Increasingly consumers are unwrapping and installing connected devices but after that initial thrill of turning on their lights or opening the garage door with their phones, they’re leaving them alone, wondering why they paid so much for connectivity in the first place. And for consumers who have yet to make the leap to a connected mindset, products that cost what might be five times the cost for a “dumb” device leaves them wondering why the heck they’d part with that kind of cash for a scale or a smoke detector.

While there’s value in a single connected device (although I’d argue it had better be about more than just remotely turning something on or off from your smartphone), adding multiple connected devices should drive a lot more value. The sum should be greater than the parts. This is why Mark Belinsky, the CEO of Birdi, the company behind a…