People are asking about the future of proprietary throttles. I'm sure there will be a market for them. all one has to do is read this thread and see why. There are a lot of people that like simplicity. If I use NCE's throotles on my NCE system it is literally plug and play. Don't need to worry about RasPi's or Arduinos or wifi or JMRI or downloading apps or setting up a server or any of that stuff. I put a battery in the throttle, I set the throttle address and I run the trains. Way simple. Even a wired throttle is simpler than all that. You screw a faceplate to the fascia, then string phone wires. Once again, literally plug and play, no software, no programming, no throttle settings, no tweaking stuff.
Don't really see an advantage to spending hours figuring out how to set all this up and tweaking the system so I can use a smart phone as a throttle when I can in less than 5 minutes have a brand new commercial throttle up and running.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
dehusmanDon't really see an advantage to spending hours figuring out how to set all this up and tweaking the system...
Dave,
I think what people want is a shortcut that makes proprietary throttles, command stations, etc mix and match and litterally as easy to use so that you...
dehusmancan in less than 5 minutes have a brand new commercial [or ANY] throttle up and running.
The biggest problem with this is that it would tend to eliminate most of the market incentives for DCC system mfg to continue to invest and innovate. I think the assumption is that "freeing the market" would encourage that. However, as was noted a little earlier, the market in this hobby is actually so small that it's hard to develop an economically sustainable business model. And we all know how the movie ends when they kick the chair out from under the guy with a rope already around his neck...
DCC systems (starting under $200) just aren't that unaffordable compared to what? A decent DC throttle ($100)? Pick one after trying different ones. It's hardly an insurmountable problem holding us back from having fun.
I predict -- not demand -- that the next great innovation in control technology will be due to what's called the "internet of things" where your locos, etc will all be addressable on the internet, wirelessly in the case of model RR stuff for the most part. Model RR controls will be an app or program that uses the internet to operate your layout. And it will be based on present day DCC standards in terms of loco control itself, just the means of addressing the decoder will change some.
But we're a small hobby at the bottom end of a very complex digital foodchain. Give it a decade or more and don't worry too much about it, is my take on this, because the interface means will be largely determined by stuff that has no particualr relationship to the hobby and over which those in the hobby have virtually no influence.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL