I can assure you that Daniel, the owner of Remote Central, maintains a fair and unbiased editorial stance. We here at URC see negative comments about our products and service from time to time just like other manufacturers do. Daniel doesn't delete them. As much as it might benefit us if there was a way to limit negative commentary, Daniel holds the integrity of his site above the influence of advertising dollars.

Before I continue, let me say that this is me talking as a technically proficient consumer who happens to be inside URC. This is not URC talking. 

I get grilled every time I try to offer a fair and rational explanation of URC's consumer policy, and that's probably going to happen this time as well. Still, I'm going to attempt this one more time, in the hope that I can communicate that our policies are designed to meet the specific needs of a specific market, not to smash the hopes or insult the intelligence of technically competent do-it-yourselfers.

Regarding a consumer version of our editor software: we respect your view, but there's a much larger picture in our business model than simply trying to increase unit sales. The editor software is only one facet of our whole-house product line strategy. That strategy involves designing inter-operable devices that are geared to the types of home theater and whole-house automation strategies that professional installers deploy.

Is it possible for technically proficient end-users to figure out our editor software? Of course it is. However, making a "lite" version for consumers opens up a tremendous can of worms with effects that ripple through the entire product line and affects every division of the company, from marketing to technical support.

First and foremost, most consumers are not technically proficient—and that's okay, because they don't care to be. Technically proficient consumers could always have set the clocks and program their VCR's, but 90% of consumers never did either. Second, the training we provide to our installers isn't about how to work the editor software; it's about how to incorporate our products into solutions, using techniques and technologies that 99% of consumers would never attempt on their own. Keeping our editor software exclusive to our dealers isn't about telling anyone they're not capable of using the software. It's about gearing the technologies we create to the installers who make their living providing solutions to people who very specifically do not want to do it themselves. Watering that technology down at one end of the product line has implications that negatively affect our primary market. 

We do make some consumer products, but they're not tied in to the Complete Control or Total Control ecosystems. If those products don't meet a technically proficient consumer's needs, that consumer can try to work with a dealer to get pro-level products and software. But URC doesn't reduce the capabilities of our professional product lines to accomodate the consumer market, even if potential unit sales are greater in that market. An analogy is that the market for lawn tractors is vastly greater than the market for commercial graders, but Caterpillar doesn't make a consumer version of their professional construction equipment.

In short, technically proficient consumers are, and always have been, in a gray area for technology companies. What we design for average consumers doesn't do everything you want it to do, and what we design for professionals can't be scaled back to meet your needs without compromising the professional market. There simply aren't enough tech-savvy consumers to design products specifically for that market. As a result, us technically proficienct consumers are frequently left wanting for features we desire or for access to product lines that aren't consumer-level at all.

I hope everyone sees this as a friendly dialog about this issue. I know I'm not going to change anyone's mind, because it's frustrating to want things and then hear that you're not getting the answer you wanted. Conversely, replies or arguments to this won't change URC's policies, even if somehow you managed to change my personal view on the subject. I also know it's very easy to think, "they should do this," when you're not involved with the business decisions that dictate why they don't "do this." In any case, I'm not trying to shoot anyone down here or rain on anyone's parade. I'm just trying to give a fair and honest reply to the simple question of why URC doesn't make a consumer version of our professional products.

Best regards,

Dale Crawford
Product Design Manager
Universal Remote Control, Inc.