January 2026
Your Smart Home
Is Getting Dumber
How connected devices traded reliability for features nobody asked for.
The light switch used to work every time. Now it needs an app, a hub, a firmware update, and good wifi. The thermostat used to have a dial. Now it has a subscription.
We were promised seamless. We got seams everywhere. The doorbell buffers. The lock needs its battery replaced. The speaker forgot your voice. The hub stopped talking to the lights.
The most common support request: "How do I make it work like a normal one?"
What Went Wrong
The industry optimized for the wrong things. Demo day impressions. Feature checklists. Integration announcements. Everything except the moment when someone just wants to turn on a light.
Products got designed for trade show booths, not tired parents at 2am. For investor slides, not guests who just want to watch TV. For app store screenshots, not people whose hands are full.
The Old Way Worked
A physical switch has zero latency. It never needs a firmware update. It works during an internet outage. It works when you have guests. It works when you're half asleep. It just works.
We replaced certainty with complexity and called it progress.
The best technology disappears. It does its job without demanding attention. The worst technology makes simple things complicated and then asks for a monthly fee.
The Pattern Repeats
This is not just smart homes. It's cars that need apps to start the heat. Appliances that require accounts. Headphones that force updates. Printers that refuse to print.
Used to have a dial. Now requires wifi, an account, and accepts commands from a server in Virginia.
Used to ring. Now buffers, requires a subscription for basic features, and stops working when the internet is slow.
Used to last decades. Now needs a hub, firmware updates, and forgets its settings when the power blinks.
Used to need just a key. Now needs bluetooth, batteries, an app, and a backup key for when it all fails.
Every added dependency is a potential point of failure. Every required account is friction. Every subscription is resentment.
Smart should mean invisible.
Not needy.
What Good Looks Like
The best connected products enhance without intruding. They have physical fallbacks. They work offline. They fail gracefully. They never make you feel stupid.
They earn the right to exist in your home by being more reliable than what they replaced. Not less.
We believe:
- 1Physical fallbacks are non-negotiable. Every connected device should work without connection.
- 2Zero latency is the baseline. If it takes longer than a light switch, it failed.
- 3Accounts should be optional. Your lightbulb should not require an email address.
- 4Subscriptions need to earn it. Value before extraction. Every time.
What We Build
Resilient Interfaces
Products that work without perfect conditions. Offline-first, latency-tolerant, gracefully degrading.
Physical-Digital Bridges
Experiences that enhance physical interactions without replacing them.
Invisible Automation
Systems that do their job without demanding attention or credit.
Trust-First Products
Technology that earns its place through reliability, not novelty.
Does your technology serve the moment?
Or does it demand attention the moment never required?
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Perspectives on product design, technology, and the forces shaping how people interact with the things we build.
The regression of smart technology is a design choice. The companies that build for reliability over novelty will own the next decade.