Data Hog? #AmazonEcho on a Metered Connection? Without Internet Altogether? Not so fast...

As a new Amazon Echo owner, I have been debating whether I should embrace "always on". Beyond the Big Brother security and privacy concerns of having constant eavesdropping by Amazon and worse still personal recordings plumbed by unscrupulous third-party data-miners, I wondered how much data does Alexa eat? And the answer seems to be that she is a glutton.

Cursory research returned numerous complaints of users suddenly blowing through data caps. Apparently, learning a user's habits, predicting his likes, ordering items and checking the latest sports scores takes a unbelievable amount of bandwidth. I'm talking upwards of 50GBs IN A DAY, if reports are accurate.

Ridiculous! (I would NOT advise using Alexa on a metered connection. If you must try it, make certain to turn the unit off completely when not actively using it. As an alternative, consider using the Alexa app only, which you must select to activate in the case of the Amazon Fire Tablet.)

So far, I've only come across one mention of someone using an Echo sans Internet (as a Bluetooth speaker), but I want to know if Alexa can be employed strictly across a local intranet, without needing to phone home (i.e., report back to Amazon). I don't care about generating orders or asking random questions, my interest is in using Alexa to control "smart" things and this could be made an entirely localized activity, so I'm currently experimenting and testing limits, still early in the setup phase.

My #HomeAutomation Intranet Hub #AmazonEcho + @IFTTT

Recently, I registered for an IFTTT account [ifttt.com/amazon_alexa] for my new Amazon Echo. I plan to use my Amazon Echo mainly as a SmartRemote to control household appliances, etc. This is the aspect of having an automated personal assistant that excites me.

Amazon Echo > Google Home

Who cares if Google Home supposedly has better search capabilities? I know how to conduct searches, I don't need to ask Alexa for random factoids. I enjoy researching things and don't like to be spoon fed data. But to each his own. For my current needs, Amazon Echo > Google Home. Amazon's two-year head start means Alexa is integrated into so many more products, Google needs to play catch up.

#HomeAutomation Intranet Brain FTW! #AmazonEcho #Prize

I spent time over the last several months looking at home automation options. I determined that I wanted to automate security, locks, lights, blinds, thermostat, media center and any SmartKitchen appliances --- at the very least. Based on the current market of smart assistants (AI engines), I also determined that Amazon's Alexa platform is compatible with and in many cases integrated into most of these consumer product categories. Thus, I thought it worthwhile to acquire an Amazon Echo. (I planned to use it as the hub around which to build my home automation intranet.)

In addition to being DIY crafty (a natural born engineer), I'm also $ thrifty (a natural born economist), and as a result, LOVE contests and smart shopping deals. My motto could be: Why spend money on something if you can get it for free or very, very cheap? I knew with the holiday season upon us chances to win various "hot ticket gifts" would abound. I spent a few minutes on Twitter searching for contests featuring either an Amazon Echo or Echo Dot. I probably entered 10 or so, most only requiring a tweet.

Obviously, random drawing contests are hit or miss. Depends on the number of entries received, the cycle of the moon, the crow of the cock, etc., etc., but as the saying goes "you can't win, if you don't enter". I'll throw my name into the proverbial hat, if entering is simple (a fill out a form, send a tweet sort of thing). I don't jump through any hoops for merely the chance to win.

However, I prefer contests of skill. Because I'm damn good at skill based contests. It's the nature of the beast. If the entry requires some talent (essays, equations, design sketches, etc.), I like my chances. I wasn't the star student in EVERY academic subject in secondary school, for nothing. I'm like "Bring it"! So I also entered a contest that asked me to tell a story built around a set theme for a chance to win an Amazon Echo. And what do you think happened?

My Prize

Roughly within a week of deciding I needed an Amazon Echo, I'd won one, told the contest organizers which color I wanted (blackety black black black) and accepted delivery of my prize. It came direct delivery from Amazon.com in a beautiful gift bag with a lovely card attached.

My niece, the one who calls me "the luckiest aunt on the planet" could only laugh when I told her about my new toy and ask me for the umpteenth time to pick some lotto numbers. I keep trying to get her to understand that my "luck" doesn't work like that. But yeah, I am laughing.

Having acquired a Brain, I can begin sewing together the Body Politic of my home automation network. Why do I feel like Doctor Frankenstein... wait a minute, did the label on that jar the brain came out of read "Abby Normal"? Oh, that's merely Amazon attempting to give Alexa a sense of humor. I got jokes, folks.

#DIY #IoT #SmartRemote: #BlackFriday Score @BestBuy $9.99 #Smartphone! Control #SmartCast #GoogleCast #AmazonEcho

It seems nearly everything can be controlled by an app nowadays. There's an app for that and there's an app for this. And while the idea of such convenience is great, controlling everything at the home or estate level could become a pain for a multiuser household. Think about it. So-called dumb TVs didn't care who was turning the channel --- a child could do it unassisted --- but a SmartTV may need to be paired with an app in order to create an optimal viewing experience.

If you're a bachelor, it's not a big deal to download an app to your personal smartphone that controls your new HDTV. But what do you do when your bros visit to hang out and binge watch? Pass around your phone (with all those private selfies)? Expect everyone download another (useless) app to his own phone merely to control the TV at your house? Neither are ideal solutions.

In honor of Throwback Thursday, here's a "tech growing pain" flashback: Remember when all the streaming services launched under an assumption that each person would have an individual digital library that was his alone. Yeah, it was ridiculous to assume that people in the same household would login/logout of the same app on a family TV to watch the very same content or that each person in a household would buy a copy of the one show everybody watches. Obviously a family or household would share content across devices. Amazingly, this was the default mode in a "dumb" home. It took a while, and a lot of complaints from people like me, but most services now have family plans which allow for some form of "household" content sharing, which should have been the standard to begin with...

