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Comment by ams6110 | Hacker News Reader

Given the capability of the devices on both side ...

Your're not wrong, but the other point is they are swatting a fly with a sledgehammer. What wrong with a simple light switch for gods sake. Why would a hotel spend hundreds of dollars to do what a $2 device can do more reliably and securely?

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I think you are talking thousands not hundreds. They had to pay people to set it up, pay for tablets for every room, and pay for the control devices too.

Maybe the architects/builder forget to lay the cable for the switches and wireless lights can then be a cheaper option.

There might be significant cost savings in the ability to power off a room remotely instead of having to send someone over when a guest checks out. I would be more worried about the tv, the faucets and air conditioning, though.

Also, some hotels manage to have the tv showing a welcome message when you enter.

Sure. I work in a large university building and can power up/down various systems from my desk for the same reason. But it doesn't require a full tablet computer in each room. These are simple network addressable devices on their own VLAN that allow me to (for example) create an interface that sends a string of commands like a remote control, provided I give proper auth. If you're a regular person in any of the rooms in the building, you can't easily gain access to the VLAN, much less connect to any of the networked controllers in the rooms.

As a result, I can shut things down from my office or set up schedules to do the same. I can monitor usage and save resources (lamp hours on projectors and lighting, etc)

The idea of using a full-on tablet computer is just silly and sounds more like something I'd do while tinkering at home and was looking for a use for some old phone or tablet sitting in a drawer. It's not something I'd put in any enterprise or commercial space.

I've been in many hotels that required the key card to enable power to the room. Some hotels used a simple switch activated by presence of an object in the slot. Many could detect if the NFC tag key was present, but not read the value. Only a few I have seen actually verified that the key was the right key.

I've seen those too. They're quite inconvenient because they actively prevent you from charging your phone or laptop while out of the room. They should leave some marked outlets enabled but usually they only do so for the mini-fridge. And of course "fancy" places build that into a cabinet.

I usually have someone's business card on me, so I'll stick that in the card slot so that I can head to dinner while stuff recharges or the room cools down (for places where the A/C is tied to the same switch). I have yet to see one that's anything more than a simple mechanical switch.

Ask for two card keys and leave one in the room.

At least at the one I stayed at once, you didn't need your room card in the slot, just a card. YMMV.

Though I wouldn't be surprised that the cleaning staff would "clean" it up if you weren't there. Might want to put out the Do-Not-Disturb sign too.

The one I ran into that did that had an outlet that would work when out of the room... in the bathroom, for a rechargeable shaver, presumably. So my laptop got plugged in there...

Prestige.

That's nice, if you're into that. Personally, I'd pay a bit extra not to have this.

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