A large part of what /makes/ elevators, automobiles, and telephones so generally usable is that the controls are very highly standardised.

Mostly.

Telephones have deviated from this with expansion of mobile and even more complex landline devices. And the specific case of business-oriented office telephones has been for at least 30 years, a strong counterexample, worth considering.

It takes me a year or more to figure out a new office phone system. If ever. A constant for 30 years.

13/

@dredmorbius Don't even get me started about utility device UX. I was always mystified that they didn't start shipping VCRs with mice (so they could use a standard menuing system), once mice became a thing that most people understood. I thought of that in 1987.

It seems clear that "the market" has not been selecting for usability for some decades now.

@dredmorbius I may in fact have basically shot my wad with the VCR-mouse thing, though it could certainly be extended to Blu-Ray and, fer cryin' out loud, modern digital TVs.

We somehow ended up with a Roku in the house, and it turns out you can set it up so your smartphone is a remote control -- and what does the interface look like?

Yes, that's right: a traditional pushbutton remote. With very few functions.

(There's *probably* more to be said...)

@dredmorbius Just on a whim, let's look at phone systems again.

You've ranted about office systems; let me rant about home phones. You can buy a smartphone -- with color touchscreen and substantial CPU, by ~2005 standards -- for $30 at Kroger, but a $100+ cordless phone system (more or less unchanged for the past decade or more) still uses pushbuttons for navigation and has a tiny monochrome LCD display? I sense we are being toyed with.

@woozle So, let's see ...

* TVs, VCRs, DVDs
* Microwaves, stoves, ovens, refrigerators
* Washing machines and dryers
* Apartment intercom systems
* Residential management: HVAC, alarm, security, video
* Alarm clocks
* Stereos / sound systems
* Automobiles & automobile subsystems
* Retail self-checkout systems
* Public information / transaction kiosks, generally

@dredmorbius 1/

I'm willing to defend existing UIs/hardware for:
* microwaves, stoves/ovens

I am probably not sufficiently familiar with the following UIs to comment intelligently:
* refrigerators (our fridge has a purely mechanical UI)
* public info/trxaction kiosks (the ones around here tend to be static)

(more...)

@dredmorbius 2/

I can probably comment with some degree of technological informitude, albeit not thoroughly, on:
* residential mgmt: HVAC, security, video
* intercom systems
* alarm clocks
* automobile consoles
* retail self-checkout

Do they still make:
* stereos/sound systems (that aren't basically media centers)

I think that covers everything you listed...

(Will attempt actual commentary next.)

@dredmorbius 3/

* residential management systems: HVAC, alarm, security, video

My experience is limited, but....

A. Thermostats

Ours looks like this: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Honeywell-7-Day-Programmable-Thermostat-Works-with-Iris/999914795 and costs $100.

For $100, I should be able to get something more like this: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Honeywell-7-Day-Touch-Screen-Programmable-Thermostat-Works-with-Iris/999914799 -- but that's $200

(more...)

@dredmorbius 4/

...but really, my main complaint about home thermostats -- AND off-the-shelf security cameras, while we're at it -- is how closed they are (bearing in mind that this is largely inferred from what I read, having never owned one). I can't write my own software to talk to them. (...as far as I know.)

(Hypertwin Manor is now accepting grants for the further study of these matters.)

(more...)

@dredmorbius 5/

B. Security systems

I know very little about modern security systems in general, though I do know one thing: my client is innocent.

Wait... wrong thing...

(I meant to say) I do know that there are some open protocols out there, and equipment which uses them, but they're not generally available in IRL stores. ...and my information may be dated.

Of security UIs, though, I know pretty much nothing. Our security system is called "people are always here".

<TBC...>

@dredmorbius 6/

B1. Security cameras

I do have some recent experience with off-the-shelf security cameras. Two, to be exact.

One of them I couldn't get to work - http://htyp.org/User:Woozle/Amcrest_webcam - and returned to the store.

The other one... plz excuse, I'm being pawed by a cat. BRB. <TBC...>

@dredmorbius 7/

Other camera: no review because all I did was get it working; someone else bought & installed. Don't even know the model number.

To keep it short-ish: web UI kind of awful and sluggish, Android UI basically the same, though both had all the main fx()... but you could only record to the onboard chip; no way to download video. WTF.

My conclusion: it's basically a sales device for their cloud service. Should have been free.

(cont...)

@dredmorbius 8/

Security cameras, bonus comment:

I found a free app that lets you turn a smartphone into a security camera, and can be accessed via open video-streaming protocol.

Using my old phone w/ bad screen, We now have a monitor camera for our main entrance, which I view through VLC. I occasionally have to restart the camera-side software.

A pretty good system could probably be built on this, using entirely open software (except for Android stuff).

(more...)