15
Oct
2014
By Calvin at 08:50 GMT, 9 years ago
Ben reads ‘WIRED’ regularly and often sends me links to stories that might interest me. This morning he sent me this about the August Smart locks, made in the US of A.
I wrote about this lock early last year when the thing was launched here and to be honest I’ve not heard much about it since.
Here’s a link to the article Ben found and then maybe you’ll understand that just because something is described as ‘smart’ - it ain’t necessarily so.
A secure entrance is a combination of a strong door and frame using a strong and compatible lock and in the UK we promote doorsets to PAS 24:2012, which gives you the lot. The August lock is simply an add-on to one of those simple mortice locks you find on North American doors (and on a few of ours) and is, in effect, an access control device used through your phone. Yes, it allows you to control access remotely and let others access your place when you’re away and yes it does away with the key (but you still need your phone, which is the key) and yes you can still use a key if you lose your phone, but I’m more interested in a decent physical lock than I am a smarty pants phone key.
The sub-headline for the article says ‘The August Smart Lock works like magic – when it works’ and that just about says it all for me. I can just imagine standing in the pouring rain outside the front door, punching hell out of the phone when the thing doesn’t work. As the writer of the article, Joe Brown, says; to want the lock there has to be confidence that it will work – every time!
I’ll stick to my PAS 24 doorset and its multi-point lock operated by an anti-snap and anti-bump cylinder and key. And if I want someone to come in and feed the cat while I’m away I’ll let them have a spare key – simples!
Sometimes gizmos are just invented for the sake of being gizmos
WIRED article http://www.wired.com/2014/10/august-smart-lock-review/?mbid=social_twitter#slide-id-1596417
