RE: New Installations Trade

["Paul Gordon" <paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

That's great to hear,
=20
I would add that I don't imagine for a second that this kind of approach
wi=
ll work for bespoke designs... - that is absolutely where the CEDIA boys
ru=
le... - to do it for the kind of price bracket we're talking about,
(=A35K-=
=A310K) I think it will only work if you can produce a repeatable design,
w=
hich you can churn out over and over in a "cookie cutter"
approach. - Certa=
inly such a system could be made to be modular rather than an absolutely
ri=
gid "one-size-fits-all" design, so at least a degree of
customisation would=
be achievable (like, leaving out HVAC components from an install if they'r=
e not required by the customer for example...)
=20
I'd imagine that the approach would need to be something like identifying
&=
evaluating a limited range of components that you will support for each ma=
in area of "Home Automation" - each item you select to support
would be cho=
sen based on the ease in which it can be integrated into an overall
control=
strategy, so for example, if using Infra-red to control, you would select =
components that have discrete codes for all the functions you need in
prefe=
rence to ones that only have toggle or cycle codes... (On/off being a good
=
example). Or perhaps you would opt to only select components that provided
=
RS232 control and had published RS232 control protocols... then you could
w=
rite the control software for each of these components (and because you
are=
only supporting a small and specific subset of the available kit, this wou=
ldn't be a particularly onerous undertaking), you'd only need to write it
o=
nce, and you could reuse the same code for every install..
=20
I kinda think of an analogy something like buying a suit at a gentlemans
ou=
tfitters... - they absolutely don't do made-to-measure bespoke tailoring
("=
That would be 'CEDIA & Sons' just along the road sir...") - only
off the pe=
g suits are available. They have several suits to choose from, in a range
o=
f colours, styles & sizes, - but not a huge range... If you don't want
or n=
eed a tie, then you don't have to buy one, but if you do want one, you can
=
only choose from the small selection available... and the key thing is
that=
everything in the shop has been especially selected by the proprieter so t=
hat all the clothes "match" so no matter what combination of
shirt / trouse=
rs you buy they will "look right" together - all the ties they
have on offe=
r will match with any/all of the shirts they have on offer. They will do
mi=
nor alterations such as shortening and so on, - and to enable this to be
qu=
ick & easy, they already have a stock of the right kinds of
buttons/threads=
/cloth samples/ and so on... Also, the shop assistants are experienced in
t=
he particular details of all the clothes available in the shop, and so
know=
how to do these alterations quickly & easily without having to learn
any n=
ew sewing techniques... the value proposition of this outfitters is that a
=
made-to-meassure suit from "CEDIA & Sons" costs somehwhere in
excess of =A3=
800, and takes 2 months to make - yes it will be a better suit, it will
fit=
perfectly in every area of the body, and you can expect absolutely tip-top=
-bend-over-backwards service from them. Conversely, the customer could go
d=
own the High Street to Next or Burtons or whatever, and attempt to buy
sepe=
rates which they have to "match" themselves, and can't get
altered if they =
don't fit. They may be able to buy an outfit for under =A3100, but their
fr=
iends will be able to tell... Our outfitters however, fills the middle
grou=
nd, - the customer can buy a suit for around =A3300-=A3400 - it will be a
n=
ice enough suit, - you'd be happy enough to wear it to your friends
wedding=
, it will fit pretty well, be comfortable to wear, and will last a fairly
l=
ong time.=20
=20
In the gentlemans outfitters world, I think this middle area is addressed 
=
- think Moss Bros and the like.. but I firmly believe that in the HA world
=
there are no "Moss Bros's" yet open for business, although I
think there ma=
y be a few entrepeneurs who are at the stage of looking for some nice
premi=
ses quite near the town centre, handy for the bus... :-)
=20
Paul G.
=20
=20
=20

________________________________

From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx on behalf of Danny Dawson
Sent: Thu 19/01/2006 18:02
To: UKHA_D Group
Subject: RE: [ukha_d] New Installations Trade



Paul,

Well thats what we aim to try and do. The sort of system you are talking
about for the price you are talking about. I think, as you say, if it was
available alot of people would be interested, its just trying to source and
research the equipment that can do all this. which is what we are trying to
do at the moment. I dont know if I am being over ambitious with the
above.Can only try. We want to bring professional home automation installs
to the working class like myself.

Regards
Danny Dawson


>From: "Paul Gordon" <paul@xxxxxxx>
>Reply-To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
>To: "UKHA_D Group" <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
>Subject: RE: [ukha_d] New Installations Trade
>Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 17:47:49 -0000
>
>
>
>
>
>Hi Danny,
>
>
>
>I have a few thoughts/opinions on this...
>
>
>
>To my mind the Home Automation market seems very clearly split into two
>distinct camps...
>
>
>
>You have the full-on professional installations, done by the likes of
CEDI=
A
>members, using the tier-1 equipment suppliers such as AMX / Creston
etc.
>These are top-dollar installs and are very firmly the preseve of the
rich.
>System installation costs anywhere between =A310,000 - right up to
=A3100,=
000
>(and above!) for example. I'd suggest that most of the members of this
lis=
t
>would love to be in this camp, but aren't... (I Think a few probably
are
>though...)
>
>
>
>Then there is the main area of focus for this group, which is the DIY
>approach, using disparate components, cherry picked for their
individual
>performance characteristics and value for money. - so the likes of
>Homevision / PC's / Sonos / X10 / CBUS / Comfort / Tivo and so on....
The
>single hardest aspect of this space is tying it all together in a
seamless
>manner, providing a consistent and convenient method of control... -
this
>is the value-add that the CEDIA installers above bring to the party,
>however, they do charge *royally* for the privellige, and they are
fiercel=
y
>protective of their collateral. The group itself has spawned some
efforts
>to alleviate this shortcoming with the likes of the xPL & xAP
protocols,
>which aim to provide that glue, but I think even the most enthuisiatic
>proponents of those projects would admit that neither of them could yet
>claim to have produced a "system" that can be
"installed"... - they are
>still mainly in the realms of the technical enthuisiast, and require
quite
>a bit of technical knowledge and effort to implement today. I believe
(and
>I hope), that both of these (and any other projects with similar goals)
>will mature into a product proposition that you can buy off the shelf,
pay
>someone to install, and then leave you with a working system in much
the
>same way as the CEDIA market operates, (albeit hopefully at a much
lower
>cost!).
>
>
>
>There appears to be a vast yawning gap between these two extremes with
>nothing (that I'm aware of) filling that middle ground.... Although I
thin=
k
>there are a *very* few systems/suppliers who are now just about
starting t=
o
>gingerly take a few steps into this area, but to my knowledge there
still
>isn't someone I can go to and get them to supply, install, and
commision a
>fully-integrated HA system encompassing HVAC/lighting/Media/cabling and
>control strategies and all for somewhere around the =A35000 (ish)
mark...
>
>If there were, I suspect I would be knocking on their door pretty
>sharpish... ;-)
>
>
>
>Regards.
>
>
>
>Paul Gordon.
>

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