chesterwilson

https://www.strata-gee.com/the-real-story-of-why-control4-wanted-to-be-acquired/
 
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I think we should all just walk away from this thread...

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If you want to look back, the OP 'thanked' me for the value I added, when I was the first one to point him to where the answer to the question was found. It seemed pretty apparent they're working with cracked Composer or something, but they had the temerity to throw shade at me for suggesting they use dealer resources to solve a dealer issue.

But, again, thanks for your opinion of your partial perception of the events unfolding, that's productive. I at least responded, several times, on topic.

Ok... Generally I've been fairly quiet for the last year and mostly just reading the threads watching for new C4 stuff or other interesting 3rd party items, and or ideas. 
But I had to pop in and post before slinking back into the shadows...  Are you always this nasty to people and are you yourself a dealer, hopefully not mine if you are... I ask because many of your posts trend towards not so nice. The OP said he just upgraded, didn't say he did it and didn't say he didn't do it.  I think most of us assumed he upgraded via his dealer who didn't inform him of possible issues, conflicts, or loss of functionality.  Believe it or not, not every dealer is amazing and covers these things.  Sometimes a client calls and says they want to upgrade and so the dealer upgrades them, no questions asked. 
Yes you can read this thread and come to possible conclusions but why? What purpose does it serve outside of trolling someone. I'm sure I'll get accused of doing the same thing but if you look at my past posts you'll see that my MO is generally the same. There is no reason to be mean, nasty, ignorant, or otherwise to people.  
With that said, back to the shadows and maybe someday I'll just learn to keep my mouth shut. 

You're apparently not a dealer, because you don't have access to the proper materials, taking away from the livelihood of half the people on this board. 

Thanks for the value that you add to the community.

I don't buy it unless you have an absolutely massive project pm me. I can review your system for free and see what's going on.

Hi Folks,
I’m the Manager of the Mobile and Embedded UI teams at Control4. I’m sorry to hear that you are having issues with your T3s! As has been confirmed we had an issue with doorstations calling T3s which results in long early media delays (when you first see the video before answering). We have a fix and it is currently being tested. I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised by the intercom performance when the fix is released. The  posts about a one to two week turn around is still accurate. I also want to assure you that we have an internal process in place to make sure we avoid these types of issues happening again. This specific issue was due to not testing calls from a doorstation to T3 on a large system. We have different scale racks with 18+ touch panels around the company, but the team responsible for this kind of testing hasn’t had the access they need. We are currently working on fixing that.
Re the other T3 issue the OP referred to, I am unaware of that particular issue. Please work with your dealer to send us the system logs. We are very interested in taking a look.
I appreciate everyone’s patience as we work through these issues! This was a HUGE release with a lot of moving parts. The great thing about Control4 is most of the employees are also customers. We want our houses to work well too! I have seven touch panels (4 in-wall, 3 table top). If my system doesn’t work well my family lets me know. 
Thank you for reading, sorry it was a long one 😁

Absolutely correct when adding new hardware, third-party hardware will be my preference. 

I agree that'd be nice, but obviously can't comment on whether / when that could possibly happen, as Control4 doesn't pre-announce functionality or timelines for functionality.
RyanE

Very true, except a Ring Door Bell doesn't cost $1k and require you to cut into your brick, cedar, aluminum siding.  
 

Which begs the question.  Why buy Control4 Door stations, touchscreens, speaker points and even slave controllers when it is such a huge deal for Control4 to maintain?  They brag about supporting 13,500 third party devices, aren't we better off buying those whenever possible?  

Sending IR/RS232/Audio/Relay/Zigbee signals shouldn't require updated hardware.  There is nothing revolutionary or evolutionary about that function and Control4 has already shown that OSD can be disabled.   
There are a lot of ways to make money but forcing your customers to replace equipment that adds nothing to the customer experience is disingenuous.  
 

