Re: I think they've done it again

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Dave Houston" <nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

> See posts by "xymox1" in this thread on the Insteon forum.

> http://www.techmall.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=180&whichpage=11

Megawatt current surges?  "Dimming" three space heaters at the same time
through a dryer outlet?  600A SCRs?!!!? Bolted together?This a man who
enjoys life on the very edge or works in a power substation.   (-:

I see more and more people like Douglas Lorenz saying things like: "I see
that Smarthome is still trying to sell the "small percentage" story..."

I'm sure that's true in some tangled Clintonian (can you explain what "is"
is, please?)  sense of the phrase.  As in: "The flickering problem only
affects a small percentage of the electronic dimmer switches (long pause)
ever sold by anyone in the entire world!" (-:

What do you want to bet that they know the exact percentage of returned
switches, the cost to *their* bottom line as a result and other detailed
information, and on a daily basis, too?  It probably goes right to the head
honcho at SH every day, with a stack of the latest net traffic.  Wave hello
to the nice man, Dave.  (-:

What I am unsure of is this:  Does the flickering problem affect *every* 1st
gen. switch, appearing only on loads greater than 250W or are there some
switches in the original release that can drive such loads without
flickering no matter what the load?

To imply only a "small percentage of the switches is affected" if all of
them will flicker under some (common) condition is truly misleading!  It
implies that only a few switches are bad, not just that only a few
installations have yet reached a critical wattage load.

It also fails to account for the normal tendency of people to add more
lights to their house rather than remove any.  Those people might not
experience a failure until their first remodel or upgrade of lighting.
They'd be screwed.

The last thing I'd want to have happen is to upgrade to high wattage
floodlights outside in response to some local crime wave and have them start
to flicker away whenever a light goes on or off inside.  That might even get
you a visit from the inspector since the flickering might look very much
like a loose connection in the wiring capable of starting a fire -
especially if more than one bulb flickered in unison.

I'd recommend every Insteon "first gen." switch owner figures out a way to
load their switch to the maximum rating (under very carefully controlled
conditions - don't stick a 300W photoflood in a socket marked "60 watt
maximum for God's sake!!!) to see what happens.

I'd hate to get a call from the new home owner after I moved who was
experiencing flickering because they used floods where I had used low
wattage bulbs.  It comes under the heading of "trouble nobody needs."

All the "Wrong Stuff."  You just can't unscrew that pooch, once the word
gets out.  I actual feel badly for SmartHome.  No one wants their product
rollout to rollover their customers.

To be fair, the pressure to keep the beta small and secret had to be great.
Just given the level of ratf_cking I've read about here in CHA concerning
people stealing other people's work, they must have assumed leaks would be a
problem.

The corporate thinking is often (and rightfully): if they let the beta test
extend too far, they would be sending engineering samples to their
competitors.  They are in the middle of a VERY competitive race to become
the next X-10.  You know, "The one that really works" (say, sounds like a
similarly named operating system!)
--
Bobby G.