Bitwise, is it a winner?

I've been monitoring Leviton's Bitwise audio,video and home automation platform. It appears to me that Leviton is aggressively promoting Bitwise since it was acquired in October 2014. They're investing a lot of marketing and technical resources in the Bitwise line. The Bitwise line is heavily promoted at the various trade shows and Leviton is continually offering more and more Bitwise training sessions.
 
Leviton just recently created the Bitwise Developer program  https://dealer.leviton.com/BitWise-Developer-Program    which allows 3rd parties to sell their software/hardware Bitwise enhancements thru the Leviton Dealer store.  https://store.bitwisecontrols.com/  This program not only monetizes the process by allowing Leviton to charge 30% of the products retail price to issue a certificate but it also allows leviton to have tight control over the product offerings. IOW, if you market a product thru the developer progam, you are responsible for maintaining/upgrading the product. Failure to do so, will allow Leviton to refuse to issue certificates for your product, effectively shutting down the sale of your product.
 
Here is a link to an interesting voice control app for Bitwise.. http://store.bitwisecontrols.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=59_61_86 I'm not sure how I'd feel about talking to something that looks like a light siwtch.
 
So, the question is, will Bitwise gain market traction and become a winner for Leviton or will it become another one of Leviton's HA failures?
 
 
 

Bitwise looks interesting on the surface.  My quick look made me think they are pricing it out of the DIY market, as well as doing their usual limited support of marketing/supporting consumers directly.

Yea, Leviton's lack of support for the consumer (DIYer) really does concern me.  It seems as though they're really catering to the dealer/distributor folks with the consumers being nothing more than a nuisance.  My guess is that they want the consumers to work with the dealers for product installation and support.  Also, the original Bitwise forum (pre Leviton acquistion) has been shut down with no info pointing to a new end user forum.
 
The Bitwise controllers are a little pricey for what they have to offer as indicated by the Dealer Store. But  I'm leaning toward pulling the trigger on a BW controller since I have an old Omni system that can be integrated with the new BW controller.  IOW, I can breath new life into my old 20th century controller with BW.  I just don't feel "warm and fuzzy" about Leviton DIYer support or the long term prospects of BW.

FWIW: We sold the BC4 and BC-IRI products for 2 years starting in 2008.  With an MSRP of $300, the BC4 was a little pricey for the DIY market but those that bought it were generally quite happy with it. In 2010, the company pulled the product from retail distribution and it became dealer-installed only. The BC4 was one of the first IR controllers to include an onboard database of IR codes... a nice feature. It took Global Cache several more years to finally offer a similar feature.

Bitwise dropped out of the DIY market many years ago and f'd many of us. I had about 2K worth of units and all of a sudden lost support and any value. Maybe this world is too small for spite, but I've got zero tolerance for companies like the founding company of this product. 

jlegault said:

Bitwise dropped out of the DIY market many years ago and f'd many of us. I had about 2K worth of units and all of a sudden lost support and any value. Maybe this world is too small for spite, but I've got zero tolerance for companies like the founding company of this product. 

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That's a heckuva thing for Bitwise to do.  I don't blame you for be PO'd at Bitwise.  I'm accustomed to the high level of service/support that was offered by HAI to everyone, dealers, distributors and DIYers. When HAI was acquired by Leviton, the level of support was reduced to  mediocrity at best for me as a DIYer. 
 
The Bitwise controller would make a nice (but pricey) addition to my HA system.  Unfortunately, I don't foresee Leviton supporting the consumer (DIYer) market.  So, I think I'll pass on the Bitwise controller.