I find myself getting better and better at communicating with animals. This gives me great pleasure, and hope for a better future. They have great wisdom built into their very existence.
This doesn’t keep me from spending the bulk of my time immersed in technology. I’m an omnivore when it comes to tech, at least up to a point. I enjoy doing product, electronics and mechanical design, as well as graphics, writing, and more. 3D printing is a gas (when it’s not giving you ulcers) and I love programming in C, though I’ve read that Rust is the new overwhelming favorite programming language, so I may be enjoying that before long.
I want the Roadrunner Comfort to support Matter (the new standard for smart home devices), but I’m not ready to tackle that integration yet, at least not by myself. The tools for developing Matter-based products aren’t yet user-friendly enough for me. But they are improving, it’s just a matter of time.
Right now, I have plenty of other things demanding my attention, not the least of which is shepherding the Roadrunner Comfort into production. Testing has gone well, though the number of units in actual use remains smaller than I had hoped. Not unexpectedly, design glitches (fortunately minor) delayed things, and like most engineering projects, this one is running somewhat slower than hoped for. At the same time, though, reliability and extended product lifetime are looking solid.
I’ve prepared production-level documentation for the existing product which could be built almost anywhere and sold widely with healthy margins. I’m working on establishing production, distribution and support networks, something that, were I employed by an existing company, would have been done by someone else and completed by now. But, as I mentioned, I’m an omnivore, and I’m not in a hurry. The Roadrunner Comfort is a product that will last for decades in people’s homes. In some cases it will replace controls that have been in place for many decades. Such older tech should never be replaced with something less reliable, efficient, or easy to use. So taking the time to get it right is my job #1.