Re: Insteon/X10

[Marc_F_Hult <MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 11:17:45 GMT, nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston) wrote in
message  <4604f714.747345843@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

>"Dan Wright" <nobody@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>>
>>"Marc_F_Hult" <MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>>news:7vb903p4ttas4ndvaqke0blnd910hvq2q2@xxxxxxxxxx
>>
>>> Point being that Z-wave and Zigbee are also seen as vulnerable.
>>
>>The article was quite slanted, looking more like a Lutron press release
than
>>anything resembling responsible journalism.  Presumptively since Leviton is
>>a big dog they did not go into this without adequate preparation.
>>
>>Anyone interested in this would find Lutron's litigation history
>>instructive.
>
>"responsible journalism"? What a quaint concept.

Dave gratuitously bashes yet another entire profession on which he personally
depends.

When Dave is done, he will be remembered for having trash-talked everyone but
himself.

>Julie Jacobson has been an editor of Electronic House and similar (related?)
>publications for many years. She posted to CHA as far back as 1995. I've
>never found her technical analyses very useful or very accurate. I think she
>mostly rewrites advertiser's press releases.

This article was a timely article and the news was the lawsuit that was filed
a couple of days before. It was much more than a re-write of a press release.

>In the article on the Lutron
>vs. Leviton patent suit she implies Z-Wave hasn't been shipping two-way
>switches when all Z-Wave RF switches have been two-way from the beginning.

>Over the past 25 years patent law has become increasingly divorced from
>reality so I wouldn't venture to guess how the Lutron vs. Leviton and
>similar Lutron suits will shake out but it would appear that INSTEON, not
>having any RF switches, is one recent technology that need not worry about a
>suit, at least along these lines.

Dave misses the point with this circular argument. The original question was
why INSTEON wasn't shipping any RF besides the coupler. One explanation is
that it hasn't invested in/developed RF switches and other RF gear because it
wanted to avoid the expensive lawsuit that has now been filed by Lutron
against Leviton and is waiting for the dust to settle.

>Here are some links that think Lutron has a strong position...
>
>http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/347888/residential_wireless_control_network_patent.htm
>http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/news/article.php/3636111

Which was the conclusion offered in the article that Dave trashes.

>The Control4 suit might explain why several ZigBee based systems were
>delayed and, when introduced, were rather limited in utility.
>
Which was a point made in the article. And the same point to be made about
INSTEON RF that involves switches and two-way comms.

... Marc
Marc_F_Hult
www.ECOntrol.org