Hello All,
My name is Aaron, and I'm an engineer at HAI. I've been a lurker here for several years, and a member for around a year. I just wanted to reply to this thread to make a couple quick comments regarding some remarks made here.
HAI has stated several times that they aren't interested in the DIY market, they think it's a joke, while Elk supports it big time (and has made changes / added features based on our feedback here), that alone makes a big difference for me.
Dan,
I'm not aware of HAI ever making such a statement. That said, I obviously can't speak for my company, but what I can tell you is that myself and other HAI employees regularly check numerous message boards, blogs, website, etc. , posting responses to questions and trying to help people when needed. I regularly speak with dealers, homeowners, and DIYers via email and phone when there is a problem that warrants my attention, and I can say the same for many of our engineers.
Personally I've always leaned towards the ELK as well due to the DIY friendly nature of it. Heck, Spanky regularly posts on this site answering questions. I don't think you'll find that with HAI even on the Worthington site.
Sic,
Myself and several other HAI employees regularly post to this board, the Worthington Board, and others. Most of us (HAI employees) have never felt the need to "out" ourselves as employees of HAI, simply because there wasn't any need to, and in the case of Cocoontech, to avoid any confrontations. I've never tried to hide the fact I was an HAI employee, I just didn't advertise it. Actually, myself and some others use our actual names (or a variation of) as our user names, and there have been many times where my response made it quite obvious that I was an employee of HAI.
I regularly attend tradeshows and other events, so if you've been to CES, CEDIA, EHX, or others and been by the HAI booth, you might have very well even met me. As a matter of fact, I'll be at CES in January, anyone attending is welcome to come by chat!
To me the point of having a forum is so that the community can help each other, not just wait for an employee of a certain company to do so. My job isn't just to monitor forum and to do tech support, but I always make sure that I check the forums, while at work and in my free time, and I can say that anytime there has been a question that wasn't answered by the community, I've done my best to help.
That's all I have to say, I hope I haven't offended anyone, as I'm definitely not trying to start anything. I just wanted to let you guys know that we do monitor the online communities, and we do listen to what you guys are asking for, even if it doesn't seem like it!
Thanks,
Aaron