Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I had hoped for a guide to designing and setting up an Automated Home. Instead, what I got was a catalogue of outdated data sheets and installation instructions for various X10 gadgets. If you know absolutly nothing about X10 technology, it might serve as a primer, however virtually all of the information is available at the supplier's web sites for free. There has also been a lot of improvement in computer interfaces and software since the book was last revised (1996). Virtually all of the software and computer interface chapters is useless, being superceeded by Activehome and the advent of the CM11A interface. For not much more than the price of the book, you can by a starter kit ($39 on sale) and actually get some modules and read the accompanying documentation for the same (but up to date) information! It is unfortunate that there is so little in print on applying X10 technology, from an application viewpoint. The gizmos are cool, but setting up a whole house for security and appliance/lighting control is a fairly complicated task. This book did not provide anything to make that task simpler.