Gadget Girl Saying Howdy!

[rachelc]

Hi everyone: My name is Rachel. I am one of the product geeks over at Electronic House. I am hoping to show off some of the products and homes that we are currently covering, and I am also looking for interesting items... especially funky home theaters, lighting systems, home automation, etc.

Just wanted to say "hey!" :unsure:

 

[roussell]

Hi Rachel, welcome to CocoonTech! It sounds like you have a cool job, I'm jealous. :unsure: I think you'll find plenty of "funky" projects here. A great place to start is BraveSirRobins numerous and inventive how-tos.

Terry

 

[jwilson56]

Hello Rachel and welcome to CocoonTech.

John

 

[tech-home]

Hi Rachel & Welcome,

Are they hiring..

I could always use more gadgets......

 

[huggy59]

Hi Rachel,

Welcome aboard!

I've noticed that most of your posts thus far link back to Electronic House web site and articles, which is not surprising since you are a writer for them. Not to start a flame war, but having been an EH subscriber over the years, I find that Electronic House caters to the more wealthy customers - many of the types that just pay for the installers to do their thing, rather than most of the DIYer-types you find here. My chief complaint, and this is my opinion, of course, and YMMV, is that the editor's picks always seem to be the most expensive items and the magazine doesn't really target DIYers and in many cases doesn't even ask the questions we DIYers need answered.

That being the case, can you perhaps add a little more "meat" to your posts instead of just pointing us to the EH site all the time? I mean if you can without infringing on copyrights and such. Just my personal request...

 

[roussell]

I echo the sentiments of Huggy59. I remember seeing a more DIY-friendly HA magazine YEARS ago but can't recall the name. I usually flip through Electronic House while at the bookstore, but never buy it for the reasons Huggy59 mentioned. If you guys could start throwing in a few DIY friendly articles in each month, I know you'd pick up at least one more subscriber.

Terry

 

[jasv]

I echo the sentiments of Huggy59. I remember seeing a more DIY-friendly HA magazine YEARS ago but can't recall the name. I usually flip through Electronic House while at the bookstore, but never buy it for the reasons Huggy59 mentioned. If you guys could start throwing in a few DIY friendly articles in each month, I know you'd pick up at least one more subscriber.

Terry

Same here. I subscribed but gave it up because of the reasons Huggy59 mentioned.

 

[mdesmarais]

Keep in mind that EH is the sister publication of CEPro, which is for installers. . . I think of EH as a marketing tool for installers-note that the 1st step in all their "how to do it" type articles is "Find a good installer". ;-)

It is not targetted to DIY in any way, shape, or form, other than to give us cool ideas, and possibly for some of the new products and adverts.

There is nothing wrong with any of this, but it might help set expectations.

 

[huggy59]

Keep in mind that EH is the sister publication of CEPro, which is for installers. . . I think of EH as a marketing tool for installers-note that the 1st step in all their "how to do it" type articles is "Find a good installer". ;-)

Yep, and I get that mag, too, even though I never paid for it and I've called multiple times to have them stop sending it to me. It goes directly into the trash most of the time now. What a waste.

 

[Mark S.]

Rachel-

You've stepped into a hardcore DIY zone. You probably won't find much enthusiasm for EH here. As far as I'm concerned, EH is basically a monotonous advertisement for professional installers and equipment. The old Popular Home Automation was halfway decent, but it lost focus and transformed into a gadget news magazine. When it changed to that "electronic lifestyle" magazine (can't remember the name) it was over - I couldn't stand the vacuous and repetitive articles on the "coolest" MP3 players and HDTVs. End of rant.

It would be great if EH made a genuine effort add a significant DIY HA focus - you'd find a lot of material here at CT, and probably a good number of subscribers.

Mark

P.S. - I still have my old issues of Home Automator going back to 1995. Now that was a good magazine.

 

[Stef]

Hi,

I used to be a EH subscriber about one year ago. I would also buy there specials editions too. After some time, it begin to feel like déjà vu... I remark that a lot of montly issues were showing photos from past month. I got tired of this. I'm still buying it from time to time because there is nothing else available in my area. I used them a few time with my friends that were looking for decorating ideas...

In 2004-2005, I bought TechLiving magazine a few time. It was bi-monthly, hard to find in kiosk (3 issues over an 10 months period). But I liked this one because there was some projects articles. The best DIY magazine I ever seen up to now.

I am now subscribing to CEPro. It's better but still far from DIY with modest budget. I'm waiting for my june issue. I receive an email today hilighting the subject of the mounth. The big title was something like "Avoiding burnout"!.... What a waste of paper... What I want is technical info and how-to.

Stef.

P.S. - I still have my old issues of AudioVideo Interior going back to april 1997 (Around the time i bought my first X-10 module and Homeseer)

 

[huggy59]

I, too, enjoyed Tech Living till it went belly up and they finished out my subscription with - guess what? Yup, EH!

Maybe it's time we started a Cocoon Tech DIYer magazine?

 

[Ranger Digital]

while we are on the subject, what are all the trade rags out there besides cepro? there surely has to be some other magazines to subsribe to for not just DIY but industry as well.

 

[gatchel]

Just got the September issue in the mail today...Woo Hoo!

 

[ver0776]

Looks like after the poor reception here, they decided to make the AVS Forums their hangout... Despite their non-DIY focus, I still feel kinda bad. It is not like she came in here picking a fight, we probably could have been a little more positive with our suggestions and opinions =(

I deleted my message althought I did not feel it was too bad at the time, I meant it to be constructive...

Vaughn