CocoonTech turns 20!

And just like that, 20 years have passed! 20 years ago, the CocoonTech.com domain was registered, and the first public post was published. Many home automation related blogs and forums have come and gone, but CocoonTech is still around. I typically don't talk much about anniversaries, but this is quite a milestone! Time for a quick braindump/rant

Past

Although CocoonTech's design has seen several changes, its guiding ideas—which center on supporting and integrating a wide range of home automation technology in a setting that encourages creativity and acceptance of unconventional ideas—have remained constant.

However, the world around it has changed for sure. When CocoonTech launched, X10 was still popular, the Apple iPhone didn't exist, Youtube what? and Netflix only offered DVD via mail rental services. However, thanks to a brilliant DIY community wanting to be ahead, products such as Homeseer and HAL which allowed us to build the home of the future in the present (self-hosted voice control!) , products such as Microsoft Windows Media Center, MythTV and SageTV offered distributed media & TV streaming before platforms such as Roku or Firestick were even thought of.

Fast-forward 20 years. Products such as Girder and CQC are unfortunately no longer around, new technologies have come and almost gone such as INSTEON and UPB (but UPB is still supported thanks to efforts by its creator, PCS), Home Automation Inc (OmniPro series) has been purchased and discontinued by Leviton, X10 still exists, controlling TVs remotely is still as complicated as ever, and thanks to everything becoming a subscription based cloud service, the internet is starting to forget about all the things we were able to accomplish way back without having to sacrifice privacy or security. Vendors such as SmartHome.com and AutomatedOutlet.com are unfortunately no longer around and/or have been aquired by other businesses. I do want to go out of my way thanking vendors such as Homeseer Technologies (hat tip to Rich/Mark/Rupp and many of its community members), Automated Outlet (hey Martin!) and Aartech who have supported CocoonTech and the DIY home automation community during these years. What a blast!



Present

But it's not as bad/sad as it sounds. We still have some really great solutions. Z-Wave has matured significantly and become affordable (hat tip to Homeseer for leading the adoption of this tech in the DIY space), ZigBee is still around with Matter-compatible products becoming available for sale, and open-souce projects such as Home Assistant leading the DIY home automation space. While the term ladder logic may not be as popular anymore, there's no way I can forget to mention what platforms such as the Arduino, ESP32 and Raspberry Pi have have brought to DIY automation space. And while vendors such as Automated Outlet are no longer around, a few others are popping up trying to fill these shoes and are offering similar examplary customer service, such as The Smartest House. Home automation has become more accessible to everyone, which is a very good thing (especially in the accessibility space), so despite technology shortcomings/changes, it's still a big win.

Last but not least. I'm extremely proud of this community, and how helpful and supportive everyone has been. Many of you are still lurking (I see you, I just don't want to call you out for privacy reasons, but PM me anytime). Many of you have chatted with me in the past, and some of you can even confirm I'm not a bot This forum is a collection of very intelligent and kind minds (I really can't understate how diverse and brilliant some of these backgrounds are), and thanks to the dedication of some of these hardworking people, CocoonTech is still around. I'd love to call you out directly for supporting this community, but I know I'm going to forget some names (hey, I also aged 20 years!), and don't want to offend, so I may do this in a later/separate post. So many people have been helped by asking for help here on CocoonTech!

So from the bottom of my heart, thank you everyone!

Future

What's next? I'm not sure yet. Social media has changed the forum game, despite all the pitfalls associated with these platforms. Many forums have shut down, or have been purchaesd by a huge network of forums. As some may have noticed, privacy & security have always been important to me, and I feel this is something which will be appreciated by more and more people as we go down the cloud rabbit hole. Running a site like this has been (and still is) an extremely expensive endevour. I've refused many buyout offers and ad networks just because I don't want user data to be shared.

But I love this community, and I'm excited with all the future tech that's on the horizon and just starting to be deployed now. Some of the latest AI demos have been really impressive, and the challenge of trying to come up with alternatives which don't rely on the cloud/subscription model is one that wants me to keep going. But as always, I'll need help getting people to find this place

Final Words

So if you were ever part of this 20 year old experience so far, be it via a single post on some other home automation forum, one of the many software/plugin authors who inspired me (RIP Jim Doolittle), or just someone lurking, I'm forever grateful!

Would love to hear how home automation or CocoonTech may have had an impact on your life, or if you're an 'old timer' who has been lurking, make your voice heard (or reach out via PM). I'd love to hear how people implemented new technologies, or how they are still supporting some of the older hardware out there.

