Is it smarter to have a dumb home? We've seen clients unable to flush toilets'

"When the smart home devices Elly Bailey was expecting in the post never showed up at her Gold Coast home, she was frustrated. As a technology reviewer, these products were crucial for her work. When she eventually found the cause, she had to laugh. It wasn't a sticky-fingered neighbour or a rogue delivery driver causing her to miss parcels, but her smart doorbell the very thing she'd hoped would prevent missed deliveries, and part of exactly the range of internet-connected devices she was meant to"

"She'd been loving her Google Nest doorbell up until then. She could see who was at the front door from upstairs and speak to delivery people through her phone while she was out. Technology reviewer Elly Bailey prefers a hybrid setup: I'm an old-school millennial who's very happy to put my washing on myself' But it had one obvious flaw: When someone presses this doorbell, all it does is send a notification to my phone."

"She says this feature is great when she's out, but without a telltale chime she was missing deliveries while at home and away from her phone. She complained about this to her followers in a clip that's been liked more than 1,400 times. The crazy irony is the doorbell itself does make a little ding-dong sound when you press the doorbell button, but it's only loud enough for the person at the door to hear it, she says."

Elly Bailey missed package deliveries because her Google Nest doorbell only sent notifications to her phone without an audible chime loud enough inside the house. She could view and speak to visitors and delivery people through the doorbell but missed rings when away from or not carrying her phone. A TikTok clip about the issue received wide attention. The doorbell emits a faint ding-dong audible only to people at the door. Many smart-home adopters report similar frustrations, including faulty smart locks, cameras triggered by pets, and unreliable smart lights. Technology can enable convenience but also introduces new failure modes.

Read at www.theguardian.com