I would say this would be the "smart way" to "disconnect from nature".<p>My idea of connecting with Nature is with your senses and your body, not by tapping into some mobile app to water a wifi plant pot. When you reduce your transaction with a living thing to just notifications and tapping glass, you effectively disconnect yourself from it and all the positive benefits it can give you.<p>It ends up as something virtual, like your servers, that push annoying notifications on your phone, instead of a living reality that you need to know how to take care and nurture it by your own hands.<p>I'm not against automation in agriculture. I love geeking out with hydroponics and arduino as the next person. But mass-production farms and having a plant on your desk are two different realities.
Not as feature-rich, but way cheaper:<p><a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Self-watering-recycled-plant-pot-for-growing-herbs/" rel="nofollow">http://www.instructables.com/id/Self-watering-recycled-plant...</a>