Subject: From: Date:

RE: [ECS] "DOS based " Kevin Keast Tue, 26 Jan 1999 21:34:09 -0500

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Dan,

I must hand it to your wife.  Sounds like a definate pro-ha person.  That is
great.  It is the misfortunes that hurt me.  I am learning to beta test
EVERYTHING while my spouse is away so the impact is minimal when I get the
system online.

Kevin :()

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dan Carrington [mailto:dc_grafx@microworks.net]
> Sent: Monday, January 25, 1999 3:32 PM
> To: ecs-list@netbloc.com
> Subject: Re: [ECS] "DOS based "
>
>
> I would have to say, the spousal resistance factor would vary with the
> person and the automation.  My wife loves our automated house.  She
> likes the announcing of me coming home before someone is messing with
> the lock on the door.  She likes the button that has ECS tell her if any
> doors are left open.  She loves the same feature when we shut down the
> house at night.  She loves the multi-person and weekday/weekend
> automatic wakeup alarms with lights and radio.  She likes the radios
> around the house that all switch to the same source when you play a CD.
> She likes the radios that automatically switch to the best radio
> programs by day and time, avoiding the stupid talk shows.  She love the
> alarm system that she doesn't have to ever punch in a key code.  She
> loves the driveway light that turns on when she comes home so she can
> see anybody lurking around and she can see when she gets out of the
> car.  She loves only hitting one button to turn on and off my
> complicated theater system.  But most of all, she loves the automatic
> lights.  She and I always make funny comments to each other when
> visiting our families out of town when we have to remember to turn a
> light when we walk into a room.
> Now, she doesn't know the interface on the computer, but she could
> easily learn it if she cared to.  I also run any programing I am
> planning by her for her feedback on the changes in the house and to see
> if she has any better ideas on how to easily program the new feature.
> (I do have to admit that she is computer and Audio/Video savvy.  She
> also has had more programing classes than I have had.)  But in the
> overall sense, she has no spousal resistance to automation.  We must
> remember in our hobbies, to ask what they want out of it and put some of
> those things into our programing.
>
> Dan Carrington
>
>
>
>
> "Bass, Bill" wrote:
> >
> > The "spousal resistance factor" to home automation is pretty
> > high in my home, and I suspect this is true for many others
> > as well (I am slowly making progress by adding capabilities
> > to the home one piece at a time.  The greatest impression I
> > have made on her so far, is getting the light over the stove
> > to come on automatically when someone walks into the kitchen).
> > Unfortunately, ECS is not something I can show off to my
> > wife to impress her that it is worth the purchase price.  A
> > slick looking GUI would certainly increase the "Gee Whiz"
> > factor and make it easier for us "converts" to sell it to the
> > "heathens".  Meanwhile, I am anxiously "champing at the bit"
> > to purchase the full version of ECS as soon as she will let
> > me.  I have been able to get her attention with promises of
> > computer screening and TTS announcements of incoming telephone
> > calls.
> >
>

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