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Traditionally, automation systems were only available in the form of a proprietary hardware package. And most of them still are only available in that form. Only in recent years have personal computers become powerful and robust enough to allow for a completely different paradigm, where the brains are purely software and the brawn can be provided by commodity PC hardware plus a small amount of specialized hardware. This new way of approaching automation provides a number of benefits.
- Flexibility. There are many, many types of PCs out there, and many more being created all the time, both larger and smaller, faster and quieter. By leveraging the massive research and development of the Wintel industry, we can keep our costs lower and you can take advantage of new technologies as soon as they become available and you feel comfortable in adopting it.
- Cost. The Wintel industry has massive economies of scale that no automation company, building custom hardware for a far smaller market, could ever match. Your system might be run on anything from a mini-ITX system to an dual quad core monstrosity, according to your needs.
- The Network is the System. Increasingly the home network is really the system. Products such as ours, which are inherently integrated into the home network and PC, are able to blend seamlessly into your existing computing infrastructure.
- Power. The power of modern PCs is quite amazing. Most people really never make use of the power of those boxes sitting on their desks. A product like CQC does make use of it, and is able to do many jobs at the same time, and to store and move large amounts of data around (media data generally) in a way that no proprietary hardware system could do.