Re: New Installations Trade

[Neil Fuller <neil.fuller@xxxxxxxxx>]

Chris

I think it's a bit of over sell of EIB to suggest that it is
"The"
common protocol..

Sure, in Germany, there may be a lot of kit available, but it's hardly
universal and still requires a fair amount of engineering.

If I gave my dear old mum a few bits of EIB kit (fridge, cooker, blinds
and light switches, lets say) and asked her to get them talking, I bet
she would struggle. OTOH, the old dear recently purchased a PC, USB
mouse and keyboard, USB scanner, USB printer and a USB Skype phone. Got
them home, connected them all up and they worked!!

That's the sort of interoperability we need in HA kit before it will be
welcomed by the masses.

Sadly, I don't think it will ever come to be. Witness the mess in the
commercial BMS market. For years, the market has struggled to produce
some kind of common protocol. Eventually, a couple of promising systems
emerged - LON and BACNet. So, most manufacturers now produce devices
that will sit on one or both systems BUT, they use methods that make it
pretty difficult and costly to integrate their products with those of
other manufacturers to ensure a commercial advantage for their own
products.

Just another 2p's worth ;-)

Cheers

Neil



Chris Hunter wrote:

> >common protocol ...
>
>'already exists - EIB, Konnex - not uncommon in Germany, comparable in
>cost to C-Bus, Siemens do various ovens & fridges etc for it, and
there
>are loads & loads & loads of devices for it ... for controlling
lights &
>heat & blinds & for linking to computers, switches, meters, and
so-on.
>  As well as Siemens, Philps & ABB & Merten and about a dozen
other big
>names are involved ...
>
>Chris
>
>
>
>Neil Fuller wrote:
>
> > Paul
> >
> > The reason that there's no one prepared to do what you/we want
for
>say £5k is that sticking all the disparate "cheap" bits of
kit together
>takes a considerable amount of skill, knowledge and  development time.
> >
> > Why on earth would those capabable of such feats want to earn
£200 a
>day (say) when they can earn £1,000 a day!?
> >
> > The day that HA comes to the masses will be when
>Micro$haft,Panasonic, Whirlpool, Bosch etal colaborate on a common
>protocol that, allows everything from the freezer to the 100"
plasma to
>talk intelligently to each other, without requiring a masters in
>abstract programming to get the whole bloomin lot working !
> >
> > Me, frustrated about the lack of interconnectivity and the hassle
and
>time it takes just to something simple to work - No, never!!
> >
> > Just my 2p's worth!
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> > Neil
>
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>Yahoo! Groups Links
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