Re: Looking at Zwave products and need recommendations?

[MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

LOL

Dave Houston developed a commercial product (Commander-X) using interaction
with comp.home.automation participants.  A Google search for "Commander-X "
in comp.home.automation yields 3020 entries. The expressed intention was to
create a commercial product for sale. Like many commercial software
developers, Dave gave away the beta releases.

But Commander-X was not successful in turning the corner as a commercial
product despite its technical merits.

(In a "Tell Us How You Use Commander X Contest" that he sponsored, there
were only three entries so he had to give prizes ("Each will receive a free
copy of the initial release of Commander X? 1.0.0") to folks that he then
publicly denigrated as having submitted mediocre entries ...)

Beginning with version 1.0.0sw, released on December 1, 1999 Commander-X
was distributed as shareware. At that time there was an enhanced version
that was only available after paying the full price.

(Google comp.home.automation for the words " only available after paying
the full price" to see who wrote those words - and who now doesn't want to
;-)

Ten months later, on August 29, 2000, existing Commmander-X customers were
informed by email that the product was being withdrawn.

These are facts. They are still in the public record so Dave's posturing
about libel is idle bluster.

The BX24-AHT saga is another story of legal and ethical dodgem.

Unwilling/unable to pay for/obtain FCC approval for the BX24-AHT device, a
fully assembled version was sold overseas -- and expressly available for
shipment to US -- by the same company www.laser.com  that hosted Dave's
site at www.laser.com/dhouston and still hosts Dave's web site
www.mbx-usa.com today.

While Laser was shipping the fully assembled version. Dave claimed that he
was not affiliated with Laser. They "were just kind enough to give [him]
server space".

Dave has posted his opinion in this newsgroup that he couldn't legally sell
his product  assembled in the US. But Dave prominently advertised on his
site (at www.laser.com/dhouston) that Laser sold and shipped BX24-AHT
worldwide including US.

Laser, in turn, announced they didn't sell the unit for use in _Europe_
because it didn't have CE approval. Of course, Europeans could buy the unit
from the web site that Dave's son and grandson set up in the US.

Noli turbare circulos meos!

The plug was abruptly pulled on the web store that his son and grandson set
up. Dave was unable to get admin rights from his family for the yahoo
groups BX24-AHT and that went moribund too.

(Folks wondering whether Dave can serve as an objective reviewer of the WGL
"Whole House Transceiver" might note that the WGL device has been
successfully developed commercially, while Dave's "All Housecode
Transceiver" device never turned the corner -- more schadenfreude IMO. )

Marc
Marc_F_Hult
www.ECOntrol.org

On Fri, 02 Sep 2005 02:29:28 GMT, nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston) wrote
in message  <4319b664.52186632@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

>Every 3-6 months Hult crawls out from under a rock and libels me despite
>knowing that I never sold Commander X but gave it away free for a couple
of
>years before turning it over to my son who tried to commercialize it but
>didn't really have time to devote to it. He also knows that while I
designed
>the BX24-AHT, created firmware for it, created a Windows interface for it,
>provided a bill of materials and free support for it, I never sold
anything
>(my grandson did sell bare printed circuit boards at a very reasonable
price
>until he discovered girls). Having been disabled by a spinal cord injury
for
>nearly 20 years, then congestive heart failure, and now some prostate
>troubles I decided that the freeware I had planned that runs on an
>inexpensive SBC was a bit too ambitious and that I probably couldn't
finish
>it.
>
>"Brian" <brian@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>>Yes, I haven't been around that long to understand but is now clear.