The comments in regards to this article on CES and Smart Home technology from Houzz are interesting. Obviously smart home technology is still at a stage where you are not going to get the early majority (of which I consider myself one) to adopt much, it's has too many risks and not enough benefits. I don't think I would ever pay $1000 dollars so I could turn off my lights.

The main concerns that need to be addressed seem to be compatibility, reliability and security. If you have to buy all the systems separately and have different apps for everything then the costs vs. convenience will not add up. I don't personally think there are a lot of super smart hacker burglars out there looking to go into home invasion. Wouldn't banks or businesses make so much more sense? Your average thief is more likely to be caught by your smart security system than break into your home with it. However, reliability is a legitimate concern. I couldn't get into my old home when the power went out because the garage door wouldn't open and I didn't carry a key to the doors. Also there is the issue of updating and obsolescence.

A couple of people commented that the designers didn't seem to consider what people would actually find useful. There is a desire to just make everything connected to an app that will notify the user about something. Of course in my personal experience too many notifications just lead to hitting the ignore button on everything and/or turning them all off. Again one integrated system would be useful here.

It remains to be seen whether these technological conveniences will ever cross that chasm between early adopters and the majority as some of them have been out there for quite awhile now. My college boyfriend had a remote that turned all his lights on and off. Maybe if there was a drone that would walk the dog so I didn't have to go out in the cold...