While I haven't yet got a wodge of Blu Tak stuck to the camera lens on my computer and I haven't yet searched for a similar lens on my smart TV so I can put it out of action, I'm definitely one of those who ignores the regular emails from my gas and electricity supplier pleading with me to book an appointment to have a smart meter fitted at home. And it's not just the tone which is clearly meant to make me feel as if I've won the lottery as I read it, that makes me feel uneasy...

It appears that I'm not the only one who reacts in this way and I'm sure we're not all of a nervous disposition, and I doubt very much that we're all conspiracy theorists either.

Research conducted by www.showerstoyou.co.uk titled: 'The concerns preventing Brits from owning smart home technology', reveals that the threat and consequences of a 'hack/cyber-attack' at 39% is the biggest concern about smart home devices/appliances, by those who don't have any in their living environment. There's been a lot of press coverage lately about the threat of cyber-attack but the thought of someone hacking into my supply and somehow getting me to pay for their energy usage hadn't occurred to me until I read the report.

Having once shared a house with someone who seemed hell-bent on hacking into our neighbours' Internet with the goal of downloading lots of movies and music (they didn't stay long!) I can understand how this can happen though. However, I'm more concerned by the 'Big Brother' aspect than anything else. It's all a bit intrusive and to be honest, I'm pretty adept at keeping my bills to a minimum anyway. After all, who can afford to waste energy these days, with it being so darned expensive?

So as I'm not really sure what a smart meter could achieve for me, I will continue to ignore the emails and calls. Interestingly, the survey also revealed that the capability of some smart home devices/appliances to 'make smart decisions based on contents' (17%), is the least known feature by those who don't use them. Perhaps as these smart appliances can save us time, hassle and money and prevent unnecessary waste, we as an industry could be doing more to let consumers know about their benefits, don't you agree?

Now... where's my Blu Tak?

www.facebook.com/KBzine  

Yours,

Jan Hobbs