Last but not least, I have to thank my wife who has supported this effort since day 1. I wouldn't have started this site if it wasn't for her to be so understanding and encouraging. She has put up with many of my mistakes and issues while testing the latest scripts, hardware or tech, no matter how comical or frustrating the results were. But as we all know, when things fail to perform as expected, we find out just how much everyone appreciates these efforts (or not in some cases). Thank you honey!

DISCLAIMER: I was 'trying' to keep this post short, so many interesting facts and details may have been omitted. Feel free to add to this thread, or correct me if needed.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Wow, 20 years! Congratulations on running this great resource for the DIY enthusiast!

I remember chatting with electron on a forum based on a Ford Taurus car club and he mentioned starting a DIY forum for home automation enthusiasts. I believe I was member number 5 as I signed up while chatting with him on that Dec 23rd 20 years ago.

Going down memory lane here are some of the highlights as I remember them!

At first CocoonTech wasn’t widely recognized, but word got out quickly as automation enthusiasts found a place that was product neutral, and it was starting to accumulate a membership with eclectic talents such as IT experts, programmers, engineers, installers, and even company representatives.

CocoonTech would be represented at major trade shows such as ISC West Security Convention and The Consumer Electronics Show where it interfaced with product owners, designers, engineers, and sales reps from HomeSeer, Elk Technologies, HAI, Dakota Alert, Z-Wave Alliance Vendors, Axis, Mobotix, Insteon, and others. We had a lot of these experts become forum members where they contributed by helping others with a wealth of information in interfacing and using their product lines. I even remember one time I had Rich and Rick of HomeSeer log into my HomeSeer system to look at it (I was running version 1.6 at the time!).

We had a great Friday night chat group and even had product experts as guests. If you had an issue or even a beginner, you could log on and start chatting with a variety of fellow users who would gladly offer help. I remember one time where we had live contests with prizes!

CocoonTech also provided a lot of ‘how-to’s’ to get people started with a variety of home automation ideas. We offered help with ‘custom’ design ideas and interfaces that were not often found on other product specific forums. Some of our how-to’s were featured on other sites such as HomeToys.com.

CocoonTech often filled a needed niche during our 20 years. We offered help with X-10 issues (who can remember finding ‘signal-sucks’?), was a source for Elk-M1 troubleshooting when this product first launched, and now help with HAI legacy needs. As electron mentioned, there were a lot of technologies that have come and gone (I mostly remember X-10, SageTV, ADI’s Ocelot, GE’s Caddx, and Cinemar’s MainLobby).

I’ve made a lot of friends over these 20 years and learned a lot from this forum. I’m often humbled by the depth of knowledge and expertise our forum members have!

I’m glad and proud to have been a part of this forum and I’m looking forward to the next 20 years. We don’t know what the future will bring, but I’m sure our forum members will be a part of its growth and deployment.



Building a custom antenna for the MR26a (for the DS10a) for a How-To. Note, my son in this pic is now 24 years old.


Designing a car monitor for a How-To using custom circuits and a DS10a (note the fax machine on the desk)




Designing a string pot to measure salt level in a water softener for a How-To. A PHAnderson Analog to Digital board was used (as this was before Arduinos existed).


Main Lobby scene that integrated a NetCallerID device, Caddx NX8e security system, an Ocelot, X-10 lighting and HomeSeer.

 

[electron]

Great post! Thank you for being part of the community and having represented it so well! And of course, congrats on your 20 year anniversary as well!

 

[Mark S.]

Congrats on 20 years. I have learned more from this forum than all other Home Automation forums combined, so I am very glad it continues. 40 years will be here before you know it. Then again, maybe you won't know it because your brain implant firmware got corrupted.

 

[McKinneySmart]

20 years, WOW. And it all past in a blink of an eye.

 

[sbwright]

Congratulations on achieving 20 years, no small feat. An awesome collection of experiences, instructions and expert knowledge for the DYI community. Looking forward to the next 20 years.

 

[LarrylLix]

Wow, 20 years! Congratulations on running this great resource for the DIY enthusiast!

I remember chatting with electron on a forum based on a Ford Taurus car club and he mentioned starting a DIY forum for home automation enthusiasts. I believe I was member number 5 as I signed up while chatting with him on that Dec 23rd 20 years ago.

Going down memory lane here are some of the highlights as I remember them!

At first CocoonTech wasn’t widely recognized, but word got out quickly as automation enthusiasts found a place that was product neutral, and it was starting to accumulate a membership with eclectic talents such as IT experts, programmers, engineers, installers, and even company representatives.

