switch is a worldwide problem for people!

Also I’d worry about waking the house, I stay up late, way past DH and 2DC and I don’t think they’d appreciate “Alexa turn the lights off” at 2am 🤣 my DC didn’t sleep as babies, DD especially, and I remember telling DH not to turn off the hall light as she was such a light sleeper I was convinced that the noise of the flicked switch would wake her in the next room

Yes. It doesn't stop being a switch. You just can't change the brightness or colour via the switch.

I don't think that having smart lights would result in the Russians and Chinese listening to me in my living room. But the general technological enshittification trend that has been noticeable in the last few years - normal purchase products being replaced by subscriptions and apps, all requiring installations and dozens of passwords - makes me feel quite strongly that I don't want to introduce complicated systems for things that are really quite simple.

As for the horse/car analogy upthread: horses are large dangerous panicky animals which are largely useless for their first three years of life, require huge amounts of food and straw, produce manure which used to cover the streets, and are basically a massive amount of work. Even disposing of dead horses used to be a nightmare for pre-car cities. I don't think it's quite the same as "pressing a light switch," frankly.

I prefer 'Let there be light'.

You can set Alexa to whisper mode. It will detect the volume of your voice and reply at the same level.