5 ms·

I was surprised to not find any X10 ads in there, but I guess they just never did small GIFs. Some of their examples from back in the day http://pages.cs.wisc.e

by allenu 5y ago

I was surprised to not find any X10 ads in there, but I guess they just never did small GIFs. Some of their examples from back in the day http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~kuan/x10.html http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~kuan/x10.html

TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
Interestingly all of those images seem to be for their camera products. But long before those, X10 sold remote control systems that switched devices on/off over in-home electrical wiring (using the independent X10 protocol). The reliability of these systems were pretty bad as I recall. They offered something like 16 channels with various management devices that allowed for complicated scheduling of device switching.
- allenu 5y ago
  Heh, I remember those. I had my first internship around that time and one of the made-up jobs my boss at the time had me do was look into those switches. Another intern told me he just wanted someone to look into it since he wanted to try using them on his own home. :)
- anonymousiam 5y ago
  X10 was the first real home automation standard. The protocol was subject to interference and poor propagation, and did not use any EDAC or acknowledgement so it was pretty unreliable. It was still pretty useful for some things, and X10 devices are still being sold.
  - pjc50 5y ago
    The technology may have been fine. The advertising was insanely ubiquitous, in a way rarely seen since. Maybe Evony?
twic 5y ago
Those ads were annoying enough that Kompressor wrote a song about them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF8NK6eruUs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF8NK6eruUs
jcrawfordor 5y ago
Given X10's sort of prominent history in the home automation world and its relationship to a lot of reputable companies, I'm really curious what the story is of how X10 Inc itself went for such a sketchy advertising campaign. X10, the protocol, was heavily backed by major home technology companies like Ademco (now Honeywell), GE, NuTone, etc. X10 Inc is a direct descendant of BSR in Scotland, the original marketer of X10, and was founded by the same people. It seems like it must have tarnished the X10 brand for the other manufacturers, although perhaps that explains why GE home security systems on the late end of the X10 era manage to describe the X10 features and functionality without ever once saying "X10"... although I more assume it's because they didn't necessarily want people to realize they could buy cheaper X10 devices at RadioShack, rather than through their alarm dealer.

by allenu 5y ago

TedDoesntTalk 5y ago

Interestingly all of those images seem to be for their camera products. But long before those, X10 sold remote control systems that switched devices on/off over in-home electrical wiring (using the independent X10 protocol). The reliability of these systems were pretty bad as I recall. They offered something like 16 channels with various management devices that allowed for complicated scheduling of device switching.

allenu 5y ago
Heh, I remember those. I had my first internship around that time and one of the made-up jobs my boss at the time had me do was look into those switches. Another intern told me he just wanted someone to look into it since he wanted to try using them on his own home. :)
anonymousiam 5y ago
X10 was the first real home automation standard. The protocol was subject to interference and poor propagation, and did not use any EDAC or acknowledgement so it was pretty unreliable. It was still pretty useful for some things, and X10 devices are still being sold.
- pjc50 5y ago
  The technology may have been fine. The advertising was insanely ubiquitous, in a way rarely seen since. Maybe Evony?

twic 5y ago

Those ads were annoying enough that Kompressor wrote a song about them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF8NK6eruUs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF8NK6eruUs

jcrawfordor 5y ago

Given X10's sort of prominent history in the home automation world and its relationship to a lot of reputable companies, I'm really curious what the story is of how X10 Inc itself went for such a sketchy advertising campaign. X10, the protocol, was heavily backed by major home technology companies like Ademco (now Honeywell), GE, NuTone, etc. X10 Inc is a direct descendant of BSR in Scotland, the original marketer of X10, and was founded by the same people. It seems like it must have tarnished the X10 brand for the other manufacturers, although perhaps that explains why GE home security systems on the late end of the X10 era manage to describe the X10 features and functionality without ever once saying "X10"... although I more assume it's because they didn't necessarily want people to realize they could buy cheaper X10 devices at RadioShack, rather than through their alarm dealer.