Tuesday

The Painted Pony Resort and the Internet of Things

Living in a remote area has its drawbacks, for example the San Simon Valley south of I-10 only received cellular phone service last year and only Verizon service is available locally.  Previously, a repeater mounted on the roof of the main house at the Painted Pony Resort allowed Verizon Cellular service in one building.  But progress marches on and eventually service was established around the valley, welcome to the 21st century.  Another step in that direction occurred recently and that was the arrival of the internet of things on the estate.

Simply put, "[t]he Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of physical objects or "things" embedded with electronics, software, sensors and connectivity to enable it to achieve greater value and service by exchanging data with the manufacturer, operator and/or other connected devices. Each thing is uniquely identifiable through its embedded computing system but is able to interoperate within the existing Internet infrastructure", Wikipedia.  The idea of connecting together all the electronics in a home is not a new idea, but only recently has it been possible to make this idea a reality for everyone.  The idea of a WiFi connection between physical objects like dishwashers, washing machines and the like makes sense but it still has a Skynet feel to it and leaves one with a vague uneasiness.

The arrival of the IoT was precipitated by the laundry.  With 13 bedrooms and 21 beds there are 30 to 35 loads of laundry done each after a set of guests leave.  The household sized machines in the main house and guest house just were not big enough to accommodate the amount of laundry that is done in a reasonable time period.  So the owner invested in new much larger machines for the main house which will reduce the number of loads and easily accommodate comforters making life easier.

One interesting aspect to the IoT on the estate is the downloadable application for a smart phone that allows one to remotely monitor and control their washer and dryer and instead of walking over to the main house the status of the wash can be checked from a phone.  The only problem, I don't own a cell phone much less a smart phone, so I will continue to walk over.

New washer and dryer, the IoT at the Painted Pony Resort.

10 comments:

  1. Well good luck with that, the IoT!
    VTC, our local phone company is another story. Don't get me started! They say their future is in selling Television service. What about T for Telephone? What about our communication? Grrrrr

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  2. Well, if the washer and dryer want to talk with one another and with some Samsung computer somewhere it's fine with me. I'm just glad with the larger capacity and I'm not going to monitor the machines with a smart phone.

    If VTC is contemplating TV service that means fiber optic along Highway 80 which would certainly increase internet speeds in the valley.

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  3. I think we already have fiber optic along the highway. There is a large box near where Sky Ranch Road intersects Rte 80 and the VTC crew accesses that when someone moves here or upgrades.

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    1. Well, that shows how up to date I am. Guess I need to find out more.

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  4. and as for your washer and dryer talking to a computer somewhere, I saw DiAnn's iPad or isomething figure out where we were and add that in.
    they ARE smart things, they are ALIVE! [and scary!]

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  5. I agree completely, there are lots of software and applications that are intrusive which download with some webpages. I believe that computers are tools and I'm in charge of tools not vice versa.

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  6. I see your "living in the boondocks" category. A friend calls Douglas , elsewhere "the outer world" our former post master called it something else, cannot thing of his term
    our mail sometimes took a week to get here or there

    by the way the State Police in Lordsburg told us "if you're living in Rodeo or Hachita, we want to know what you're hiding from"

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  7. I have talked about living in the bubble out here and I think it is a better term to describe the area, and explains the slow mail (crossing the boundary of the bubble takes time). The comment about hiding out has a long history. When I first saw the 1847 Mormon Battalion map of the area with a "Coyote Road" running up the valley I was curious. Upon investigation I found it referred to a bandit road, so perhaps the idea of hiding out is not so far fetched.

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  8. those historical signs in NM reflect the history with Ike Clanton etc
    place names in the Chiricahuas: Rustler Park, Bootlegger Saddle

    also Willis says once you pass the 21 milemarker up by Granite Gap, you stop aging; maybe that's where you enter the bubble!

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  9. I believe you are correct. My interpretation is that the bubble is moving at close to the speed of light and time slows relative to the rest of the planet, ensuring a very ling life for those who live and work here. Visitors also reap the benefit of the bubble since time slows and vacations here last longer. It is also a useful way to place blame for why everything takes so long to get done, "It's not my fault, it's the physics."

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