Following the Vista After Hours events we did last year, it's great to see some training being put in

This is great stuff though personally I think the training may be a bit misguided (Ay who is paying for this?).   I think the emphasis should be more on MARKET MAKING for getting people from the IT world to step out of the corporate space (Enterprise and SMS&P) and into the Home Automation arena.  i think the current approach is very much the paradigm of trying to "teach the old dog a new trick" as the paradigm shift from A/V to PC Centric is very much like moving As/400, host based computing people into the PC/Apple world of computing.  If you look at how Microsoft gained critical mass in the SMS&B world it was NOT by getting people to "switch their religion" of host base computing to distributed PC’s, it was more like PC Pilgrims breaking new ground and creating new churches from the ground up!!!   The same should be done with the PC Centric home automation effort.  Get pure play (aka Microsoft, Apple, Linux) PC centric partners to grow organically from the ground up and leave the A/V people in the Horse trading, buggy and whip makers industry and let the PC's people develop the PC Centric Home automation market in the same way that FORD built out national car dealerships.  The ONUS should be on Microsoft, Lifeware, Apple and who ever from the LINUX world to build this industry out just like Ford, Chrysler, GM, etc... built the Automobile dealerships.  Get the PC market makers to SEED these dealerships/franchises by providing core services, co branding, marketing, lead generation, training to NEW BUSINESSES, financing, sales support, etc...   Train people that buy into the new PC CENTRIC RELGION from the ground up and leave the pendants, naysayers, and buggy whip vendors in the barn where they belong :)   (I am playing Devil's advocate here, part of my contrarian nature :).   And do not get me started on the content providers (cable companies) and DVD/Blue Ray stalwarts (Sony, et al).   Let's invest in people that believe in this approach!   Let the A/V people stick to RGB, Composite Video and L/R analog, multi zone analog.   That is their comfort zone, like Horse Traders and Buggies with feed bags and watering troughs!

Now I am really on fire.  Remedial training for A/V people is going to lead to "knowing just enough to get you in trouble".  We need corporate network engineers that know how to segment a network (Wireless and wire based), we need PC security people that know how to secure a platform and seperate responsibilites into security zones (productivity vs. entertainment, vs. other), we need PC ITIL people that know how to create a recoverable, baselined system that self recovers and is supportable remotely.  We need PC jocks that know how to create a system/user profile and how selectively deploy upgrades and service packs.   We need SOFTWARE people that understand configuration management and scripting.  We need developers (not  quasi CRESTRON script HACKS) to add value to PC Centric systems and to integrate into and extend the home PC network ecosystem.  WE DO NOT NEED HALF BACKED A/V PEOPLE CONFUSING ONE WIRE TOPOLGY WITH ANOTHER.   MICROSOFT HELP FUND THIS NEW INDUSTRY AND DO NOT CREATE THE PROBLEM YOU CREATED IN THE EARLY DAYS OF DISTRIBUTED PC'S COMPUTING in the 90's FRAUGHT WITH SHODIE PC SOLUTIONS AND FODDER FOR IBM AND ORACLE, ET AL TO TAKE POT SHOTS AT PC's (like apple does now!).   Let's focus on business building not half baked bridge building.   Microsoft needs to finance and develope a new breed of PC Centric Entertainment Solutions and Automation Solutions, not provide "welfare" training to businesses that should "get" this all on their own.   Stop "affirmative action" for A/V people!  Invest in PC people!

It's been a busy week with hardware announcements coming out of Computex 2008, like the AMD and ASUS...