Some of it is pointless. By the time you've loaded the app, found the option to "open curtains", you could have done it yourself. Some of it is cool. But some just lazy and pointless. It would be useful for people with disabilities though.

Soooo... How many TV's does this guy have? What a cozy little life he must lead.

Sooo... the dude is rich and successful. Is this in and of itself a problem, now? >.>

For 80k, I was expecting to be blown away. This was rather meh.

Have these people paid zero attention to the speed of technological innovation over the last 50 years? How long do they expect this house to stand? iPads will certainly become obsolete within a few years at most.

Nothing wrong with being rich and successful, lepidoptery. The commenters are calling him out on being lazy and short-sighted. And they kinda have a point.

This stuff has been around a while. I worked as electrician on a house in 1999 in Orlando in which the homeowner could control his home via his phone. Sure, he'd turn on lights and stuff, but more exciting to me was having the hot tub warm and bubbly with music and mood lighting ready when you walk in the door. Controlling things remotely is much more interesting than turning on tv #4 on that wall 10 feet away from me.

For the money he spent, Control-4 is better.

The great thing about technology is that in a few years this his entire set up will be available for about 49.95!

TACKY

If I had a physical handicap allot of those things would be great.

"Have these people paid zero attention to the speed of technological innovation over the last 50 years? How long do they expect this house to stand? iPads will certainly become obsolete within a few years at most."

For something to be "obsolete" it would no longer be useful or in use. If the person kept the same setup then there is no reason it could no longer be used for many years.

As for iPad's being obsolete "within a few years at most," that is silly. I have a 1st generation and a new 4th generation iPad and I am now using the first generation model exclusively as a fixed in place control console to control and stream audio and video content in my home. It can also be used in many other ways indefinitely.

Well, I'm kind of affronted by the notion that a 34-year-old who works on "The X Factor" can and will spend $80,000 so he can turn his many TVs on and off with his iPad.

$80,000 is more than I make in a year as a teacher, after 28 years on the job (yes, this whippersnapper was six years old when I started working). And people on the talk radio grumble CONSTANTLY about the fact that I will get a pension (in nine years, after I have been teaching for 37 freaking years!). Apparently (so I hear), people like me are constantly trying to rip off the taxpayers, and stick it to the folks who actually work for a living. ::Sigh::

So, yeah - to me, this kind of excess feels very Let-Them-Eat-Cake.

This guy has a right to spend his ridiculous salary any way he wants. But it doesn't hurt him to be exposed to the points of view of the folks who aren't in his oddly-entitled peer group. The divide, people - it troubles me.

This is indeed a very lame use of technology. Since when is watching TV (or several TVs at a time) the measure of success? It's just a further erosion of the social construct by continuing to bombard every minute of our lives with propaganda that only aims to promote more propaganda.
If I had $80K to spend on myself (assuming I had already contributed a considerable amount to social, spiritual and charitable causes, and that the rest of the house were already top of the line), I would probably just spend it on a trip with a group of friends. I would rather collect memories than cable, internet and pay-per-view subscriptions. Besides, how lazy do you have to be to not be able to turn on a light?

I do see the potential for ease of use for people with mobility restrictions, but that still does not justify the 4 TVs. And in the closet!! WHY? How long do you spend getting dressed?

If I had that kind of money to spend on technology, I'd pay someone to invent a robot like Rosie from The Jetsons or maybe that funky pet whose emotional state dictated its color.

Gordon, with the new "reply" system it is a little hard to see, but I was specifically replying to EstherH's comment, which hardly seems as nuanced as you're giving her credit for. Also, at the time I posted I was the third comment (as I am now); I have no idea if there were other comments that were perhaps deleted for nastiness, but obviously I can't have been speaking to anyone posting after me either. >.>

$100 - foscam for video monitoring from any iOS device ($2 thrid party app allows access); Free - Alarm.com app integrated with my home alarm system for remote access; Free- Uverse app that controls my cable remotely; $75 - Slingbox which streams my cable to any iOS device (app costs $15 one time fee); $60 - Harmony remote flawlessly controls Xbox, Cable, Receiver, TV, Bluray; $200 - Nest to control my AC/Heat free app on iOS devices; $150 - Lockitron to remotely unlock deadbolt on front door. Never cared to control lighting, but I know of a $200 system that will be available soon, and pretty much most things can be controlled if you look hard enough. 80K for that 1990's UI sounds like a waste to me. Most of the "high end" home automation systems I have seen come with the wort UI's, which in my opinion, I would rather fragment my automation by choosing the best interface for that process.

So you leave @Mary B C's comment and delete mine. Really classy, AT. You allow people to make negative comments but people aren't allowed to respond to those comments? So much for a dialogue.

Could install several Control4 systems for that price.