You may have first heard the term “smart house” back in 1999 when Disney released an original science fiction comedy by the same name. The plot centered around a teenager who won a fully-automated dream house in a competition, but the computer-controlled home took over and life became more troublesome than ever before. For a rather anti-tech user like myself, I remember the film with fondness, and with candor of course for the modern world in contrast. I realize this probably wasn’t the best icebreaker introduction when meeting Mike Kapity, owner of Simple Tech—a company that provides professional audio, video, and home automation solutions—but I did get a good laugh out of him on our jog down memory lane. The ‘90s were the best!
Let’s face it though, technology can be a sore subject. Some love it, some despise it, but one thing about it is—especially if you listen to Mike—it absolutely can and will make your life easier. And you don’t have to admit this part (but you will!), it can be really fun and fruitful to fully curate the style and vibrancy of your life through your own home.
Mike tackles tech like anyone wanting to get their feet wet; the best in is just a dive. He’s been in this industry for over 25 years now, and if you really consider where technology has started and gone in 20 years, he’s been on a rollercoaster of learning, adjusting, predicting, and serving an audience that’s adapting and growing along with it. In the space of our private homes, technology has probably found its best calling yet.
Applications, or “apps” as we lovingly refer to them, on our phones and home tablets are somewhat of a control center for the system that Mike describes. Once someone teaches you how to post a photo on social media, and then a few years later, post a video with your favorite song as the background—the vibe changes. It suddenly becomes wholly you. Mike makes a home feel that way. Well, you make it feel that way but Mike helps you get there. Picture all these apps—one for every service Simple Tech offers. Group them together in one area labeled “home.”
“We’ll have pre-programmed buttons or interactions on that application that will control multiple functions in one,” says Mike. “So, for example, you take lighting, temperature, shades, TV, and audio, and you can condense that into one push of a button in that application and maybe that says ‘movie’ and so you hit the button that says ‘movie’ and the shades start coming down, the lights start dimming, the TV turns on—it goes right to Apple TV, it brings up your favorites on the TV, you select the movie you want to play and then the audio comes on.” It’s bringing action to a whole concept. “It’s everything in the house adapting to that one thing you want to do,” says Mike, because concepts can be dreamed up.
And that’s where Mike uses his sixth sense in techy knowledge to read the room of his clients. He wants the intimate details of how many people will be at your movie nights, your game nights, your birthday parties, and so on because each curated button will turn each event into an experience. “Technology should be the experience you’re having, it shouldn’t be the focus,” says Mike.
Simple Tech also offers security and climate among other services, which are quite married when it comes to monitoring vacation homes or primary homes while away on vacation during the winter or extreme weather. You’re only one button away from knowing that your home is maintaining a good temperature and everything is where it’s supposed to be. To learn more, visit SimpleTechMT.com
Mike and Elisha Kapity own Simple Tech. Mike started the company 7 years ago with one client, one van, and a set of tool bags. Today, they have 10 employees and send out four vans daily to service the Flathead Valley. Outside of work, Mike and Elisha have four adult children, three grandkids, and enjoy spending time on Flathead Lake and traveling with their family.