On 05/28/04 23:23, Dean Roddey said...
You don't have to have the skills to write the
drivers and the code, any more than you need to
know how to build IR emitters to use a Crestron
system. I've already done that for you, or will
do for you in the case of drivers that you might
need. All you need is the skill to configure drivers,
set up the actions you want to be able to invoke,
and draw the interfaces using the interface designer
(and of course install the hardware, which is
a requirement either way.)
This is my biggest pet peeve regarding these PC based systems. The Close-mindedness of the companies. I must admit I have not looked very deeply into your product at this point, but I plan to do so.
Heres the problems I see..........
We make no money on hardware, and the software is closed, Which forces us to rely on the manufacturer to provide updated modules and control drivers. So then we make no money on programming either....
Why do I want to sell this?
Xplore actually allowed me to make a fair amount on the hardware, but was always reluctant to share coding information. I installed 2 systems, one for a customer that liked to upgrade his componets regularly. Getting Xplore to create and IR driver for a new product was not easy. With AMX, if I dont have a driver, I can create one in about 5 minutes and upload it. done.
Maybe your system is more open, Like I said I havent looked into it yet.... But I'm a skilled programmer, and forcing the coding away from me is not going to win any manufactuer my support.
True custom installation companies have a real staff which includes sales, project managers, and installers and Programmers. Sometimes one person wears more than one hat, and sometimes Programming gets outsourced.... In any scenario, we make significantly less money selling PC based systems. Both up front and on the back end in Service.
ANd lets face it. We all got bills to pay, It would be wonderfull if all of us could treat this industry like a hobby and not worry about the paycheck every week.
AMX and Creston make Solid products, Allow us to make a resonable amount of money, Provide great support, and provide us all the tools we need to be self sufficient. PC Based systems cant fill all four of those categories. Custom companies NEED all four of those catagories to be in business 5, 10, even 20 years down the road....
