13 Questions: The device Z-Wave Alliance’s Mitchell Klein would love to see by 2040
For the past four years, Mitchell Klein has been the acting evangelist (also known as the executive director) for the Z-Wave Alliance. You're forgiven if you're unfamiliar with the group. But the brands associated with it we'd bet you have in your home right now. From Kwikset to Ring, ADT to Honeywell, these companies are eager to make sure their locks, thermostats and security systems all connect over Z-Wave's wireless mesh network. You may not notice how these products chats with each other, but you're certainly glad that they do.
As forward thinking as Klein and the Z-Wave Alliance is, Klein himself has a fondness for some blasts from the pasts, (we love the Beatles too). And even in this smart new world, he definitely has a solid preference for a few analog gadgets over their connected counterparts, (We're talking to you smartwatches), and has no plans to volunteer for this new space age. That's probably good, as there's enough new technology on Earth to keep Klein and his cohorts busy for quite awhile.
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Z-Wave Alliance's Mitchell Klein and his 13 Questions:
1. Snap your fingers, and any device — past or present — could appear. It would be…… My Thorens turntable
2. My perfect smart home would be able to …. Make dinner. And a cocktail too.
3. I wish they'd bring back…. The Beatles
4. What I'd never give up…… My mobile phone.
5. My favorite app is…. Do Not Disturb! Then I also love "Dark Sky" for weather – very useful, fast loading and informative.
6. All smart devices should be able to… Seamlessly interoperate with each other, and have quick and easy privacy "buttons."
7. Best invention of the past 20 years… GPS. Now I always know where I am when I wake up! Oh, and I can find my way around when I travel, which is way too much (I think Vegemite is older, right?)
8. Tech I'm most excited to see in 2040? Self-making beds. But seriously, the mass adoption of AR has incredible possibilities!
9. Smartwatch or analog? Analog – smartwatches are ugly and a distraction. Have you ever had an uninterrupted conversation with someone who has a smart watch? Always glancing down…
10. Would you go into outer space even if you could never return? I wouldn't go to outer space – period. It's enough that I have to go to New Jersey occasionally…
11. My favorite way to get to work is walk upstairs but if I could use a transporter to my travel destinations I would. (I either work from home, or wait in the TSA line at the airport…)
12. The tech device I wish I could give up is…… all the charging cables and adaptors.
13. The 70s or the 90s? 70's – cheaper gas, better music, low tech thus more uninterrupted "me time."
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