In case the vendor happens to read this, I wanted to throw out a generic thought on LED lighting today, in hopes that someone will eventually listen. This is not directed specifically at them; it is about the current industry direction.
I realize API lock-in is the holy grail of commodity products like this; the pipe dream is that if you can somehow dominate your market a la Microsoft ca. 1995, you can win a lasting advantage via owning an installed base of proprietary control hubs, which sells more proprietary lights and whatnot. But this chase has led to "smart" products with horrible security (LED lights that make it trivial to compromise wireless networks and products that spy extensively on users are not the only things we've seen), but also intentionally fail to interoperate.
Both of those are unacceptable.
I realize this solution is out of reach for a lot of people, but I'm simply building my own lighting setup. It isn't hard, and DMX512 is a fine, very simple control protocol. Also of no trivial import, I know my devices don't spy on me, and if I leave a gaping hole in my network, well, that's my fault, and at least I can fix it.
Until vendors get over their world domination aspirations, I won't be buying any of these products, and I encourage others to avoid them, too. I refuse to spend money for insecurity and artificially imposed inconvenience stemming from nasty business practices. I realize selling semi-disposable commodities like LEDs that interoperate isn't an appealing line of business, but that is what home lighting is. At the very least, add an open protocol to your stack. If you did, You'd have at least one new customer.
To everyone else - if you've ever held a soldering iron, or ever been interested, check out some of the LED control widgets at Lady Ada's or Sparkfun. It is really, really easy to start making this stuff yourself, it is usually cheaper than anything you'll buy off the shelf (especially if you're doing a whole house), you can make exactly what you want, and you're not compromising what you want or your security to benefit someone else's user-hostile business model. Also, it is really satisfying to know you made it yourself. There are tons of how-tos a google away, a wide array of controllers for lots of purposes, open source software that is perfectly fine, and also proprietary software for purchase that can control massive installations for those of you with the Pentagon, the Vatican or a secret volcanic lair to illuminate. It is a marvelous skill that goes well with wood working, if you happen to be good at that.
I have two rooms mostly done, and am currently bolting on motion detection to turn off lights behind me. I already have "runway" lighting at the floor level and strategically placed decoratively hooked to an light sensor, so those come on at dusk. And doing stuff like color changing for the RGB LEDS is trivial, although I've never found a use for that after playing with it a bit.
I'm still deciding how to go about this, but another fun thing I'm planning is a birthday gift for a pair of twin munchkins who bring their pet parents to come to visit me sometimes. The plan is to make a physical puzzle out of series of lighting changes based on their movements between rooms, and they get to figure out how to make it activate a specific pattern. Try doing that with proprietary crapware.
I realize API lock-in is the holy grail of commodity products like this; the pipe dream is that if you can somehow dominate your market a la Microsoft ca. 1995, you can win a lasting advantage via owning an installed base of proprietary control hubs, which sells more proprietary lights and whatnot. But this chase has led to "smart" products with horrible security (LED lights that make it trivial to compromise wireless networks and products that spy extensively on users are not the only things we've seen), but also intentionally fail to interoperate.
Both of those are unacceptable.
I realize this solution is out of reach for a lot of people, but I'm simply building my own lighting setup. It isn't hard, and DMX512 is a fine, very simple control protocol. Also of no trivial import, I know my devices don't spy on me, and if I leave a gaping hole in my network, well, that's my fault, and at least I can fix it.
Until vendors get over their world domination aspirations, I won't be buying any of these products, and I encourage others to avoid them, too. I refuse to spend money for insecurity and artificially imposed inconvenience stemming from nasty business practices. I realize selling semi-disposable commodities like LEDs that interoperate isn't an appealing line of business, but that is what home lighting is. At the very least, add an open protocol to your stack. If you did, You'd have at least one new customer.
To everyone else - if you've ever held a soldering iron, or ever been interested, check out some of the LED control widgets at Lady Ada's or Sparkfun. It is really, really easy to start making this stuff yourself, it is usually cheaper than anything you'll buy off the shelf (especially if you're doing a whole house), you can make exactly what you want, and you're not compromising what you want or your security to benefit someone else's user-hostile business model. Also, it is really satisfying to know you made it yourself. There are tons of how-tos a google away, a wide array of controllers for lots of purposes, open source software that is perfectly fine, and also proprietary software for purchase that can control massive installations for those of you with the Pentagon, the Vatican or a secret volcanic lair to illuminate. It is a marvelous skill that goes well with wood working, if you happen to be good at that.
I have two rooms mostly done, and am currently bolting on motion detection to turn off lights behind me. I already have "runway" lighting at the floor level and strategically placed decoratively hooked to an light sensor, so those come on at dusk. And doing stuff like color changing for the RGB LEDS is trivial, although I've never found a use for that after playing with it a bit.
I'm still deciding how to go about this, but another fun thing I'm planning is a birthday gift for a pair of twin munchkins who bring their pet parents to come to visit me sometimes. The plan is to make a physical puzzle out of series of lighting changes based on their movements between rooms, and they get to figure out how to make it activate a specific pattern. Try doing that with proprietary crapware.