On October 22, 2010 at 20:59, Barry Gordon said...
What I am pushing for is as follows: Two certification classes; for want of better terms, Hobbyist and Installer.
The material available to both would be the same. The difference would be something like level 3 which I do not think hobbyists are interested in (I know that neither Lyndel nor I are interested in "Level 3" as we understand it).
AFAIK Level 3 (what I would call Installer) does not give you any additional access but certifies you as an individual that Philips believes has all the proper training and credentials to do the programming and installation of Philips Pronto based systems for re-numeration. This includes the entire Pronto Pro family and covers network setup and troubleshooting of complete installations in a client environment.
It does not imply that a hobbyist isnt capable of doing those things, but states that the Hobbyist has not pursued the Philips certification that they are capable of doing those things. This allows dealers and custom installation operations to announce/advertise that their employees are trained and certified by Philips to program and maintain system involving the Pronto Pro Line of remotes.
I would have no issue if Philips restricted that certification (Installer) to individuals who are professionally employed in the custom installation vocation and can provide satisfactory proof of that.
I really hope that is what Philips decides. All of the previous comments fall a bit short in my view. Some seem to imply that hobbyists should get a portion of what the professionals have access to. If the professionals can make use of it, then I may be able to as well. I probably paid more for my unit than the professionals do. I shouldn't be crippled in my ability to program it or add features.
Come on Philips, Barry seems to be on to something here...
