A brave new world

It's not easy being a trendsetter. Sometimes, you end up falling flat on your face; other times you come out looking like a hero. Andre Walker fits into the latter category. He had the guts to install a relatively untried control system into his renovated 4,000-square-foot Southern California abode, a move that ended up saving him thousands of dollars in materials and labor. A self-confessed technology enthusiast, Andre had spent years researching electronic systems--how they worked, how they needed to be installed, and the benefits they could offer his young family. He was familiar with and fond of systems from companies such as Crestron Systems that could allow him, his wife, Ann, and their kids--Neil, 12, and Evan, 9--to control everything from the lights and audio and video equipment to the thermostats and lawn sprinklers through sleek wall-mounted touch panels. "Unfortunately, I found out that the Crestron systems are really, really expensive," Andre recounts. "My budget was about $30,000, not a half-million dollars, so I needed to consider other options." Back to the Internet he went to search for other systems. During one particular session, he stumbled onto the site of a newish company called Control4. As Andre discovered, the systems under the Control4 umbrella use standard Ethernet cabling (also called Category 5 cabling), wireless Wi-Fi technology, and the Internet to communicate with various electronic devices in a home. This IP-based (Internet protocol) infrastructure enabled Control4 control systems to be installed more easily and affordably than those that Andre had been considering. As appealing as the Control4 solutions sounded, however, Andre knew there would be risks involved when dealing with a start-up company. See this slide show

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