Re: X10 still around?

[Marc F Hult <MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sun, 18 Sep 2005 20:28:43 GMT, nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston) wrote in
message  <432ecd02.23663021@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
>"Wayne Lundberg" <Waynelund@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>>Sorry folks. It's been a long time since participating in this newsgroup.
>>But time has suddenly appeared and I am wondering if all my X-10 stuff is
>>obsolete or has been upgraded or???
>>
>>Anybody?
>>
>>Wayne
>>
>It's still around but is beginning to see some competition. Insteon looks
>like a possible replacement. It's two-way, reasonably priced and is
>compatible with X-10. Read the white paper at...
>
>     http://www.insteon.net
>
>One caveat: It is from the SmartHome folks who have a poor track record.

Races may be interesting, but tend to result in propagation of biased views.
While others are busy betting on their Zigbee/Z-wave/Insteon/etc race horse, it
may be useful to recognize that race horses aren't much good for plowing ...

You won't hear much about it in this newsgroup -- which tends to focus first on
fixing X-10 problems and secondarily on alternatives to X-10 for lighting -- but
there are other important aspects of home automation control other than how the
information gets to the control device ....

That is, however, what most of the current buzz in the club house is about.

Once the reliability/communication issue is resolved (which it was 100.00% for
some lighting installations decades ago) other questions are more readily
recognized as important:

-- Do the lighting controllers (dimmers) buzz? Cause filaments to buzz?

-- How much RF noise to they put in the environment? (compare CE requirements
with near-absent US)

-- Do they contribute to "wall acne" (plethora of wall plates and gizmos) ?

-- Can your visiting Aunt figger out how to turn the lights on in the bathroom?

-- What is their efficiency ?

-- Will the new technology add to, or subtract from, the value of your home?

-- Is the technology  proprietary ?

-- Is the technology secure?

And so on ...

Marc
Marc_F_Hult
www.ECOntrol.org