In addition to often lax security (Mirai IoT botnet DDOS attack, anyone?) and sketchy consumer privacy policies (All your base are belong to us?), the idea of a single user app to item 1-to-1 pairing is one more shortsighted oversight in the push to make everything Internet-connected. (Oversights of this nature are what I call "tech growing pains", where the advent of tech in a specific arena has to catch up to the actuality of usage. This "phenomenon" frequently occurs in the area of consumer products. Developers often seem to remark, "we never imagined people would use our product for thus and so." Product development tends to be rather myopic this way.)

The issue at hand: If you need an app to control X (where X is something that anyone in the house might need or want to use) then where should the app reside so that anyone authorized may access it?

Luckily, however, there is a simple solution: An IoT connected SmartHome needs at least one (multiuser) SmartRemote. You can buy one. It can be a bit pricey. Alternatively, some of the new high-end products that rely on app control come with a SmartRemote included. (High-end series of Vizio SmartCast TVs, for instance, include a free Vizio SmartCast Tablet Remote.) Or you can go the crafty tech geek way....

I decided it would make more sense to simply acquire a cheap smartphone/s and turn it into a DIY SmartRemote rather than clutter up my business or personal smartphone with home automation apps and create a security nightmare by allowing children, neighbors or guests to have unfettered access to my private mobile ostensibly to turn the television or peek into the refrigerator.

A handheld DIY SmartRemote can be loaded with any apps necessary, left unlocked and kept in a common area so that anyone in the house can make use of it. It doesn't need an active phone service, only WiFi and perhaps Bluetooth. Almost any smartphone will suffice --- you might have an old one (or several) sitting around leftover after you last upgraded, repurpose it. The caveat being to make certain that whatever smartphone you employ for this task has an OS version can support the apps you need to load and that it has enough storage space to hold said apps. (You may need to update the OS on an older model phone, if you're able, in order to make it compatible with newly released apps and/or add an external MicroSD card to expand storage capacity.)

The salient point here is that a smartphone is really just a handheld computer. "Telephony? What is it good for? Absolutely nothing." (I kid. I kid.) However, due to its ubiquitous nature the price of smartphones has dropped dramatically (on the low end of the Android market at least) compared to what "real" handheld computers cost. Of course, said ubiquitousness of smartphones has led to their becoming the latest "disposable" electronics item. To combat this horror, collect old unused smartphones from friends and family, if you're able, and turn these into SmartRemotes. Help alleviate the tech garbage glut by repurposing items whenever possible! And recycle, when items become obsolete.

Due to the fact that I'm a hard core recycler/reuser and work diligently to "green" my tech habits, my household actually didn't have any old smartphones not in already in use for some means (woe is me, I know). Not to worry, due to market saturation, you can find new Android smartphones for dirt cheap, if you keep an eye out. Black Friday sales tend to feature prominently in this quest. To this end, I scoured the Black Friday circulars and online notices for this year's sales and found a winner!

Alcatel IDEAL Android Smartphone

Best Buy advertised an Alcatel IDEAL Android Smartphone (AT&T GoPhone Prepaid Service) 8GB WiFi Bluetooth Lollipop for only $9.99 plus tax, available online or in-store. So I nabbed one. Considering that I recently redeemed for a Vizio SmartCast HDTV (reward) and won an Amazon Echo in a contest, I realized I'm at the point where a dedicated SmartRemote was in order. (I was totally willing to invest $10 on a DIY SmartRemote.) I'm only getting started with home automation, planning its integration into my home as I design, build and renovate, so this is merely a first foray, so to speak. As my SmartHome setup expands and alters, so will its needs.

For now, however, this Alcatel smartphone will work for the four or five "smart" things I have going. I happen to have an 8GB MicroSD card (freebie find) that I'll pop in it to expand the storage space a bit, since the OS alone takes up roughly half its built-in capacity. I plan to install the Vizio SmartCast app, the Amazon Alexa app and the various Google Cast compatible streaming service apps that I use regularly for starters. (All these apps are free to download, but may require a subscription to use, of course.) Once configured, it'll probably sit on an end table near the telly in my home theater (room). My little niece can use it to cast cartoons onto the big screen. And if she drops it on the floor or gets sticky fingered residue on it, it's all good.

I don't need to sacrifice my personal smartphone on the altar of IoT home automation. And neither should you.

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NOTES: Depending on the extent of automation in your household, you may only need one "omni" SmartRemote responsible for controlling the three tasks the average person automates (lights, music/TV, security). If, however, you happen to be a massive tech geek like I am wherein practically every thing in the house that can be automated will be automated, then merely having one remote quickly becomes very inefficient. (Engineers loathe inefficiency.)

If you only have "one remote to control them all" but own several hundred things that can be remote controlled, you'd be stuck scrolling through hundreds of apps to find the specific one needed to control your SmartCrockPot or your Home Theater --- and this cuts down the convenience factor to roughly nil.

Geeks like me will have "thematic" SmartRemotes stationed throughout the home. There will be a Kitchen SmartRemote that only has SmartKitchen Appliance apps loaded onto it, a MediaCenter SmartRemote with only entertainment and media device apps installed, etc., etc.. Each remote will "live" in the room/s that it controls. Such a thematic SmartRemote might even be built into the wall, others might be handheld and portable depending upon need.

This is the future, I envision. My Castle Modern. I've got dreams, dreams...