Why Some Smart Home Gadgets Are Dumb

Mike Murphy begins with a compendium, of sorts, of the public record on the poor performance of so-called "smart home" gadgets, intended to tap homes into the internet of things and turn them into futuristic models of efficiency. Among the examples of the failures of this ambition: a glitch in the Nest learning Thermostat that left many homeowners out in the cold and the demise of Revolv, a home automation hub, which left customers holding the bag.

Murphy notes some of the ridiculous Internet of things applications available at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this January, and produces the following summation: "Perhaps we shouldn’t be entrusting basic functions of our houses and lives to technology that just isn’t yet fully realized, made by companies that haven’t proven their viability."