Why isn home automation more pervasive today?
George: Well it is catching on, albeit slowly. “Buying” home automation is not like buying an appliance or even a home theater system. A customer can be shown a new refrigerator or TV set, but how does a salesman effectively demonstrate home automation? Also, all of the user devices must be compatible with each other and with the HA system so that they can talk to each other. So, when a customer buys in to a particular system, he/she is really making a long-term commitment. Tom’s Hardware: We’d think that a basic home automation setup could be deployed for less than the price of a mid-grade computer. Many households have two or more computers these days. Is it the installation process scaring most folks off? George: Also, there’s the matter of retrofitting into the existing housing inventory. Each year, only a tiny percentage of the housing stock is new, which means the biggest market for HA is in existing homes, and some of them have been around for 40+ years. Tom’s Hardware: Most peo
