On July 21, 2009 at 13:05,
Audio Atmosphere said...
as far as the second comment please explain in detail what the difference in praising a product and being a fan boy is.. sounds the same. How is Control4 distorting any picture? They have brought affordable automation to the masses and tons of companies are following...
Here is an example of a "fanboi" statement,
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On 1248113808, EastBay said...
Crestron is a great company with great products and even very good technical support. But over the last 5 years (or so), I've noticed that Crestron has been a company that is more reactionary than visionary.
Control 4, on the other hand, continues to innovate and more importantly position its products by addressing things people really need, such as energy management and conservation (among many others)- and are doing so at a very fair price and simple integration. They seem to be very tuned in to what dealers need to stay competitive across the board.
I could post hundreds of examples from Crestron dealers but the stance that one player is close to God while the other is not is ever so typical of so many of these discussions. I've been guilty of this myself which is what happens when you are a fan[atic] of a sporting team or in this case a control system.
Every company reacts to advances a competitor makes and to changing market conditions. Not to do so is to court obsolescence and failure. Grow or die is the mantra and in this economic climate why would a manufacturer risk losing any sale?
I've suggested to one manufacturer who participates on this board ( and who has participated in this thread ) that his company come up with a HDMI matrix solution that also deals with the distance issues but which might cost slightly less than the Crestron solution. Why? Because not everyone is a Crestron dealer and every CI needs a solution to the dilemma of HDMI. But it's an engineering nightmare and no solution is ever going to be "inexpensive? but it is still something the market will require.
Every one of us believes the products we carry are the best manufactured. While C4 os a fine product and for its price offers quite a bit to compare it to a full blown AMX/Crestron system is unfair. Even C4 doesn't do this. Crestron is the dominant player in the CI market and every competitor takes its swipes at it, much as Trent takes his shots at Pitino and Louisville.
why wouldn't Crestron want to steal dealers and sales from other manufacturers without cannibalizing its existing sales? There are always going to be stupid and incompetent dealers, There will always be clients who have issues with a dealer or dealers who have issues with a particular client. Not all Crestron dealers are equally qualified and not all C4 dealers are equally unqualified. Might it be possible that both companies offer products that work, assuming they are competently designed, installed and programmed?
Alan
