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Guest Commentary: Great Things to Come - How Custom Install is Evolving (31/7/2008)

By Frank K. Sterns, President, Niles Audio Corporation

Niles Audio will soon celebrate its 31st year conceiving, designing, manufacturing and selling solutions for custom installation professionals. The company was founded by Ivan Niles Zuckerman and his wife Janice in the living room of their South Miami condo. Ivan was a tinkerer by nature and he sold stereos for the local hi-fi retailer while he attended university. In his spare time he developed a switching system that enabled him to demonstrate multiple sets of speakers on the sales floor without disconnecting and reconnecting wires. Ivan's switcher was an instant hit and when he had a falling out with his boss he decided to make a go of it on his own. Thus Niles Audio was born.

I joined Niles in 1992, convinced that this little company in Florida was on to something. There were 39 of us then. Today, Niles is a leading brand, and the company that was little in 1992 has become quite large. Ivan and Janice have sold the business and I am proud to serve as company president.

A few months back I was having cocktails with a friend whom I have known and worked with for over 20 years. Inevitably, after a few cocktails, we got to reminiscing about how far the custom installation business has come. I can recall the very first CEDIA show at Amelia Island, Florida. There we 40 of us in a tent. Ivan and Janice were there too, and little did I know I'd be joining their company in a few years. We didn't realise it at the time, but it was truly the dawn of an industry - all we knew was that we were passionate that we were on to something important.

Of course back then, custom install meant wallmounted speakers and volume controls hooked up to a speaker switcher. Boy were those simpler times. Today things are much different, and tomorrow they will be even more different. For starters, the business has matured. No longer is it 40 people in a tent, it's the fastest growing segment in consumer electronics. I used to work for a premier loudspeaker vendor selling beautiful wooden box speakers. I'm sure glad I don't make a living that way now. And technology? Digital has changed everything, and IP/networking and the Internet will change things even more in the future.

Consider this. The wallmount volume control and IR sensor has now been replaced by the wallmount touchpanel that controls the multizone audio system. What's next? How about streaming audio and video delivered via the Internet? Instant access to every song ever recorded or every movie ever made. And it's all accessed and controlled from wired and wireless control devices that enable end users to navigate and automate this amazing world of unlimited content!

The challenge will be to harness all of this power and make it simple to installers and end-users alike. While I have no doubt that we are on the verge of a huge boom in the number of people who will want/demand custom-installed systems in their homes, I'm concerned that as things progress, they just may become too complicated and unreliable for both installers and end-users. At Niles, we intend to stay firmly focused on taking complicated things and making them easy and reliable to use while remaining simple to sell and install.

So hang on tight! We have only just begun what will certainly be a fast and fascinating ride into the future of custom installation. I'm thrilled to be a part of it. I hope you are too!

Frank K Sterns is president of Niles Audio Corporation, a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of audio/video custom installation products and accessories that enable professional custom installers to design and install systems that delight their customers.

www.nilesaudio.com