Vera 1 ... nostalgia

Don’t know why my thread about my Vera 1 got deleted. Reposting the pic here so we can all behold the original from 2008! :eggplant:

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People are sensitive
C

Not only was the thread deleted, but so was one of our oldest and most revered members, rafale77.

Bad form guys. Boo. Downvote. I protest.

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It looks they suspended rafale77 until April 17 3020 because of spam?? Means he is banned for ever or a typo when they suspended him. I know he has been critical, but this I do not expect from an open transparent company. I’m joining the Boo! This does not look fair to me and we cannot loose the plugins he is maintaining.

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I am pissed that someone in the company decided to mark the post as private…
I instructed them to put it back!!

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I just came across my original Vera 1 (pic attached). Started with Micasaverde in 2008 as a beta tester. Long time tech dabbler and early adopter, I thought it was one of the cooler ideas/product visions I’d seen in a while. Most of the stuff didn’t work that well, and the parts that did often mysteriously stopped. The community of beta testers and users sustained the platform in those early days - and it wasn’t always that much fun to come home and find every light on or cameras unviewable or a door lock unreachable.

Still, it was amazing! It was the future! Then 2008 became 2010, then 2015 and the platform only barely incrementally improved. I had bought 3, 4 or 5 (6?) new Veras by then and I had basically stopped actively managing the Veras. I had them installed in 2 homes - primary and vacation, and limited them to bare minimum function to keep them kinda stable. Still, one or the other would regularly become unreachable until I could power cycle them. I resorted to analog lamp timers that power-cycled every 24 hours so I wouldn’t be disconnected from one of them for too long. Meanwhile, all Sonos, cameras, alarm and Alexa devices worked 24/7.

Last week I bought a SmartThings hub, along with a Samsung TV. Seriously? I had every device in my house excluded and connected within 2 hours, controlling them via the TV’s built-in hub using Alexa‘s voice capabilities. Recreating all my scenes took another 30 mins. Set up a custom dash with Sharptoolsio took another 15 minutes. No reboots, hangs or hair. Simple, elegant UI, just works. What a revelation. I’m sure there are limitations and trade-offs. I bet they are worth it.

I’ll be testing Smarthings for a while before changing out my primary Vera, but I was struck (sadly) by how far ahead Vera was in 2008 and… how far behind she had become by 2020. I am thankful to Micasaverde for bringing this product to market in 2008, and while I hope we haven’t seen the last of her, the die seems cast with better-funded, widely-integrated, far-more-agile competitors.

Edit: removed link, against forum policy

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As an early adopter myself, I agree with your every sentiment. In fact, I’m surprised this entire Forum isn’t just that same post over and over again. (Perhaps it is and those posts are being taken down? lol)

I still have my semi-deceased Vera 1 chugging away as a router in my workshop, the unit having rebuffed all attempts at revival and replacing its dongle, etc. We’ve bonded over the years so it’s hard to let her go.

Pretty much all along the way, my thoughts about Vera were: “Sure, I can make this thing suit my needs, but I wouldn’t recommend it to my worst enemy!” I still feel that way. It would be like telling someone the best home computer to buy is an Apple //c. Sure, ONCE IT WAS! But only for a hot second in time.

The world has moved on, as you recently discovered, and you will certainly not be the last to have that revelation. For me, your experience has been refreshing to hear.

P.S. SharpTools looks mighty impressive! I hope there comes a day that it can be integrated with all of the ezlo products that are now replacing Vera.

What’s it like when you have complicated scenes? Are these easy to setup and monitor?
Any idea how well it works with newer products? We have a flood sensor which isn’t implemented fully in Vera.

Checking out a listing on Amazon for a v3 hub, it states the range is up to 40m… I hope that’s not for z-wave devices! Is that correct?

how much do you have to pay monthly for this dashboard if any?..found the pricing…

…I assume this is the same thing you are talking about?

Hi Melih,
Yes that’s the one. It’s absolutely marvelous. Slick, fast and intuitive. You are probably going to point to the cost as a negative, and I do appreciate the comparison. However, $30 a year is effectively free in this category. A Zwave switch is $75. Hue lights are $100. Nest Thermostat $200. Sonos $300. Sorry, that’s the ecosystem.

