We can think of smart-meters as idiotic Twitter users who send out status updates whenever they get on a bus, arrive at school etc,
i.e. all the time and to anyone who will listen
Tweet : Sat, 14th March 2014 12:30 @gas_meter consumed 20.4 kWh
Tweet : Sat, 14th March 2014 13:00 @gas_meter consumed 18.4 kWh
Tweet : Sat, 14th March 2014 13:30 @gas_meter consumed 44.6 kWh
Tweet : Sat, 14th March 2014 14:00 @gas_meter consumed 20.9 kWh
So data that updates in real time - "How cool is that" ?
Have you ever tried watching a clock ? (<--------------Hint: sarcasm)
- to be fair it might be marginally more interesting than watching paint dry (for a few minutes), but it is is hardly more informative.
Lets remember that hoping a Smart Meter will save you energy by observing its very existence is like thinking you will lose weight if you stand on a pair of bathroom scales for long enough !
So maybe Smart Meters should even call us to gain our attention at certain times,
- the maelstrom cacophony would overwhelm us in delivering;
WHAT MOST SMART-METER USERS EXPERIENCE !
So,
while the answer remains in our power to define - and while we can simplystrikeout all but the most foolish of objections:
Perhaps what we should first be asking is:
So if we were to:
i.e. all the time and to anyone who will listen
Tweet : Sat, 14th March 2014 12:30 @gas_meter consumed 20.4 kWh
Tweet : Sat, 14th March 2014 13:00 @gas_meter consumed 18.4 kWh
Tweet : Sat, 14th March 2014 13:30 @gas_meter consumed 44.6 kWh
Tweet : Sat, 14th March 2014 14:00 @gas_meter consumed 20.9 kWh
and so on for ever and ever - ad nauseam,- Honestly it's not that smart and it looks more like data than information
So data that updates in real time - "How cool is that" ?
Have you ever tried watching a clock ? (<--------------Hint: sarcasm)
- to be fair it might be marginally more interesting than watching paint dry (for a few minutes), but it is is hardly more informative.
Lets remember that hoping a Smart Meter will save you energy by observing its very existence is like thinking you will lose weight if you stand on a pair of bathroom scales for long enough !
| "but won't make you lose weight !" |
| More of what you expect is less of what informs |
WHAT MOST SMART-METER USERS EXPERIENCE !
"An irritating, continual source of noise"Now imagine if they had lots of smart meters to listen to !
Spam is to a love letter as data is to information #smartmeter http://t.co/ywcNJja5AH pic.twitter.com/qo7ARYGsqA
— James Ferguson (@kWIQly) March 10, 2014
So,
while the answer remains in our power to define - and while we can simply
Very Silly - Objections ! |
Perhaps what we should first be asking is:
"If we let a smart meter talk - how much should it say ? - when to speak, and when to be silent, what to say, why, how often and to whom ?"The answers should obviously depend on who is listening, (and that they have a right to) on how much time they have and most importantly why they might care and whether they can do anything useful in response anyway !
"Otherwise it will be ignored."
Simply put, if a smart-meter is set up to be ignored it may as well sit in the "Dunce's Corner" right next to the Climate Change Denial Theorist...
| The Climate Change Denying Dunce |
- list smart meter capabilities against a list of legitimate audiences,
- gag them ruthlessly when they are not interesting or not welcome,
- apply expertise where needed,
- inform those who have a need to know and who have an ability to act,
- in a language they understand
- when they want to hear it !
we would start to find sense from the "sea of data" that is supposedly there to help but that threatens to overwhelm us.
and wouldn't that be nice !Update : Follow up post - A smart meter smart enough to listen
Related articles - Warning, some are rather silly !
- Smart-meter enabled innovation non-domestic - Carbon Trust
- Energy firms tell customers they are to get a smart meter for free - but they are supposed to do so anyway under EU rules
- The UK Smart Meter Rollout Delay: Let's Get It Right
- Smart Meter Security Testing
- James Tracy on foundation-funded "left," Chomsky, climate "science," and smart-meters _ on Kevin Barrett's Truth Jihad Radio
- Del. Glass: "I Believe Smart Meters Only Benefit the Utility Companies and Not the Citizens of Maryland"
