RE: New Installations Trade

["Ian Lowe" <ianlowe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Why on earth would those capabable of such feats want to earn =A3200 a
da=
y
> (say) when they can earn =A31,000 a day!?

Good point - I can't see the skill aspect being removed from HA any time
soon.=20

> The day that HA comes to the masses will be when Micro$haft,
Panasonic,=20
> Whirlpool, Bosch etal colaborate on a common protocol that, allows=20
> everything from the freezer to the 100" plasma to talk
intelligently to=20
> each other,=20

Never gonna happen.=20

And if it did, you wouldn't want it - unless you really want adverts
poppin=
g
up on your fridge that is.

The industry is pulling in too many directions at once - DRM and patents
ar=
e
having a ludicrous effect on innovation and for every cool new idea that
appears at something like CES there are a phalanx of lawyers ready to make
sure it doesn=92t happen.

Every major technology announcement of the last five years has either been
nobbled by the patent monster somewhere along the line, or has been so over
hyped that it has left everyone cold.

Where is the money in making the smart household play well together? The
only real driver seems to be entertainment, and the copyright industry is
locking everything down to prevent smart distribution, not allow it - the
really cool ideas for making things all play together are dead before they
even start in that kind of world.

> without requiring a masters in abstract programming to get the
whole=20
> bloomin lot working!

You don't need that - but you do need to be an active partricipant in the
process rather than just a consumer. (and yes, a little programming ability
helps ;) )

For me, it gets a little bit closer with each release, each new tool, each
new developer and each new bit of software, but the end goal is very
nebulous, and expecting people to develop much more than what it takes to
solve their own problems is a little unrealistic.

The only way to make this more open version of the future happen is to play
a part in shaping it.

> Me, frustrated about the lack of interconnectivity and the hassle
and=20
> time it takes just to something simple to work - No, never!!

Very few things are simple to get working - one of the lessons we have
take=
n
fom the xPL project is the enormity of the task being undertaken - it's a
real whistle through your teeth moment when you consider just how much
need=
s
to come into play for the "simple" stuff to start happening.

There are brute force solution to some of the problems, and it's becoming
easier and easier to throw computing horsepower at problems, but I honestly
don=92t think that the idea of everything just working together without
som=
e
kind of "middleware" (and some pretty powerful middleware at
that!) doing
the smarts is going to fly any time soon - and, as I say, even if it
does..=
.
Hobbyists are not going to like the restrictions put in place on such a
system.

That's quite a collection of 2ps there. here's mine ;)

Ian.