At our sales meeting last week, we had a demonstration from a company that sells and installs custom speaker wiring, home theatre components, security systems, and so on. The number of our customers who purchase these types of things at the Design Centre has increased a little bit over time, but has remained rather consistent. The most popular items are the security systems and the pre-wired speaker locations. Most of the demonstration was on the newer generation of “Smart House” technology. You know, turning on and off lights from the office, turning on the heat or air conditioner from the restaurant, and so on. The latest features include viewing the exterior or interior security cameras from your iPhone or Blackberry, as well as accessing digital music and video from any screen in the house, to any screen or speakers in the house, wirelessly. It’s all still rather expensive. But as someone who is easily overwhelmed by technology, I found the interface to be not nearly as daunting as it used to be. And the benefits are becoming more obvious all the time, the main one being the reduction of energy consumption. It got me thinking about how technologies such as these move from the domain of the techno-nerd to common use, and how price and the proliferation of options follows the same path. There’s a tipping point. Once the bugs have really been worked out, and daily use involves a minimum of fuss and confusion, a few more people decide to buy. With a few more buyers, production costs come down. The prices fall, and more buyers jump on board. Other companies notice, and produce competing products. At a certain point, this cycle rapidly increases, and in short order, that which was obscure and expensive become common and affordable. We have seen this with desktops, lap tops, cell phones, GPSs, appliances and so on. I think we are approaching the tipping point with Smart House technology. If you are still trying to program your VCR, brace yourself for the next wave of technology.

Hello to all folks connected with Tartan Homes.

As one of the owners and senior executives of Tartan Homes, I have the enriching opportunity to be directly involved in all facets of our business -- from initial land purchase, through the community design process, marketing strategies, home design, construction and completion. I also have the pleasure of meeting our customers at all stages in their relationship with Tartan ­ from casual prospects to a long-time or multiple owners of a Tartan home. And I also get to peak into the workings of other businesses in our sector, as a large part of my work involves communicating with our strategic partners, professionals and sub-trades.

This being the case, a member of our marketing department said to me "you should write a blog". I reminded her that I have no deep insights to offer anyone, and that, if the truth be told, managing a home building company often leaves me in a state of mild bewilderment ­ hardly the vantage point from which to offer pearls of wisdom. But she said "forget the pearls of wisdom". She thinks our customers might like to hear about some of things I observe or ruminate over as the days and weeks flow by. I'm not convinced, but she's correct about most other things.

So, I'm going to give it a try, and this little note forms my very first blog entry.
I'll be back here again soon!

Bruce Nicol