Re: Smarthome Insteon Defective Switchlinc Replacement Program (Re: I think they've done it again)

[ddl@danlan.*com (Dan Lanciani)]

In article <pkj9d2htptus4l3h66i4usavor5ul7qomf@xxxxxxx>, MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Marc_F_Hult) writes:

| (FWIW,  I think some folks have an inflated view of the impact of
| comp.home.automation. This is jist my impression because I don't actually
| have any data. I am particularly skeptical of _post hoc ergo propter hoc_
| causal relations that I often read about in this newsgroup.

I don't know.  Back when I was trying to use the original SwitchLinc product
and SmartLinc was stonewalling with the usual ``your wiring is too noisy''
line, a posting to comp.home.automation with some speculation on the nature
of the bugs actually provoked a phone call from someone claiming to be in
the development department at SmartLinc.  Granted it turned out that their
real motivation was to prevent (or at least delay) me from posting a more
complete description of the problems, but they certainly reacted.

Similarly, years earlier a posting in comp.dcom.telecom about bugs in
a Vive caller ID box provoked a response from (IIRC) the president after
it was somehow brought to the company's attention.  Of course, the purpose
of the response was mainly to attempt to deflect the criticism and confuse
the issue.

Hmm, maybe these examples support your thesis that there isn't much
impact. :)  But it may be a good way to get the attention of otherwise
unresponsive companies, and the availability of archives has made it
much more difficult for those companies to use the, ``nobody else is
having that problem'' excuse...

				Dan Lanciani
				ddl@danlan.*com