TheTechHipster

I posted this on the roku forum but it's more of a work-around for now. Factory reset works for a bit then breaks again. There is a silent update or something happening behind the scenes that breaks everything. My showroom roku broke around saturday. The showroom also runs pi-hole with most things roku blocked but a few domains still squeaked by. One that stood out was configsvc.cs.roku.com. Not sure if that's whats doing the silent update but it's down blocked. I will do a factory reset later and see if it holds. It's not an answer to the problem but a possible temp solution for those with the ability to utilize it.

I think that pretty much explained how there are more fees with Savant over Control4. I was wrong to call it "subscription cost" however, you mostly will need it depending on a "typical" install. Am I wrong? A local integrator sells the 5 year plan but it's still recurring.

I think depending on size of job....absolutely. Crestron is getting better but for small to medium I think C4 is fantastic. C4 also learned from the mistakes of the neeo. I like that in a company. It shows they care(d) about quality.

Crestron is the Maserati of the industry. Amazing system and a work-horse but always going to be a bit more expensive. (Their new OS is re-aligning a bit though) Elan/Nice is similar where you need a 3rd party driver for some things like Roku IP control (you can always use IR....) and that would up the cost a bit but that driver has been good throughout the years of Roku development. URC Totalcontrol or RTI are similar to that but probably priced more similarly to C4 Just give me an old URC mx-980 with RF control at this point

Ahh, so they are chasing the Amazon model. That seems sustainable in this industry. /s I'm sure some of that loss has to do with the control4 merger and assuming everything involved with that. Snap was always a good niche company before that. (no idea of financials) Control4 had a pretty good bang for the buck as well. In 2019 they were coming in hot with the OS3 refresh, updated controllers and amps, Triad One but they were also saddled with debt with other acquisitions before. Leaf in 2015 and Triad 2017. This is partial speculation due to my inexperience with anything corp finance. I can just spot similar trends from other companies I've seen go down this road in the past. All of this leads me to the main point of, I don't think this is going to end well for consumers/dealers in the long run. Right now it seems like a small change but i've seen this game before. Luckily for consumers there are still options.

As of now it will offer "More visibility into how your house is being used (metrics), the ability to use the app (that's right no local app access without.), access to upgrades (confused with this one because you still need a dealer to install and the dealer has access to upgrades) and access to new features in the future. Maybe in the future they will offer more but as it stands it's not there. This is 4sight 2.0 that is mandatory. They are a public company that needs some positive growth. (their stock looks pretty flat after the initial IPO) They need the revenue and they need it soon. Implement and hope the growth will follow. I am a long time lover of C4 and I think all of their choices were really smart up until the IPO. They are the only control company that's public (crestron, savant, Elan/Nice (Nice for you not ltd), urc and rti are all private) and it's a hard industry to show consistent growth in. I am quite concerned about snaps future. They may still be around and they may make money but the value they will give the consumer is troubling. That line needs to go up one way or another

It's more about burnout and people feeling nickle and dimed for little value. If your doing RmR, you need to show value for it. O365 arguably gives you a lot for what you pay for. Netflix gives you a ton of content everywhere. Adobe...etc. Connect breaks down to about $21 per/mo. That's almost as much as a single license for 0365 Business Premium and more than Netflix! (almost netflix premium) What does that get them? It's a nothing add on to high end clients however a lot of those clients are sharply aware of "value". If I can control my lights without a fee (Lutron), watch my cameras remotely without a fee (Hik,Axis...etc) open my garage doors without a fee (Chamberlain...for now) adjust my thermostats (ecobee)....you get where I'm going with this. If you want RmR you need to show value and connect just doesn't currently offer much except for future promises that it will be good. Small installs many times lead to bigger jobs. Start with a remote and audio a lot of times leads to..."Hey what if we add lights", "Im building a new house and thinking..", "I have a cabin where I would love to...". I love the small jobs and this is a dagger for a lot of those. It's too expensive for small builds with little value as it currently is. Throw in an included streaming subscription (like verizon or Att does) and now we have some value to sell.

Savant has way MORE fees than C4. The ones that I know of that are "fee-less" right now are Crestron, Elan/Nice, URC and RTI. Everyone is right about RmR becoming a regular everywhere. However we as consumers/dealers shouldn't have to accept it in everyday life. C4 had fees for app development with 4sight. Not enough for them. Elan/Nice outsources most 3rd party drivers to other companies. This is one way to minimize development costs. There are extra fees with that but not recurring and when building a system for a customer, predictable. Now Elan's future after the Nice acquisition...that's another discussion. The sad thing is I've seen this game COUNTLESS times in the IT realm over 2 decades. It's the same playbook all companies use when they become publicly traded. 1. They start with trying to find new revenue streams to keep that line going up. (RmR is the darling of the public company and is a logical choice) 2. Once peak saturation hits they are going to look for other revenue streams which means either buy additional companies or capitalizing on existing. (Why give dealers margins when you can just sell direct and get ALL of that revenue) 3. After that you want to search for mass adoption (Since you now can sell direct sell direct everywhere) 4. Cut costs at all ends. (Cheapen production, limit R&D, and outsource support.) 5. All of this will end up cheapening the product and now it's time to merge with another company or buy another and start at 1. Both Connect and Assist sets the ground work for the above. It won't be a fast change but mark my words, it will happen. Anyone old enough will remember this playbook with Dell. The current c-suites will insist the above isn't happening. It may actually be possible that this isn't their intent, however, you are public and that line needs to go up.