Wow. I'm not sure where all the venom is coming from. Did Crestron somehow wrong or reject you in a previous lifetime? I've seen people prefer one brand over another but your abject hatred of Big Blue is a little extreme! I don't care for C4 but I don't regard the company and all of it's employees to be evil douches the way you seem to with Crestron. With the scale of jobs that you do, you probably have a lot to offer on this board that would be taken more seriously if you toned down the retoric a couple dozen notches.

I've never heard of a manufacturer coming out to fix a job that a dealer screwed up. That's kind of like asking Home Depot to fix a messed up bathroom remodel because the contractor purchased their supplies there. However, Crestron has offered their support (tech support and in one case pricing support) in helping us as a dealer fix some of the other dealer f-up's in our area.

As for kicking competition out of their booth, if it was AMX I wouldn't be surprised in the least given their recent nefarious interactions with Crestron's rep in the northeast.

and for visionary as opposed to reactionary, I second the previous poster's comments regarding Digital Media. There's nothing else like it out there and it's a much needed product with all the fun that HDCP has introduced into our lives!

Crestron must be about to go out of business because they are reactionary to C4s low priced offering.

LOL!

In the midst of a mind numbing recession they recorded their best year ever in 2008, released more new products than ever before including Digital Media with its 5 years of engineering time and opened their new 100k sq.ft. R&D facility that includes the aforementioned FCC metal testing box.

Can someone remind me please about how much space C4 owns and operates?

As Mark Twain said: The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated!

OK, here's the story.

Crestron's Low-Cost Prodigy to Compete with Control4

I doubt they are looking at smaller companies, just looking at keeping the existing dealers loyal.

Just wondering- what product functionality has Control 4 innovated?

CJ

Thanks, Julie. I saw a comment that is sure to raise some questions-

"Crestron marketing director Vincent Bruno says ...'The user can program it themselves. [emphasis added] We're going to get them [dealers] in and out of a job quickly. It expands their reach beyond just high-end homes.'"

Did he really say that?  I'm guessing that wasn't his real point and that the line would still be closed...

CJ

They don't want people subbing in less expensive components with the main Crestron line. No manufacturer wants to sell a $500 product instead of a $1500 product. Allowing Prodigy to work with mainline Crestron would result in a lot of product line cannibalism, which is when one product succeeds at the expense of your own existing products.

Imagine going in to quote an automation job with all Crestron gear, and finding out that your competition also pitched a "Creston" job, but used a lot of Prodigy product in the system, beating your price by a mile. You lose out, the customer loses out on some functionality that may have been important, and Crestron loses out by selling lower margin product.

Prodigy will likely be run as a totally separate brand, focusing on a totally separate market.

I suspect he means that dealer configures it and customer can tweak, a la Control4. This is a good thing for dealers. They don't make money adding a dimmer to a macro.

I think they want both. They can give existing dealers an option for lower end projects and they can take on new dealers who might have went the C4 route.

I truely think crestron has a good thing going. Im excited and would love to dive into a prodigy system.

Im in a area that the kinds of homes that would use a Creston system; the homes are 45-60 miles a way however within 3 miles of my home are homes that im sure would easily spend the money in a prodigy system.

Opens up so many opportunities and market share for Crestron. In the article they said they don't want to wipe C4 off the market. If thats not their intention they need to open their eyes because I feel they will wipe them off the face of the earth.

C4 will en-turn try to lower prices to keep it competitive with prodigy. However for that, they will have to lower quality and will soon get to the point that their products are falling apart along with their customer base.

You sign on to Crestron you praise Crestron. You become a C4 dealer, you become a c4 fanboy. It's inevitable and predictable, with the requisite exagerations that fanatics bring to the table. But to suggest that Crestron has done no innovating over the last few years whereas C4 has is to distort the picture just a tad.

alan.. While im not sure what FCC type testing is done @ Control4 they do have an RF Enclosure room to do testing with their products. I dont really see how having your own Testing facility or UL bench team is any better than properly designing a product and sending it to the FCC..


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...

for starters a Fixed UI automation system that a large group of installers are capable of integrating.. There is no UI programming so people who could never install Crestron or Amx can install a product that works and has a nice UI with lots of features.

then adding a very simple programming structure ( their composer software ) makes it even that much easier..

You mean that big rf testing room that C4 has onsite in SLC?

The one thats been there since 2006?

Oh, I forget. Crestrons hand held remotes were still operating on fcc regulated cordless phone frequencies and being repackedaged with a crestron logo in 2006, 2007, 2008. HMMMMM.........isn't that a picture of a Philips POS remote pictured with the prodigy product? Isnt it only one way zigbee at the moment?

crestron is making a half hearted attempt to be a player in a market they dont really care to be in, other than by necessity as our industry grows.

My company is a Control4 and Crestron dealer. We have used Control4 to quote projects in price points that are difficult to reach with Crestron. I am excited about the prodigy line because it isn't made by Control4. I believe that a lot of people here are missing the point that Control4 as a company, regardless of product innovations is very bad to deal with. Yesterday I received a box of power supplies from Control4 with a note that says WE need to replace all of the power supplies on our clients HC300 home theater controllers. It made me remember the early days when the dealer was tasked with finding the bugs in their product.

Control4 from the beginning has layed out their product and business structure to sell to end users. Those of you who say you've never lost a deal to a Crestron dealer need to look into the future, Best Buy, and learn from the past, Home Depot, Circuit City, & Tweeter. There will come a day when Control4's website has an add to cart option.