On January 23, 2017 at 13:33, therockhr said...
I never said anything about paying less for those subset of Ra2 devices that would work with the Smart Bridge Pro. For instance if someone had a Caseta system with about 20-30 devices and decided they wanted to add a couple of keypads and several fan controls. They call up their local rep and ask how they can do that. At this time the rep would have to rip and replace everything and put in a Ra2 system. That person with Caseta is not going to want to lose that investment they already have in Caseta and also doesnt want to pay for a full blown Ra2 system. Wouldn't the rep rather sell them a couple of $150-$300 keypad dimmers, several $150-$200 fan controls and maybe a motion sensor? Seems like easy money to me.
The same person would have to trade his car in if he wanted to add extra features. In fact i have done just that. I bought a base model Nissan Juke and liked it so when i wanted to just add AWD/Navigation/Leather Seats i traded it in and got the car that had the right features.
Would it have been nice if i could just buy an AWD module and handle the seats and nav with aftermarket products? Sure but that isn't how it works.
I'm not saying every Ra2 device would be compatible with Smart Bridge Pro but a subset of those devices only available through local distributors seems like a win for everyone.
Where does the line get drawn? This was attempted with Prodigy over at Crestron and it failed miserably. Every week it was "why cant we program it in simpl" and "why cant they add a switcher" and "why cant we use prodigy remotes with regular crestron" and on and on until their engineers locked themselves in the Crestron Faraday Cage and blew each others brains out.
