a visual collective outlet of inspiration

jack nicholson will now demonstrate the new august smart lock

come on in… well, not alla youz!

we just received our august smart lock and are very excited to put it to work. the installation is supposed to be quite simple and should fit “any standard deadbolt lock”

once installed that’s all you see on the inside of your door

our august smart lock (a $250 cylinder you install on the inside of your door) is here and awaiting to mate with our lovely door. whats great is that we don’t actually need to remove our lock, because it only replaces our deadbolt’s inside module. once placed in and turned on well have a bluetooth-connected, motorized deadbolt that can remotely lock and unlock the door when we press a button on our phone… or automatically lock as we leave, and unlock as we approach the door… nice! but the best part is you can give temporary keys to anyone you choose, and disable them when you want. you can also schedule access, for say, cleaning lady, baby sitter, or your neighborhood dominatrix to set up. but there are a few caveats; 1- don’t forget, there is some effort required here; i.e any user must first download the app, register an account, take a picture of themselves, then verify their email address and phone number before they can open your door. bit of a hassle? yes. but you don’t want just anyone to get access now? 2- although august claims idiot-proof installation, the install does require a few logical considerations. a) if you have double locks you need to be aware that august only controls one (duh!). also b) the mechanism in the electronic lock has its limits. if your deadbolt is not smoothly operating or it was installed during the dark ages, it could affect the performance of the lock by causing difficulty for the august motor to push the deadbolt through. so be mindful that the assumption is that your deadbolt is in tip top shape, if it isn’t (as was the case with ours) you may want to amend the issue before install.

so what’s so great about all this? why would i want to change my current lock? here are a few good reasons that convinced us as to why we would need a key-less entry lock like the august smart lock;

– well firstly it’s designed by the swiss industrial designer yves behar. we were told you should just get one, to have one.

– need to allow temporary access for your most recently acquired boyfriend/girlfriend with out the awkward key exchange… and retrieval

– your pet monkey is really smart… but not that smart

– need to allow scheduled access to your fancy cleaning crew who own an iphone (don’t they all? besides it works on android)

– need to cut down on key and lock replacements due to fast turn-around of lovely “associates”

– forgot your 5lbs key chain at work

– your “roommate” lost his key again

– pierre and marilou are gonna crash in your ski chalet in graubünden, and you haven’t been there for “like weeeeeeks”

– need to let your guest/air b&b into your apt but cant leave work (will require the $50 august connect wifi plug)

– your super called and said there is fire in your study (that’s where you’re supposed to keep your damn books, which you don’t have)

– finally, how can you trust the kids with a key… when you cant trust them with a f#@kin’ plastic bag?

there you have it…if your still not convinced… then i suppose you don’t need one. stay tuned we’re gonna report back with a proper field test… photo credit: jack nicholson in stanley kubrick’s film the shining written by stephen king. by uh