Andrew Hale: IT Talk & Other Topics

As mentioned earlier, I want to build an awesome smart home without overwhelming anyone with technology. As an Apple user, I'm already using Homekit, though my current setup is small due to living in an apartment for the last 8 years. From what I can tell, I can accomplish essentially everything I want to do without having to pivot a new platform.

As discussed a previous post about Home Plans, I mentioned about building the best network I possibly can (relative to our needs). To accomplish this, I had the builder of my house run 11 Cat6 cables throughout our house, all going back to the closet of the bedroom that I'm designating my office. I've chosen Ubiquiti Unifi for all of the network equipment. 

As I've mentioned in other posts, my wife and I are currently building a house. We've been talking about buying a house for 5 years, and have been saving specifically for the downpayment since 2018 (after paying off our car and taking care of some out-of-pocket medical stuff). It's currently still a plot of dirt with some boards laying out the foundation, but that hasn't stopped me from nerding-out with tech plans. After a lot of research and thinking, I've come up with some (reasonably) solid plans for the network, distributed audio, home theater and smart home functions.

It's about damn time Apple got into the smart-speaker market. I've been waiting to see what they come up with, but I'm not buying one. Let me tell you why.

I have a particular interest in smart home technology. I live in an apartment currently so I don't have any "smart" devices deployed in my own home, but I follow the industry to see where things are going. As a bit of a smart home nerd, I was admittedly excited for the 2017 HGTV Smart Home special. However, I was disappointed.

Aside from being invested in the Apple/iTunes ecosystem, I'm not an Apple fanboy. However, I'll admit that while most gadgets get my curiosity, the new Apple Watch has my attention. Not just because it's an Apple device. I like to believe I'm above fanboyism. I'm interested in just such a device for many reasons, particularly the health/sleep data gathering features. Recently, I was in a conversation where someone was discussing how pointless smart watches are so I wanted to try and explain what they're for and what they're not.