Even if they did "cut and run" that doesn't mean C4 is somehow out of business. I don't know why you think the founders need to hang around.

C4 also didn't leave CEDIA after a failed product launch and then rent booth space with a DIY product. How the mighty have fallen...

Crestron is/was a great product but the market has moved on... It works in commercial spaces and super high end resi. The rest of the market will use an automation system designed from the ground up with the customer, not the integrators, in mind.

That may or may not even be Control4 but I think out of all the systems we integrators install they are the closest.

I cant wait to see the DM/Sonos systems you guys are going to install.

Should be a treat!

So you think Crestron and C4 are the only two options in the industry?

This is quite a time. I still support orange and purple but certainly question viability.

In 2003 I was pushing pronto over intellicontrol and playing with VIA (got super peeved when switching the canned 'motif' crashed the panel).

+1

why use a sonos when for $600 i have a controller, remote and media server

I'm not blind to the fact there are other pockets of products out there... hell I used to work for one. I will say Control4 is leading now and Crestron is not. Which is a big change from the way things were even 5 years ago.

BUT the bigger change is the market is about to start leading... and you have to ask is your vendor positioning itself to keep up with the market.

I believe both C4 and Crestron (with Pyng) have the ability to keep up -- the architecture of these products are forward thinking. I can tell you with certainty most of the others are not ready to integrate with DIY services such as IFTTT or Echo which is where the puck is. I don't see the other vendors even skating toward that puck.

There's a lot of work for them to do and Apple is about to activate a half of a billion iDevices with a Home app. Google really screwed up with Nest but they are regrouping now. So be ready for the market to be the leader -- not Crestron, Control4, RTI, URC, Savant. They need to keep up with end user demands or they'll be less and less valuable moving forward.

And the same goes for the home tech professional. We're all used to designing and selling systems with A - B - C. But here's the deal... you're probably going to find that just A is all your customers need or want and it probably works pretty good. What are the financials of URC and RTI going to look like if CEC actually works? We laugh but what if it happens? What is video distribution going to be for us if TVs get apps? That's coming. If you sell high end HDMI systems they're going to disappear quick when you don't need to force HDMI over cat5 to get 4k to TVs.

Times are a changing. The market is leading now -- not us. We can only hold on for the ride.

I agree with a lot of this. The only argument I would take regarding HA in the market is that there will always be people who have money and will always want something better. It's the reason we don't all just drive Hyundai's...

What if? What if? What if? Today's tech will always get easier over time, but what's great about this industry is that we all get to look forward to tomorrow's technology that will no doubt be hilariously complex and intimidating for the average consumer--that's what will keep us in business. You act as if someone said STOP and all tech development will pause for the next 10 years. That's not how this works.

Nice move! 👍

" Crestron 'Wins' Sonos Integration "

Always :)))

It seems to me you guys are pretty safe at the level where actual customization is required. There's more and more stuff out there that will let less and less technical people do very basic things. But once any desire to customize enters the picture, then for most folks it's either pay someone to do it or do without, the exception being the smallish enthusiast market.

It seems to me you'd be wanting to look for products that allow you to get in the door simply but with sufficient customization capability to outstrip what the potential customer is going to be willing to learn/do himself, but which allow you to up-sell, expand, and customize over time without having to replace the core automation hardware.

I know of a product like that, but apparently they are limpers.

"Sir, Mam, would you like simple Sonos audio, or add Sonos to your fully integrated Crestron home? We can do both."

"Oh, you would like us to come design a system for your 100,000 sq. ft. office building, we can do that too!"

Crestron, the best product in the world. Looks like a winner to me.

"Oh, you want to integrate your home, but don't want to sell a kid to the black market organ transplant network to pay for it? Sorry, we are Crestron. Can't help you there"

If it's cheaper than Pyng, it probably doesn't work:)

The last couple of comments have it pegged. The market is changing. Also there are fewer "recession proof" customer out there. Sure, if you're in a major market or resort area you're pretty safe......for now. I read a report last year stating that compared to the hey day of 1998 (peak of consumer electronics spending), today only 1/19th of the total money is spent today; and that includes the mobile space.. The high end is fun, big cash cow, but ultimately fragile.
If you seek to the rich, you'll live with the masses, if you sell to the masses, you'll live among the rich...