Why Aren’t Smart Locks And Video Doorbells The Same Device?

As soon as I read this question in the headline of an article, I wondered about the answer. Sometimes our relationship with devices is like this. We blindly use whatever gets launched on the market without asking the most basic of questions ... like whether two devices should actually be the same device. It turns out there are some technical reasons why video doorbells and smart locks aren’t the same device already. Such as the power drain that would occur creating the inconvenient need to replace batteries more often. Or the difficulty in getting the camera angles right.

But the most interesting reason may be due to our own habits. People are used to looking for a doorbell beside the door, and may not notice one that is embedded into the actual lock itself. Not to mention that the lock is usually for someone who lives at a home whereas the doorbell is usually for a visitor. All of which is a great reminder that sometimes an option that seems logical on paper (like combining smart locks and video doorbells), would actually be confusing and mostly useless if implemented in real life.