CocoonTech would be represented at major trade shows such as ISC West Security Convention and The Consumer Electronics Show where it interfaced with product owners, designers, engineers, and sales reps from HomeSeer, Elk Technologies, HAI, Dakota Alert, Z-Wave Alliance Vendors, Axis, Mobotix, Insteon, and others. We had a lot of these experts become forum members where they contributed by helping others with a wealth of information in interfacing and using their product lines. I even remember one time I had Rich and Rick of HomeSeer log into my HomeSeer system to look at it (I was running version 1.6 at the time!).

We had a great Friday night chat group and even had product experts as guests. If you had an issue or even a beginner, you could log on and start chatting with a variety of fellow users who would gladly offer help. I remember one time where we had live contests with prizes!

CocoonTech also provided a lot of ‘how-to’s’ to get people started with a variety of home automation ideas. We offered help with ‘custom’ design ideas and interfaces that were not often found on other product specific forums. Some of our how-to’s were featured on other sites such as HomeToys.com.

CocoonTech often filled a needed niche during our 20 years. We offered help with X-10 issues (who can remember finding ‘signal-sucks’?), was a source for Elk-M1 troubleshooting when this product first launched, and now help with HAI legacy needs. As electron mentioned, there were a lot of technologies that have come and gone (I mostly remember X-10, SageTV, ADI’s Ocelot, GE’s Caddx, and Cinemar’s MainLobby).

I’ve made a lot of friends over these 20 years and learned a lot from this forum. I’m often humbled by the depth of knowledge and expertise our forum members have!

I’m glad and proud to have been a part of this forum and I’m looking forward to the next 20 years. We don’t know what the future will bring, but I’m sure our forum members will be a part of its growth and deployment.

View attachment 11382

Building a custom antenna for the MR26a (for the DS10a) for a How-To. Note, my son in this pic is now 24 years old.

View attachment 11383
Designing a car monitor for a How-To using custom circuits and a DS10a (note the fax machine on the desk)



View attachment 11385
Designing a string pot to measure salt level in a water softener for a How-To. A PHAnderson Analog to Digital board was used (as this was before Arduinos existed).

View attachment 11384
Main Lobby scene that integrated a NetCallerID device, Caddx NX8e security system, an Ocelot, X-10 lighting and HomeSeer.

X10? ... I had always thought your name was styled after BSR, the originator of that artform. That is where I started, just before X10 must have bought them. I still had many of their modules until I moved last year.

 

[macromark]

I do want to go out of my way thanking vendors such as Homeseer Technologies (hat tip to Rich/Mark/Rupp...

Appreciate the nod Dan, thanks. Congratulations on your first 20 years... Looking forward to the next 20!

 

[sic0048]

Congratulations on the impressive milestone! I have to assume that the number of active websites with a 20 year history of a single owner and mission statement is pretty small.

I was going to post that while I have been here a long time, it wasn't close to 20 years. Then I checked my join date and realized it was 19 years ago and I am member number 51. I honestly didn't think it had been that long. Thank you for creating and maintaining such a great resource! I have used it a lot during the last 19 years and I hope to be able to use and contribute for many more years.

 

[pete_c]

Congratulations Dan!!!

It is the forum that inspired me and taught me about Automation.

 

[Guy Lavoie]

Oh yes, it's been a fun ride. My best memories are the ones where I was greatly involved with the ADI Ocelot, discussing it to great depth on ADI's support forum, and even writing their instruction manuals. But the greatest fun was simply interacting with the members, which is what forums are all about. Cocoontech was also another good basin of early home automation enthusiasts, being vendor independent. Getting to meet many of the users at a show in Florida was icing on the cake.

Home automation itself has evolved much like the personal computer did. Initially it was a geek-only world with many technologies and approaches, not knowing which ones would come out as being standard. Things then settle into a more standardized world, with one or two competing standards and usually some form of interoperability (think PC/Mac, IOS/Android, Alexa/Google home, etc). Home automation is slowly reaching that stage. Wifi will certainly be one of the enduring communication standards. Zigbee seems to be another. Otherwise, there is still a fair bit of room for evolution. Ease of setup and affordability is what leads to wider adoption, and is not longer just a geek hobby.

Let's see what the future will bring!

 

[pete_c]

Some pictures from 2003 EHExpo.

 

[myyaz33]

What a great post! Tons of memories and time spent on the forum over the years. Just recently getting back into the hobby after a long break. Man a lot has changed..... I personally think forums like this are far superior to Facebook and such, but I understand it comes down to reaching people and that is why many have switched. Very glad to see some familiar contributors from the past as well as those that have come on more recently.