Phew; that took a long time to get through and I even skipped a couple of pages. Nice to see such passion even if some of it is misguided.

First and foremost I am an integrator that bases his entire business on two things; 1. Media Center. 2. Marketing directly to builders. Needless to say Life|ware for me is a huge part of my business.

I'd like to first address the original subject of this thread; EI "going straight" to builders. When I heard this it was all I could do not to hug Steve and Seale from EI the next time I saw them. Do you have any idea how hard it is, and how much time is involved in marketing to builders? They are a stubborn bunch who still refer to what I do as "smart homes". To have a company like EI working for and with me to communicate with and educate builders is HUGE. Being located in the North East I simply don't have the resources or time to dedicate to educating the vast amount of builders in my area, not to mention the clients they serve.

For me it's all about education and awareness. To have a company like EI and to a larger extent Microsoft, putting their marketing dollars into promoting awareness of home automation as a general concept will eventually translate into more jobs for me as more and more builders and homeowners look to add home automation. Just as it was stated earlier in this thread (by Julie, I believe) market penetration for home automation is pathetic.

As for the Best Buy thing; I for one welcome it. Again; more awareness and exposure for home automation. When the recipient of a BBY install wants to "do more" who do you think they'll call? Best Buy? Nope; they're all done. They have nothing more to sell them to further automate their home. They call me. That gets me into a home I might have not otherwise gotten into to sell more automation with more margin and as I walk through the house I get to point out, "Oh by the way; your finished basement would be perfect for a mini home theater." Microsoft Vista Premium present in millions upon millions of homes? I like those numbers and the potential that they have on my business.


There will always be Microsoft haters. I've learned to stop trying to convert them. When establishing my business model I looked at the bigger picture of who is going to have the muscle to help penetrate this market in a way that will create main stream buzz amongst consumers and, for once, a pull market instead of the push market that it is now. As far as I'm concerned Crestron and AMX have had their chance. They've been around for a long time and created some interesting closed system products. In that time they (and a handful of others) have been able to create approx. 5% market share for home automation and practically zero brand awareness among John and Jane Consumer. I think it's time for some fresh perspective. It's easy to stand on a soap box and yell "Microsoft sucks, blah, blah, blah" becasue you have a desktop computer that crashes once a week. I tell you what; I had an Elan system that crashed on a daily basis. My desktop computer at work is a lot more reliable by comparision.

I must applaud Steve for venturing into this forum as he's taken a lot of heat. That exhibits his and everyone else at EI's dedication and passion to this market and specifically to the CEDIA channel. Anyone who questions EI's dedication to this channel simply does not know what they are talking about or haven't invested the time to really research EI and the team behind it.

And in case you were wondering, I sell Niveus Media Centers; the best on the market bar none. I defy you to find a more stable digital media management device that gives you access to ALL of your digital media.