RE: UKHA Mailing List - Future. Volume dropping month by month

["Nigel Giddings" <nigel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm not sure measuring the number of posts represents the number of
people =
involved or the amount of 'useful' information transmitted...

=20

As has been mentioned by others many more ways of communicating have
appear=
ed during the lifetime of the list and I would suggest a number of the
'sho=
rt conversations' that used to occur probably take place over IM or
somethi=
ng similar...

=20

I still believe UKHA_D is a worthwhile source of information having
receive=
d good advice and suggestions in the past, and I hope given a little as
wel=
l.

=20

I do feel that the UKHA_D community could be developed and encouraged but
i=
n a lot of cases that falls to Mark which is in many ways unfair and I can
=
only imagine how time consuming it must be. But again I'm not sure that
wou=
ld increase the number of messages on the Yahoo group.

=20

Thinks I would like to see:

=20

1.	Re-instatement of the HA Meetings, Nationally and possibly Regionally
if=
numbers were high (or low) enough.=20
2.	On the back of the Meetings I would like to see more demonstrations /
le=
ctures. I only attended one of the HA meetings but the lectures where a
hig=
h point for me... I think some beginners sessions, old chestnuts about
cabl=
ing a house, types of cable etc etc as well as demos of Kit such as Sonos,
=
XLobby, C-Bus xAP etc etc etc=20
3.	It would also be good if these could be recorded and made available as
P=
odcasts / Videocasts so others could learn from them and they could be a
re=
ference point. Mark's video shorts are a great way of getting ideas and
pro=
ducts across.

=20

Maybe if things were to become more multimedia it would be less daunting
fo=
r may beginners, allow those interested to learn, and even help with WAF
as=
demos my elicit some support for our goals...

=20

I have been a member for a number of years now and wouldn't suggest the
lis=
t is going down hill in any way. I think HA has, in some areas, become
more=
mainstream. An example is Sonos (=A3400 per zone?), but on the flip side t=
here is XLobby which could be cobbled together for almost nothing. If it
co=
uld be seen in action and people were encouraged, supported and shown how
i=
t can be done. Other areas that provide real integration are XBMC, how
many=
people have seen how good this is in real life and again how cheaply it ca=
n be achieved (re-con X-Box =A340? Existing media storage).

=20

The great thing about UKHA_D is that it continues to appeal to people with
=
a vast range of ability, how many people on the list could set up a
reverse=
proxy, but there are enough to show those who don't how to do it, and more=
importantly why it should be done... I think the list also provides a lot =
of unbiased advice (in most cases at least (Idratek seem to have a mole in
=
the camp ;-) )) and this sort of advice is invaluable.

=20

Bottom line is, Mark keep up the good work, and if time allows let's look
a=
t using some more of the available delivery methods to encourage more
parti=
cipation.

=20

Nigel (Still not finished the HA in his house...)

=20

=20

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark McCall [mailto:lists@xxxxxxx]=20
Sent: 14 May 2008 13:22
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [ukha_d] UKHA Mailing List - Future. Volume dropping month by
=
month

=20

Have a look at this -=20
http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/lifelist.html
<http://www-usr.ride=
r.edu/~suler/psycyber/lifelist.html>=20
I think we've moved into stage 6C ;) With trips back to stage 5 a few times
in the past.

Looking at my other Yahoo Groups, most are in a similar position,
HomeVision, Comfort, SelfBuild groups etc all reducing their traffic
volume=
.

I think there are other factors. Over the years there have been too many
spin-offs in my opinion taking a lot of the "good stuff" off
UKHA_D where i=
t
was born.

There's been some dilution to the Automated Home forums too (some people
prefer the forum format). We also have so many more choices these days,
Mailing lists, forums, IM, Social networking/Twitter etc etc.

The "geek factor" is less too these days, systems are much
friendly to
install and operate. 10 years ago having a wireless LAN at home was a
pipe-dream for most of us. Now you just pop into PC World and within a few
mins of arriving home its all sorted. And that's a good thing.

I do think we also miss the big annual community meet.=20

M.

=20



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