We've been sent this interesting essay from Alex Chelmis. Take a few minutes to read his ideas and let us know what you think on our FORUMS or MAILING LIST...
Submission by: Alex Chelmis
Preface
Since I remember myself, I have always been fascinated by robots. As a kid it was my favourite day-dreaming subject and loved all the movies that featured robots of any kind.
Soon I realised that I was also attracted by other gadgets you could use in order to perform an operation that would be too difficult, or need too much time and effort for a human.
At some point it became clear that what actually fascinated me was anything that would automate an operation which otherwise would need a human interaction.
It was inevitable to fall in love with the new "up-coming" world of home automation.
Unfortunately, every time I tried to follow a project published or advertised about home automation, I found myself getting confused and finally bored with the details.
During the past 15 years I have visited exhibitions and read many articles and white papers offering "all in one" home automation solutions. After the initial excitement, I got confused with unnecessary complicated processes, giving me the feeling that they have completely missed the point.
Everything that currently exists under the title of "home automation" or "smart home" is a proprietary idea customised to somebody else's requirements who is trying to convince you that his everyday needs are similar to yours.
Any attempt to create open standards (X10) has failed to get broadly accepted and any only appeals to computer & electronic "geeks".
I think we got into this situation because people have forgotten the reason they wanted to automate something in the first place.
This is what this article is all about. Reminding people the basics, and help them maintain the focus on satisfying the "why" while they come up with ideas of "how" they need to automate an operation. I believe there is a need for projects to change the way they are developed, in order to become more appealing to the average person. It is about time for this industry to hit the mass market and you can only achieve that by talking to the non-technical person. There is some much to gain from home automation, enough to change our everyday lives; forever...
