Name Dylan Sanders
What do you do at Josh? I work as a Software Developer on the front-end side of Josh, specifically animations and our React web portal. Trying to make our site the most efficient and enjoyable experience you have on the web!
Where are you from originally? Originally, I grew up in Southern California. I went to Arizona State University as well as the American University of Paris — ask me which one had the better food.
Which office do you work in? I work out of the sunny Santa Monica office (Let’s Go Dodgers!)
What do you love about the smart home? I think it’s great that I can yell at my lights to turn them off when I’m too lazy to get out of bed. On a more serious note, it really feels like you’re living in the future and have so much control over all the smart things around you. It’s practical and fun and can also benefit those of us who struggle using these devices manually.
What are you most excited about over the next few years? I’m most excited for the advancement of sensors and machine learning, specifically the integration with smart homes to automatically trigger events or alerts. Imagine how much simpler your life will be when your house already knows what you want and what to do based on the time of day / temperature / brightness / humidity / anything else that can be measured! And with AI, the system can learn and tweak what suits you best with little to no input on your part.
iPhone or Android? iPhone. With a headphone jack, though. Really dropped the ball there Apple…
What do you do for fun? I go to a lot of small concerts and bars, take my car to the track to participate in track days and races, and do a fair bit of creative or artistic programming. I love traveling but my bank account does not :(
If you could go anywhere, where would it be? I’ve been wanting to go to Japan for years! Then hitchhiking around Latin America is next, just need to learn some Spanish first.
Favorite restaurant in the world? Le Refuge des Fondus in Montmarte, Paris. It may seem like your run-of-the-mill fondue joint, which it mainly is, but they serve the wine in baby bottles! Why? Beats me, but it’s a fun time.
Favorite IoT / smart home product? Josh (duh!) paired with my Philips Hues and Sonos speaker. I love having the ability to set up scenes like my Good Morning, that turns the lights on to 100% and plays my motivational jams.
What is your favorite feature of Josh? The setup is, hands down, the simplest and most intuitive of any smart device I’ve ever used. The auto-discovery of all smart devices on the network makes it so you can plug it in and have a lot of functionality right away. Saves a lot of headache and gives you more time to explore the other amazing features.
Favorite books / reading material / websites? Anything by Malcolm Gladwell or Dan Ariely for those nights when I need my social psychology fix. Lolita for the beautiful prose and wordplay. Hacker News when I want to catch up on the tech world and read about the latest Javascript framework that’ll be outdated in 15 minutes.
