Just received this via email. Thought this will result in a chuckle or two...

************************************************

January 24, 2004For Immediate Release

Contact: Wesley Mullings
Digital Lifestyles, LLC
[email protected]
973-446-9488

Partnership to Provide Affordable HA-Ready Topology to Mid-Market Homeowners and Builders

Digital Lifestyles, LLC, and Home Planners, LLC, wholly owned by Hanley Wood, LLC, have partnered to provide consumers and home builders with an affordable home automation upgrade package. Home Planners is promoting the upgrade package through its plans magazines and books as well as two plans websites: www.eplans.com and www.dreamhomesource.com. The pre-construction exposure will help increase public awareness of the custom electronics industry and spur an estimated workload growth of 3% or more in 2005.

Digital Lifestyle’s universal plug-and-play wiring topology design—named “HA-Ready”—is the cornerstone of this innovative product. HA-Ready’s standard design offers 10 subsystems: lighting, security, telecommunications, climate control, home networking, home theater, whole-house audio/video distribution, video surveillance, electronic entry access, and motorized window treatments, and can be applied in single-family or multifamily dwellings. Designs for wiring a gaming substructure are currently in development for use with Sony, GameCube, Nintendo, Xbox, and other gaming platforms.

HA-Ready provides an affordable entry point for mid-market consumers and builders looking to create the home of the future. The topology installation and materials are priced at approximately 5% - 10% of the home’s construction costs, making it affordable for the mainstream, 2,500-square-foot market. This unique and affordable approach has one goal—to encourage adoption of advanced home technologies and increase growth opportunities across multiple businesses and business models.

HA-Ready offers installers more labor revenues and the opportunity to design and install additional electronics beyond the basic wiring topology. The universal topology will support any currently available electronics system, account for furniture placement and rearrangement, and accommodate future growth and technological advances.

Digital Lifestyles is also formulating a partnership with ConnectHome that will allow approved members of ConnectHome’s installation network to be given these jobs. In return, ConnectHome refers its incoming design work back to Digital Lifestyles. Full ConnectHome dealers receive full 3rd party design work, training, and technical support for their local projects. ConnectHome’s website is www.connecthome.com.

The list of compatible systems includes, but is not limited to: AMX, Crestron, Xabler, Xperinet, Xplore, HAI, Applied Digital, JDS Technologies, LiteTouch, Lutron, Vantage, Centralite, Lightolier, Elan, Destiny Networks, Matrix Audio, B&K, Oxmoor, M&S Systems, ADA, Opus Technologies, Audio Access, Audio Control, Russound, Xantech, Niles, Sonance, Speakercraft, NuVo, ChannelPlus, ChannelVision, Makita, Sivoia, Somfy, BTX, Ademco, Napco, GE Interlogix, and Elk.

About Digital Lifestyles, LLC
Founded in 2001, Digital Lifestyles, LLC is a personal technologies design firm that specializes in project documentation, interface design, and producing operation and troubleshooting manuals for complete automation systems. Digital Lifestyles also offers a comprehensive training curriculum and has a unique vision for introducing advanced levels of home automation and personal technologies to the mass market.

About Hanley Wood
Hanley Wood, LLC, is the premier media company serving housing and construction. Through five operating divisions, the company produces award-winning magazines and Web sites, marquee trade shows and events, rich data, and custom marketing solutions. The company also is North America’s leading provider of home plans.

Founded in 1976, Hanley Wood is a $200 million company owned by VS&A Communications Partners III, LP, the private-equity affiliate of media industry merchant bank Veronis Suhler Stevenson.

Look out is right.

It's dated 2004; is that a typo?

It names Xplore - thought they were gone.

Good question. ConnectHome called today, I said I wasn't any more interested than when they last called 15 months ago. They said they'd forward a press release that may change my mind. Once received, I didn't get past the second line.

What the hell is this?

Is he allowed to use the word "Lifestyles"?

Quick............Call The Blose Legal Team

Looks like ole Wesley has some compettion out there. Nobody seems to get it, Custom installation..................is Custom Installation.

Amen!!

If I recall, they did sue someone for the use of the phrase"digital lifestyle" come to think of it, it was Cedia. And it wasn't even the name of the company.

Jason

In fact, Bose is now challenging the trademark of "Digital Lifestyles", an integration company in Austin. Also AMX for its Lifestyles integration by AMX.

Is the wiring compatible with the wireless systems? How about Lutron HomeServe? How about X-10, I don't see that listed, is it compatible with that, that' the most important one?

;-) :-)

p.s. How about 802.11G? The wiring HAS to be compatible with 802.11G and I don't see that listed either.

We may malign Wesley for the most read thread I can ever remember. We may all know in our hearts that this kind of thing will never work in a true custom sense. We may keep the joke alive for a long time.

But... and you all can flame me royally for saying this... Wesley is on to something. While I may never personally want to wire 2500 sq ft houses up all day long and deal with clients who have a BB mentality... other installers will. Wesley has positioned himself to make money through a few partnerships and probably has what many of us do not... an exit strategy. He may be laughing at us all someday when he's sipping Dom Perignon on a yacht in the Bahamas while our 50 something asses are still pulling custom wires through a crawlspace and working 80 hours a week. Maybe Wesley is just a guy who pulled back from our industry... looked at the big picture and found himself a way to cash in. Do I believe his way is right... NO! But I've been thinking a lot lately about how I will ever be able to sell my little company that is really identified by me and whether at this rate I'll ever be the one on the yacht (actually I'll settle for a little vacation time and the ability to be the kids soccer coach someday).

Ladies & Gentlemen... you are welcome to start the flaming! Just remember that I'm playing devils advocate... not joining the dark side.

rhm9,

Wesley may indeed be on to something. But it's also a distinct possibility his plan is all smoke and mirrors and marketing speak. Sometimes that can make millions, but more often than not it fails miserably. But why do they need his design services (I'm referring to the article) - I thought the whole point of his system was that the architect and builder could do the designing, wasn't it ???!!!

I suggest he instead try to market Pet Rock II, Son of Rock, the Sequel. I think it would have a better chance of succeeding.

BTW, I think the idea of a robust wiring standard is great. The part I found funny was the claim that any architect or builder could use his standard to be fully compatible with any system. Even the press release or whatever it is quoted above is pure bullshit. "Compatible with Crestron". What the hell exactly does that mean? Is there a wire in place for a video touchscreen with Cresnet, RGB, video composite, Cat 5 etc?

This message was edited by QQQ on 01/29/05 13:20 ET.

In that they are both selling snake oil - and that Wes has found an approriate partner in ConnectHome - and PT Brnum was right - then you are also right rhm9. I'm sure that in spite of the flaws, the program will have some degree of success - but probably not with our industry (at least with the true "custom installers".

The Custom Install market will become segmented over the next 5 years and the ones that pursue true "custom" work, will set that standard. The trunk slammers, Magnolia's, BestBuy, et al will do the cookie cutter install or what I might call "semi-custom" that many of us are languishing in now (but not me). And that section of the market will become very, very competitve and commodity based. Just like what Wes is trying to do to prewiring a home.

rhm9:


I am pretty sure the TWAT beat's it even without looking at the numbers


the thing is so does Monster and Bose and we pick on them, so why not him :-) the point is not just to make money (let's face it, it is always part of it) but to offer quality to the customer for what they can afford.