....and there is nothing wrong with wanting that.  Don't get me wrong, most people want to get the most out of the stuff they buy, me included.  Its when useful electronic lifespan meets latest and greatest software, then something has to give.  In the case of OS 3, it's C4's right to EOL their products even if they are still useful.   Humans will always see the cynical side as forcing customers to upgrade hardware to get the latest software.   There is probably truth on each side of the legacy hardware vs latest software argument, based on what has been said in last 18 pages of this thread....  In the end, it is still a business and seems this was a business decision.  You cannot make everyone happy all the time.  That is impossible.  You also don't have to upgrade and your existing system as it will still work, until eventual hardware failure forces the upgrade on you. 

Sending IR/RS232/Audio/Relay/Zigbee signals shouldn't require updated hardware.  There is nothing revolutionary or evolutionary about that function and Control4 has already shown that OSD can be disabled.   
There are a lot of ways to make money but forcing your customers to replace equipment that adds nothing to the customer experience is disingenuous.  
 

No reason for Control4 to discontinue support for a fixed door station, and they should allow older controllers to be used as I am extenders. Etc. etc. Actually the processor in an HC 250 as much more capable than that in the I/O extender, yet the I/O extender continues to be supported. This is simply about money. And I will be showing them in the future that I will not buy any Control4 branded hardware  unless it is a controller

Sounds like the best way to use Control4 going forward. Third-party hardware only and avoid all Control4 branded equipment outside of controllers as they are the first to be abandoned. Isn’t it funny that they support all these different equipment yet abandon their own... extinguishing customer loyalty in the process. 

I offer remote programming services as well at reasonable rates! PM me for details.

I use my phone app when I am not in the house or not near any other controls.
MOST of my house does everything automatically. RARELY do I need to use an app or screen - garage doors are an exception to this rule for me.

Very true, except a Ring Door Bell doesn't cost $1k and require you to cut into your brick, cedar, aluminum siding.  
 

Very true, except a Ring Door Bell doesn't cost $1k and require you to cut into your brick, cedar, aluminum siding.  
 

Exactly my frustration...if my 2 $1000 door stations were third party I could upgrade and continue to use them.  Now if I want to upgrade to 3.0 I will have 2 $1000 doorstops.  Not only that but the new units are of a different size and I previously spent $500 I spent to have a mason cut the brick .  Control4 is nearing the end of the road for me.  I likely won’t upgrade and will slowly quit replacing older gear due to their lack of support.  If dealers think these type of corporate moves will expand their customer base they are likely wrong.  If you expect your customers to replace equipment like a doorstation every 5 years then you don’t understand the market for your product.  I can understand the need to make older controllers obsolete, but fixed in-wall devices should be permanent and supported.  
 
Also my speaker points are just used as local amps...do they really have to be removed?  Why would and amp need to be removed?

They make money on the sale of hardware, not really the sale of software. 
It's crazy when people throw out comparisons of upgrading your iPhone every 2 years.  I use my iPhone more then my Control4 system in its entirety, let alone a touchscreen, controller, etc.  
Chalk it up as a lesson learned and minimize your investment in Control4 products.  Whenever possible buy third party products.  No more touchscreens, speaker points and controllers behind TV's for me.
 

They make money on the sale of hardware, not really the sale of software. 
It's crazy when people throw out comparisons of upgrading your iPhone every 2 years.  I use my iPhone more then my Control4 system in its entirety, let alone a touchscreen, controller, etc.  
Chalk it up as a lesson learned and minimize your investment in Control4 products.  Whenever possible buy third party products.  No more touchscreens, speaker points and controllers behind TV's for me.
 

In an update mainly focused on UI changes, I can't understand why they stop support of items like door stations and speaker points. Even a controller that is more a slave than a primary unit, why would you not just support it albeit on older firmware?
All driven at selling more hardware. In an industry of pretty poor suppliers and some new upcoming players why would you alienate everyone?

Most ppl don't buy an iPhone ever year