As you had heard repeatedly when Ezlo came in, cost is not the 1st, 2nd or even 3rd consideration (within reason) when evaluating devices to control your home, lighting, heating, etc. Ease of use, reliability and extensibility are the coins of the realm here. Aesthetics/UI design is a huge plus. SmartThings is just way ahead on all those counts.

The days of me asking, “How company Company X doesn’t integrate with Vera?” are officially over… it’s been… um… 12 years…

Here’s my original post on “cost” to you in 2018: MIOS Acquisition - #180 by anthonyris - General Discussions - Ezlo Community
.//A.

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I get it @anthonyris. Only wish would have been for you to try the Ezlo platform first, but it is what it is. Of course wishing you all the best and I genuinely am happy that (fellow home automation citizen) you are happy with your choices. And we are always here for you if we can be of help in the future.

the below is not for you @anthonyris , but for others reading this post, so that they have all the information available

Ezlo Platform has more Zwave Integrated products than Smartthings.
Ezlo Platform has deeper Integration with Zwave products than Smartthings
Ezlo Platform has VOI which enables it to work with over 28000 devices that are compatible with Alexa and Google. Using Ezlo, you can control “any” device controlled by Alexa or Google (by writing scenes/rules etc)
Ezlo Platform allowed Siri Control/Hey Google Control: Now you can talk to your smartphones to control things.
Ezlo Platform is launching in June 2020 a brand new “customizable dashboard”
Ezlo Platform is an open platform with its APIs fully open.
…we have much more planned for this year that we can’t talk about yet…a brand new concept in home automation coming MESHENE!!!(Patented by Ezlo btw, can’t talk about the details…but love the name :slight_smile: Only the advanced users will appreciate this though!)

Anyone who wants test the new Ezlo Platform please register in the beta group to receive your hardware for free (limited numbers only and first come and first serve).

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Thanks for the reply. If/when this stuff comes out of beta, may be interesting. Without integration/support/adoption by the wider consumer electronics ecosystem, it’s an uphill slog with limited addressable market.

Peace.

But it already has more integration than Smartthings as I mentioned. Way way more integrations! And its already available to the masses and here is what an Editor wrote about it just a few days ago.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/technology/article242022191.html

Seriously? I understand the advocacy, but the endless misleading sales pitch is a bit much. What good is “more integrations” if the “existing integrations” are flaky/beta and your user community is abandoning you? I also don’t get my tech advice from the Miami Herald (or any of the other regional newspapers you listed).

You haven’t even been able to stop the firmware update nag screens from happening on Vera… or, in what is the Actual Death of Irony, stop advertising Vera Secure. Cmon, now.

Do your thing, get it right, strike some deals with the big companies, it’s all good. Self-promotion in the face of constructive criticism isn’t a good look.

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@anthonyris Have you used the Ezlo platform? (Its a brand new Firmware and Hardware products called EZLO…NOT Vera…)

I am talking about a new platform called Ezlo Platform

You are complaining about old firmware called Vera Firmware…
Lets make sure we are talking about the same thing first. I don’t believe you have tried the Ezlo Platform for you to be able to say those negative things you are saying about the platform you haven’t used! I would appreciate it if you clarified for other readers, that you are talking about the old Vera Firmware and NOT the new Ezlo Platform.

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I posted those editorials because you are under miscomprehensions that caused you to make the above statement “if”…
So i posted an editorial showing you that its already out and people are using and people are happy!
No IF!!! (which also proves the point that you are saying those negative things without even using the new platform and your beef is with the old vera firmware and NOT with new EZLO platform…)

And Because I answered your statement/question with a proof point, you call this promotion???

Again, you are conflating Old Vera Firmware with new EZLO Platform…
they are two different things completely!!!
All the integrations (I am going to repeat, it has more integrations than Smartthings!!!) i am talking about is for the Ezlo platform. The platform you haven’t used!

All the statements i have made are clearly identified as “Ezlo” referring to the new Ezlo Platform.

“Complaining”? :thinking:

I see. I’m a long-time customer and a 3 decade tech executive. Breathe, buddy.

Best of luck, Melih. I do look forward to your Coming of the Unicorns, once everything is out of Beta.

lol…i am breathing now thanks…
next time don’t call something you haven’t used bad pls …from one tech executive to another :wink: Its the worst thing a tech exec can do!

Someone’s critical post just got deleted…? @Rafale77 was that yours?