Why Not Just Call the Company "And"?

Instead of "TCP Connected"?  There's a part of my home automation setup that controls the lights in the house. No, it's not X10. All of my X10 gear is relegated to a bottom drawer in the closet. No, I chose a lighting control product from a company called TCP Connected.

While I applaud their marketing acumen on obtaining such a clever domain, I'd like to ask them to Google some likely search terms. Try "TCP" or "TCP Connect" or better yet, "TCP Connect Protocol" and watch what pops up.

Yes, thank you, I already know about the three-way handshake.

Enough whining.  

I chose their product because, no surprise, it was relatively inexpensive. And because of a, perhaps misinformed, preference for the 6LoWPAN protocol over Zigbee.  Finally, at the time of selection, the protocol - while not published - was open and had been reverse engineered. Which meant I could exert my own control over the lights and not be limited to using their phone app.

Minor aside - it turns out that their protocol was a bit too open. The vendor closed it up a year or so ago, by switching from http to https and requiring apps to obtain a key (UUID) from the lighting gateway. Fortunately, someone with strong desire figured out how to hack into the new protocol.

Bottom line, we're back online. Thank you Kevin (I hope that's right) for your hard work. You saved the investment we made in this product!  And, yes, I love old, stock Mopar stuff too.  From the '68 Barracuda, with a 440 that Dad brought home one summer. To Steve's '72 Roadrunner with a 383 and Cherry Bombs.

Not an Endorsement

Don't take this as a recommendation for this product.  It works, it works reliably, it works well. It was affordable, but isn't the cheapest offering out there. The future seems uncertain too - as of this writing (February 2016) Home Depot has their TCP Connected products all on clearance shelves.  New, competing products are replacing the TCP Connected bulbs.

Lighting control is such a basic tenet of any Home Automaton project. I didn't spend a lot of time looking, but I see a post in comp.home.automation, from 1994 where someone's having problems with their lights.

So it is a given. The ability to turn on, turn off or dim a light.
That's table stakes for Home Automation.

Then why aren't these products flying off the shelves?

Maybe they are; I don't have access to Home Depot's sales.  I doubt it.  The boxes all look a little dusty in my Home Depots.  Whether they're Phillips Hue, GE Link or the new Wifi Bulbs from Osram.

I'm genuinely interested in what others think.

What percentage of Home Automation projects include Lighting Control?
If the answer is "most" then poor Home Automation sales, in general are the cause.

Or?

What?