I can’t imagine living in a smart home. Why do you?

The idea of the complete smart home has never practically appealed to me. The sheer amount of planning, purchasing, and polishing that building a flawless smart home system demands gives me pause. I could overcome this hesitation by going with products from a single company. Most of my smart devices are from Google, so that would be a viable route. However, like many of our readers, I can’t trust a firm with such a spotty software and hardware record.

Ultimately, I look at the smart home ideal and think: “I could spend thousands of dollars and hours building my perfect system, but it could be knocked down with a single software update. Why should I bother?” I’m always talking myself out of building a smart home.

I’m not entirely against buying devices that add value to my home, though. My apartment has a few smart home products, including two smart lights, both used to accent my desk and are treated like traditional lights, a Nest Mini, which is the cornerstone of my cooking routine, and a Chromecast for Google TV, which is pretty self-explanatory.

However, that’s largely where my smart home begins and ends. I’ve never felt the need to build out a full network of smart products, a fridge that buys milk on my behalf, a washing machine that tells my TV when it’s done, or a set of appliances constantly connected to the internet and controllable with my voice.

Despite my feelings, many of you have meticulously built smart homes pieced together over the years, so I want to know your thoughts. Please explain why smart homes are worth investing in, how you choose the products and platforms to fit within your home, and how your smart home has changed your life. Or, if you feel the way I do, explain your smart home holdups.

Here are some more questions:

• Do you consider your home “smart”? What defines a “smart home”?
• How long did it take you to build your smart home? How many smart devices do you have within it?
• Do you think the benefits of your smart home outweigh the negatives?
• What is the one smart home feature you couldn’t live without?
• Are you worried that the smart home products you’ve invested in will be obsolete in a few years?
• Do you trust Google to be the backbone of your smart home for years to come?

👇 And if you have a specific comment related to your poll choice, or want to answer any of the questions posed above, be sure to have your say in the comments below.