Back in the 1960s, Hanna-Barbera’s animation, The Jetsons, painted an interesting and cartoonish vision of the future. It was brilliant, full of Airborne cars, robot maids, voice-controlled appliances, and homes that were smart and ready to serve every need. It seemed like an interesting and imminent future. The show wasn’t just a fun entertainment; it was targeted at common ideas about the future. It eventually became an interesting blueprint for what a “smart” future could be. More than 60 years after the show’s introduction, the concept of “smart homes” is being marketed by many companies, but the reality falls short of our past imagination; in fact, sometimes the solutions are even laughable.
If you’ve fallen into the scenario where you shout multiple times, “turn on the kitchen light,” while your voice assistant keeps asking you to repeat, you probably know the difference between dreams and reality. In this article, we will discuss the reasons why our reality is so far from this interesting view of the future.
Not-So-Smart Homes, Just Connected
While most tech companies and their marketing team keep selling us the idea of smart homes, the truth is slightly different. They’re not smart, we’re just getting them automated and sometimes remote-controlled. Nowadays, we can dim lights with the smartphone, adjust the thermostat with a voice command, and unlock the door from anywhere and etc. However, this is not actual intelligence; it’s just interconnectivity.
Real smart homes, like those imagined in The Jetsons, would anticipate your needs, adapt to your habits, and function with minimal input. Instead, we get routines that can be easily broken, assistants that mishear us, and devices that operate in isolated manners.
One of the Main Problems – The Fragmentation
Perhaps one of the biggest issues that prevents us from getting into the future is the fragmentation. Big techs like Google, Apple, Amazon, and Samsung have all built their ecosystem. In most cases, devices from different brands and ecosystems don’t play well together. Want your Nest thermostat to trigger your smart lights? That might work, unless you’re using Apple HomeKit or an Alexa-based system. You have a bad time trying to sync these different devices.
The Matter protocol was introduced to solve this. The goal is to create a universal language for smart devices. However, its rollout is slow, and the compatibility is still hit or miss in real homes.
Smart Devices with Dumb Security
In the age of smart devices, AI, and an interconnected world, security is one of the main concerns. Nowadays, there are serious security threats, and not everyone is carelessly sharing data or giving permissions for big companies to control and monitor their home and habits. Unlike the Jetsons’ optimistic view, modern users are more cautious, and with reason, about giving their homes eyes and ears.
Cameras, microphones, and always-connected devices raise serious questions. There were real accidents of hacked baby monitors, leaked voice recordings, and doorbell footage used without consent. Many cheap devices skip security best practices altogether, leaving people skeptical about inviting this technology into their homes.
Too Much Setup for Non-Experts and Little Payoff
One thing is real in the so-called smart homes: the setup and configuration can be tiresome, especially for those with little knowledge. The smart home devices are not yet made for the mainstream consumers and may be a matter of another world for old people. The excessive complication is followed by frustration. We have bad apps, inconsistent firmware, complex pairing process like pairing a smart light bulb in the same way you defuse a bomb. If your home is older, adapting to new tech can be an even costlier thing.
We can say that automation is a magical thing that gives satisfaction in most cases and brings convenience. However, sometimes it is fragile like crystal glass, and when it breaks, we end up frustrated. Routines stop working, devices go offline, or voice assistants get confused. A not-so-clear voice input or a failure in your home network is enough to make these devices go weird. The experience is still not seamless, as marketing tends to promote.
The Missing Intelligence
If we go for the biggest reason that prevents us from experiencing the future in our homes, it’s the lack of real intelligence. Despite the AI buzz, most smart homes are still relying on the basic “if this, then that” logic. That’s the most basic principle used in simple programming and algorithms. Without proper intelligence, smart homes aren’t ready to give you a contextual response based on your needs. Your smart home does not know if you’re home sick and want silence, or that it’s cloudy and your blinds should open for natural light. They’re not learning or adapting in the meaningful, intuitive ways we’ve imagined.
The Jetsons had Rosie, the robot maid, who could clean, babysit, joke, and offer advice. That may still be too far from reality as the robotics scene is still not ready to deliver this, but it’s hilarious to think that in 2025, we have a vacuum that bumps into your car and gets stuck under the couch.
The Jetsons Were Early, But Not Wrong – Hope Lies in AI
While the Jetsons premiered in 1962, set in the year 2062, much of its predicted tech arrived. Video calls, smartwatches, flat-screen TVs, this wasn’t even close to reality in the 1960s. Now, however, it is common for most of us. Unfortunately, the smart homes, in everything, work in harmony to serve you contextually, is still not there. It might be far, perhaps delayed, but if we look at the advancement of tech and AI, we can say it’s an inevitable future.
With the rise of AI technology, we may be getting close to this future. The new AI models could be the brain of future smart devices. Devices are getting smarter, Matter is slowly improving compatibility, and AI is gradually finding its way into the home. For now, the dream of a seamless, intelligent living space sounds like something out of a cartoon. However, we’re getting there. There is still a long way to go until 2062, but considering the way AI has surprised the world, we may quickly go into a Jetsons-like world.
