Re: Introduction

[Chris Hunter <cjhunter@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

'not sure it's fair to say it hasn't moved ... for example, in just
the
last few years :

* the SmartHomes show has appeared & seems to be here to stay ...

* several property developers are beginning to feature it, at least as
an option (as per the article in The Guardian published around the
middle of last year) ...

* there are more & more companies with HA offerings (several promoted
on
the basis of  touch-screens, several promoted on the basis of  buses &
modules) even if they mostly for the moment focus on light-scenes &
security & entertainment audio-video, plus a bit of connectivity ...

* Siemens have started to offer silver, gold & platinum packages made
from their EIB Instabus system, in an attempt to help people get a
handle of what's possible ...

* EIB has become an established open standard, with several competing
suppliers, and so independant of the fortunes of any particular one ...

* chips & operating systems & computers are much more powerful,
more
affordable, more reliable - Windows XP & AppleMac OSX get stuck / crash
much less often ...

* more & more household equipment now comes equipped with
micro-processors & control-interfaces ...

* Bluetooth has taken-off, improving retro-fit options ...

* there are more HA installers about ...

* DIY HA is slowly proliferating ...

Chris

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David Yeend wrote:

Hi Colin -

Based on your point of view, which I believe I have an appreciation for,
I would say that no the market has not moved on much at the consumer
end.   I am not working in HA at the raw end and am probably not as
qualified as others on this list to comment but I will have a go !   If
any of those actively involved on a day-to-day basis want to put me
straight then I welcome any comments to correct my view of it all.

At the money is no object end, as you know yourself, anything has been
possible for considerable time.   Taking and integrating technologies
from the professional entertainment, building management, industrial
control and manufacturing industries covers most situations.   Ignoring
the wealth aspect I think the market has grown in this area based on the
packaging of these systems / components aimed at domestic situations
combined with better user interfaces and easier to implement logic.
With growth in the market there has been growth in the number of
professional installers who service it.   Growth in the market
stimulates competition ... and so the usual commercial factors come into
play.   However the subject is still 'custom installation' requiring
specialists with a broad spread of knowledge and integration ability far
beyond people who have problems 'setting the video'.   At this level I
think CEDIA do a lot to help development of the market and the
professionalism of its membership who are professionals in their own
right.   I still think that at this level the automation aspect follows
from an initial interest in high end AV or security rather than as a
direct requirement.

The availability of reasonably priced off the shelf products oriented
for the domestic market, combined with a general increase in technical
savvy due to the proliferation of computers and IT has made it easy for
more to embrace HA as a DIY activity.   As such lists like this exist
and show reasonable activity with growing membership numbers.   However
I agree that HA is still a niche market but never-the-less it appears to
me to be a healthy one.   Four years ago I could only name 2 companies
with consumer focus that sold HA components.   Now there are 6 which
spring to mind without much thought - I am sure there are probably more.
That said I can still recall Maplin and PC World previously offering
X10 and B&Q with their Home Control packs, I don't think any of them
have such products anymore but then to my understanding the focus on
education of their customer base was never really there.

It seems to me that at the consumer end there is very little to
stimulate the imagination of the typical home owner.   When the interest
exists I think there is a lot of confusion which is not helped by some
of the very poor attempts I have seen to introduce the subject to the
general population !   A lack of easy to implement/integrate products
aimed at the consumer level does not help, but then perhaps the whole
subject is just too complex for this to change ?

Some fantastic things have come from members of this group.
Developments such as xAP and xPL as an attempt to generate some glue
have shown real success with adoption in commercial products.   Also
developers adding integration solutions to systems such as Home Vision
and C-Bus have been very active.   I would be interested to hear how
those involved in these areas would answer the original question.

I have had personal involvement with a number of developments where
anything from a handful to several hundred dwellings have been equipped
with structured cabling and RF based TV distribution systems which have
been installed at very low cost to the developer.   I regularly get
asked by those taking occupation questions like 'what is this for ?'
To me this indicates that not enough is being done to pass the message on.

Very few of the developers are even slightly interested in pre-wiring
for alarm systems, curtain / blind automation or lighting control, even
if it is offered in the form of a 'no brainer'!

Anyway, enough of my ramblings !

Regards, David

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>3/17/06 colinblake@xxxxxxx wrote:

>Hi, I have been watching this group for about a month now.   My main
reason for joining was to see what progress had been made in the HA market.

>In 1988, I started automating my own home, electric curtain tracks,
distributed HiFi, centeral heating/hot water, lights on-off-dimmer and
motorised up-down control.   The real automation came about when I
designed the telephone controller.   This allow me to call into my home
and find the status of each appliances and then control they remotely.
The telephone interface was 'Human speech' stored in EProm, which gave
prompts and stutus messages. The control was via DTMF tones generated by
the telephone.   So I communicated in a form the electronics understood
and it 'spoke' back to me in true speech (uncompressed at the time, it
used 1M EProms for 1 minute of speech).

>In 1989 I started a company called Phone Control Services, which
designed and built the telephone controller.   Soon I had contracts with
clients who anted their own products enhanced.   But never wanted to
interface with other products.   I ran the company for 4 years then sold
it.   I have since got into video transmission systems, over POTS ISDN
IP MOBILE and run a consultancy company advising on TeleVideo.

>In my opinion the HA market has not moved much in the last 17 years,
it is still a niche market ... or am I wrong ?

>Colin