So, Home Assistant as a service? I just finished a two-year project to rid myself of Control4 because of the required dependence on a dealer to make even minor changes and fixes. I don't see the value proposition. If I could make my Apple Home work better, or with unsupported devices, I might be willing to pay someone to build and maintain a Home Assistant installation for me, but not these guys, and not with that horrible vaguely defined business plan.
First, congrats on getting rid of Control 4. A few days ago they just launched their own mandatory subscription service to get even basic updates, so you dodged that bullet. OliverIQ is definitely not looking at Home Assistant or similar. That's still 1% of 1% of the market. Looking at their actual demo (not the marketing video), they are currently at a very basic level and showing their own app as "better" than the barely useful Amazon Alexa app (not voice, the actual smartphone app) and Google Home. The initial "experiences", IMHO, are just placeholders. Any moderately competent person can do those simple automations right now in HomeKit, or other automation systems. I do believe they are aiming at the space of someone buying a handful of primarily cloud-connected gadgets at Best Buy, Target, or Walmart, and being totally confused. Anyone truly in a DIY system of any kind is already far more advanced than what they are (currently) targeting. IMHO, the tech support is the real value (and challenge). They should ditch everything else and just sell tech support, but there are other companies already doing that through the professional or service provider channels, so they have to have more than just telephone/online support.
Excited? Is a subscription smart home support service getting your interest? Let me know what you think!
Definitely I'll have one on one consulting sessions with you Sir !!
:-)
So, Home Assistant as a service? I just finished a two-year project to rid myself of Control4 because of the required dependence on a dealer to make even minor changes and fixes. I don't see the value proposition. If I could make my Apple Home work better, or with unsupported devices, I might be willing to pay someone to build and maintain a Home Assistant installation for me, but not these guys, and not with that horrible vaguely defined business plan.
First, congrats on getting rid of Control 4. A few days ago they just launched their own mandatory subscription service to get even basic updates, so you dodged that bullet.
OliverIQ is definitely not looking at Home Assistant or similar. That's still 1% of 1% of the market.
Looking at their actual demo (not the marketing video), they are currently at a very basic level and showing their own app as "better" than the barely useful Amazon Alexa app (not voice, the actual smartphone app) and Google Home.
The initial "experiences", IMHO, are just placeholders. Any moderately competent person can do those simple automations right now in HomeKit, or other automation systems.
I do believe they are aiming at the space of someone buying a handful of primarily cloud-connected gadgets at Best Buy, Target, or Walmart, and being totally confused.
Anyone truly in a DIY system of any kind is already far more advanced than what they are (currently) targeting.
IMHO, the tech support is the real value (and challenge). They should ditch everything else and just sell tech support, but there are other companies already doing that through the professional or service provider channels, so they have to have more than just telephone/online support.