Home Automation Laws

["Mark McCall" <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

We've been sent this interesting essay from Alex Chelmis. Take a few
minutes
to read his ideas and let us know what you think...


Submission by: Alex Chelmis

Preface
Since I remember myself, I have always been fascinated by robots. As a kid
it was my favourite day-dreaming subject and loved all the movies that
featured robots of any kind. Soon I realised that I was also attracted by
other gadgets you could use in order to perform an operation that would be
too difficult, or need too much time and effort for a human. At some point
it became clear that what actually fascinated me was anything that would
automate an operation which otherwise would need a human interaction. It
was
inevitable to fall in love with the new "up-coming" world of home
automation. Unfortunately, every time I tried to follow a project published
or advertised about home automation, I found myself getting confused and
finally bored with the details. During the past 15 years I have visited
exhibitions and read many articles and white papers offering "all in
one"
home automation solutions. After the initial excitement, I got confused
with
unnecessary complicated processes, giving me the feeling that they have
completely missed the point. Everything that currently exists under the
title of "home automation" or "smart home" is a
proprietary idea customised
to somebody else's requirements who is trying to convince you that his
everyday needs are similar to yours. Any attempt to create open standards
(X10) has failed to get broadly accepted and any only appeals to computer
&
electronic "geeks". I think we got into this situation because
people have
forgotten the reason they wanted to automate something in the first place.
This is what this article is all about. Reminding people the basics, and
help them maintain the focus on satisfying the "why" while they
come up with
ideas of "how" they need to automate an operation. I believe
there is a need
for projects to change the way they are developed, in order to become more
appealing to the average person. It is about time for this industry to hit
the mass market and you can only achieve that by talking to the
non-technical person. There is some much to gain from home automation,
enough to change our everyday lives; forever...

http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/article1764.html

M.






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