...... I'm getting older so I'm looking for something easy now.....
.....I agree I'm limiting my HA just turning lights on and off but that was my main purpose when I started.....
Many of us here at the forum are aging... myself included. I feel fortunate all my HA is still UN-needed fun.... and of course a lot of convenience and security.
Aging does solidify those old pre-technology paradigms... but that isn't healthy... and it isn't necessary either. We need to keep our minds (and body's) healthy. With modern medicine what it is... we may be stuck in these body's for a long, long time. Staying active with our favorite sport or outdoor activity and our intellectual activities/hobby's (like Home automation).... is just plain good for our mental and physical health.
Since we're going to grow old anyway... we might as well do the things that help us to enjoy ourselves. I also started with X10 to operate the lights in my Home Theater... from my chair in the theater. Then I added a CM11A for macros, a high-end remote, then a CM15A upgrade. My setup has been growing since. And by reading what smarter and more imaginative HA users were doing... I realized that HA is so much more than lights. And they have inspired me to do more, and more.
If Authinx gets x10 back with new units and software I may try it. But it does not look like that will happen soon.
I'm sure HA controllers for Amazon/Google/iPhone products being sold for around $20 soon so when that happens I'll jump on that.
I used the Voice Control Software, BVC.... for nearly a decade (
and I still run an old XP Laptop running AHP and BVC 24/7)... before Amazon released the Echo/Dot/Alexa devices. What Amazon has done with Alexa and the "skills" (lighting devices included)..... has forever changed Home Automation.... and the direction it's going. If you use an iphone.... many devices work well remotely (from anywhere) or directly by Alexa... with NO HUB what-so-ever. I saw ihome modules (
no hub needed) at Sam's Club last weekend in a package of two for $50. And I have seen wifi bulbs (that would work with most hubs) on-line for as little as 8-9 bucks. So.... you should be feeling just a little froggie already.
But some of my favorite things.... have NOTHING to do with lights. I love the alarms and warnings I get. Being able to check-in on the house from the middle of no-where. Reminders from Alexa, entries into my calendar (which is always with me via my iphone). Heck... I've even been out bicycling and yelled (to my iphone) Hey, Siri.... what time is it?