Wednesday, September 06, 2006

The Plight Of Home Automation

Home automation includes some of the following applications:

Its popular and one of the fastest growing sub-sectors of residential building. Despite the problems that I will list below, the systems mentioned above are guaranteed to enhance the lifestyle of homeowners.

The problem is engineering- and like all broad subjects there is Good News/Bad News.

Let's pick on my favorite automated system, home theater.

It starts with the receiver.

Just consider remote controls.

How about High Definition TV?

The list goes on and on. There are truly great, inexpensive systems available in all fields of home automation, but no one has taken the time to make them user friendly.

Here's a great example- IBM's Home Director. We were one the first small companies to sign on... around 1999. IBM chief Lou Gershner called Home Director "the final frontier." Their goal was to put this product in every new home built in America. Minimum, stripped down cost was well over $1000 (up to $15000) installed. When we went to IBM for training, there was a huge pirate flag flying (indoors) over the Home Director unit, symbolizing a new way of thinking within the Big Blue.

The internet was coming, but I was bothered that there was no market demand within existing homes. During class I asked one question that nobody before me had thought to ask. "When cable TV was introduced to the market, how did they deliver their product?" The answer is (and still is) they drilled holes through walls and floors in the rooms you wanted to watch TV.

Within 18 months, IBM spun off the "last frontier."

(One of the main benefits of Home Director was structured cabling- an organized process of bringing in signals ( Cable TV, Phone, High speed Internet) and distributing the highest quality signals throughout the home with cabling. The automation was driven by x10 technology.)


Comments:
Chip - do you carry any video over cat-5 equipment?
 
I know we used to- Charlie- my son (UT 2002) runs the show now. His nextel is 669-0697.
You were the inspiration for this entry. I 've tried to comment 3 times on your site, but something blocks me. I love baseball, Moneyball, Oakland A's winning year after year, Cards, Clemson...
 
even now- my comment is not registering...
 
I'm trying a beta version of blogger. Try using the other identity instead of your blogger account.
 
Nice blog! Home Automation can be as simple as turning on a light from a remote control instead of getting up to flick the switch or telling your thermostat to automatically turn down a few degrees while you’re at work during the day and then adjusting back to your comfortable temperature before you arrive home. You can read more available information about home automation, just Click Here.
 
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