Home automation is a thing. People love to say “Alexa, Turn on the Light” and giggle when it does.
But there is an inherent problem with this. Most home automation products you buy come with a proprietary app that you control from your phone or computer. That means your device is DEPENDENT ON THE “CLOUD”!
What do you do when the Cloud goes “Poof”?
About a week ago a brand of Home Automation products sold by Home Depot called “Insteon” went Poof. Gone. Dead. If you own Insteon devices and an Insteon hub your home automation devices simply no longer work.
Oddly enough at Lowe’s in March 2019 the same thing happened. Their offerings called “IRIS” also went poof. At least they gave some warning. Insteon just stopped working. Their website has a mea culpa statement up. “We’re real sorry your stuff stopped working”. Real helpful. Not.
All is not 100% lost though. If you own Insteon stuff it can be incorporated into the Home Automation software called Home Assistant. Home Assistant is a tad bit geeky though. I dare say that most casual Home Automation users probably can’t pull it off.
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