

Dixons Carphone CEO Sebastian James on the Connected Home - jimhillhouse
http://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intelligence/2015/03/11/dixons-carphone-ceo-sebastian-james-on-the-connected-home/?mod=WSJBlog&mod=WSJ_corp_intel

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jimhillhouse
Money quote:

"Mr. James wants to not just sell so-called connected devices, or those that
can hook up to the Internet, but also install, service and monitor them.

"'Our influence on people’s lives is about to get much more profound,' he
predicted, speaking at an industry event in London on Wednesday. 'We at Dixons
Carphone are trying to deliver something new. Not equipment but instead your
home working. Of course, it includes equipment, but it’s installed, it’s
monitored, it’s repaired, it’s kept working at all times.'"

Home-automation, or IoT, will be placing technology into one of the most
personal spaces of people's lives, their home. But it isn't going to take-off
until its customer experience moves beyond that which only the DIY or Makers
can enjoy. This sort of accreted services of IoT is what people need, at least
at first, in order to build the confidence needed for this to happen.

Any architect over 70 will tell you this is like the 3rd time home-automation
has tried to get air under its wings. For many reasons, but mainly a mix of
fractionalization and poor UX, it never grew to the point where it could
become affordable. I remember back in the early-2000's the SmartWeb Fridges
and stoves that never made it because of cost and other issues. Now mix-in
security issues along with the perennial fractionalization and poor UX, and
this "future" could end-up like GoogleGlass.

It's going to be fascinating to see how all of this works out.

