LinuxSA Mailing list archives

  From: Richard Sharpe <sharpe@ns.aus.com>
  To  : LinuxSA@linuxsa.org.au
  Date: Fri, 09 Apr 1999 09:46:46 +0900

Clipsal C-BUS Automation system considered harmful!

Hi,

We all received a copy of the invitation to attend the SAMG meeting on the
Clipsal C-Bus Automation system.

I have strong views on this matter, which I thought I would air :-) Perhaps
others would like to put counter views.

It seems commendable that Clipsal have developed a home automation system,
as, on the surface it promises to bring in revenue for Clipsal and offer
economic benefits to South Australia (assuming they continue to manufacture
here in SA) and to provide employment etc.

However, in my view, it is another short-sighted Australian effort to go it
alone in the technology arena that will eventually die out in the jungle of
competing standards with better funding and larger customer bases. In the
end, Clipsal customers will find themselves left befind and will have to
replace their C-Bus system, at considerable cost, with another.

There are already standards in the arena of home automation. One of those
is X-10 (I think), which has the disadvantage that it is based around using
power lines for signalling. Another standard is in the works as well. Both
of these standards are from the US.

The facts are that standards are created in the US, Japan and Europe.
Australia has seen too many 'Australian' standards that were designed by
well-meaning organizations and beaurocrats who, frankly, didn't have a clue.

One of the first that I am aware of (there may be other, earlier ones :-)
is the VTE6 terminal standard. It appears to have been an attempt to make
an Australian terminal standard (they were bisync terminals, I think) that
allowed Australian manufacturers to produce the terminals almost free of
competition, as foreign manufacturers would not bother because of the
numbers involved. Eventually, the VTE6 went away as the true costs were
realized.

Another case in point is the Australian-specific ISDN standards that
Telstra foisted on us all some time ago.  The adoption of ISDN in Australia
was significantly retarded in my view, because of the increased cost of the
terminal gear (and possibly Telstra's outrageous charges).  Fortunately,
for Frame Relay sanity has prevailed and international standard gear is in
use.

Perhaps another is the Australian adoption of the 601 socket for phones. I
was recently bitten in Tasmania when staying at a motel that did not have
phones with RJ11 sockets in them, and I did not have an RJ11 adapter, so I
could not access the internet :-(

So, my view is that Clipsal's C-Bus initiative is ill-conceived and will
eventually lead to those who do adopt it having to replace the system
eventually with an international standards-based system. They would have
been better advised to forget NIH, and adopt and produce an
international-standard home automation system.

Having said all that, I would be delighted if Clipsal prove me wrong. One
hopes that they have a significat budget for lobbying the appropriate
international standards organizations.

Regards
-------
Richard Sharpe, sharpe@ns.aus.com, NIC-Handle:RJS96
NS Computer Software and Services P/L, 
Ph: +61-8-8281-0063, FAX: +61-8-8250-2080, 
Samba (Team member), Linux, Apache, Digital UNIX, AIX, C, ...

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