Open

Open systems are ones that are flexible and can be used for many purposes.

Too often, we are enticed by promises of convenience to buy closed systems.

A good example of a closed system is the Google Home Ring system.

It's a pretty (horrible) product.

Like most of Google's hardware offerings, it's about maximizing their welfare, not yours.

The user interface requires you to have lightning reflexes to see when someone comes to the door. To get more than a few hours of video storage, you have to pay Google for a subscription. It's ridiculous. Their app is terrible, and it's difficult to share the feed with people who might need it.

It's a classic example of a closed system. Closed systems tie everything up in knots and make it impossible to optimize the setup.

Open systems are often more trouble to get started with initially, but once you gain the expertise, they are infinitely more flexible and suddenly you can solve all sorts of problems.

Being able to control a camera with a small computer is key to many applications: inventory management, security, and monitoring devices that do not offer actual APIs—like the solar system in Eliot's house.

See Flow Device. There are so many useful applications of having a simple way to manage all the devices an organization needs.