Greetings everyone. Those of you who have found and enjoyed our site over the past 7-8 years, have probably noticed that we have added very few articles in the past two years.
No, we hadn’t lost interest, in fact things on the smart home/automation front are as fun as ever, and getting better. Just below I’ll explain the whys that we haven’t been keeping up our end, with fresh content, changing that, and where we’re going from here.
Welcome to our completely redesigned website, that has been going on for many months. You will start to see new articles, and reviews, as well as links to related great articles we find elsewhere on the web.
SmarterHomeAutomation was part of my company Projector Reviews Inc. Within that company were three websites. By far the largest, and the industry leader at the time was ProjectorReviews.com. I decided to sell that site, and it ended up sold to an industry “guru” Phil Jones, who had been a lead engineer in the US for Sony home theater projectors.
He’s having fun with that now, but I felt, during the year and a half+ it took to find a buyer and get it sold, that I needed to focus all my resources on getting that done. SmarterHomeAutomation (SHA for short) ended up on the back burner. Well, the company has been sold (over a year now – I had obligations for a while after the sale).
I intended to get back to SHA – it just took me longer than anticipated thanks to family issues and, of course covid…
But, “we’re back”! Besides the new site with its updated look and feel, you’ll start seeing new content including articles on trends, as well as reviews.
We will, of course continue with smart devices from Amazon Dots, to video doorbells, smart locks, smart lights, routers and more, but, fair warning – I am going to focus some of my own writing on things that aren’t necessarily “smart home”. A few examples:
1. Bluetooth speakers. Definitely not the smartest thing around, but, hey, they fit into a smart home.
2. Drones OK, sure you can buy a drone and program it to fly around your house doing security, but, I’m more interested in general trends there.
3. Crypto currencies (and NFTs). I am finally starting to get the hang of some of this, after years of “I don’t get it.” I will try to share some basic wisdom acquired for those, like me, who have struggled to really understand the real worth of these currencies, and tokens.
4. EVs. I’m a big fan, but we still own two gas guzzlers. (I love my Miata – I’ve been driving them for over 25 years, but I would definitely replace mine with an all electric version if they would be so kind to offer one.) Related to EVs – info about home charging stations, and eventually; homes using EVs as back up systems, or to lower energy costs.
5. The Metaverse! Yes I’m a big fan sci-if, and of Ready Player One! Of Virtual, and augment ended realities, and world building. The movie – much fun, the book – cooler still. Now that Facebook has revived the term Metaverse – coined by Neal Stephenson – the great punk (my term), near future sci-fi writer, who first used the term in his classic book: Snow Crash. A great (if funky) read, btw even almost 30 years later. Will VR, and created worlds stick this time (my first experience with Oculus type googles was back in the mid-1990s at the Consumer Electronics Show. With higher res and far more processing power, it could be great. But, don’t expect to see any world building even remotely as sophisticated as the Ready Player One! movie. Let’s say, we’re probably a decade or two away from that type of resolution, and processing. But, who knows- I’ll keep you posted.
Considering the expanded direction and additional focuses we may want to report on, SHA is now part of a new company. My old Projector Reviews Inc has been shut down, and our new company has been born:
The Metaverse Resource LLC.
SHA and my other website (and any future ones) will be part of The Metaverse Resource, going forward. Short term we will be launching a small TheMetaverseResource.com site. With all the new areas coved in SmarterHome… we may launch additional sites. Eventually, we’ll see you, and you us, in the metaverse.
Enjoy! If you have suggestions, please shoot them my way: reviewer@smarterhomeautomation.com
May You Be One With the Metaverse! -art
Art's been reviewing high tech products and editing their reviews for 15 years. He launched his first website presenting solutions.com (sold in 2003) in early 1995 when there were only a few thousand .coms. He launched ProjectorReviews.com in 2000, and started planning Smarterhomeautomation.com back in 2011.
Art's goal is to provide in-depth reviews on the latest and hottest products that fit into the Smart Home, aka Home Automation, as well as insightful articles to educate people into what's available, what makes the most sense, and where the market is going, so people can better plan, and implement their goals for energy efficient, convenient, and downright "cool" capabilities.
Ancient history: Born in Allentown PA, Graduated 1972. Sold and managed stereo stores (and did a little surfing) in the early, mid-70's before getting into computers and more AV. Managed the first computers store in Pa, starting in 1979 (not the first manager). Moved to selling computers to major accounts. Then moved west to SF area, for a four year stint with Epson starting in 1982, then left for one of the early large venture backed start-ups in the Silicon Valley - Presentation Technologies. Left there to start up Presenting Solutions, which became the first projector focused reseller on the internet (Jan 1995). Married Lori in 1990, and have been enjoying our daughter Lisa, since 1992! Presently living, and working in San Clemente, CA.
