A business friend alerted me to a website which specialized in crowd funding. The website displayed a new padlock which can be unlocked with a bletooth signal from a smart phone. The site claimed that keys are "easy to lose, they can be stolen, they are a pain to share, and if you share them you must get them back."
A recent newspaper article described a similar story. This time the invention was a deadbolt turn knob which fits over existing turn knobs. According to a link on the internet, the knob will operate almost every type of deadbolt lock regardless of the original turn knob shape and no matter where in the world the lock has been manufactured. This product opens by tapping the lock in long and short morse code-type intervals.
Two years ago another startup company developed a different 'fitover' turn knob for deadbolts. This product has a motorized thumbturn which operates the deadbolt when it receives a cell phone signal. The company also solicited crowd funding and apparently collected enough funds to complete their project.
In all cases these security products were shown on the internet in order to generate funds to complete the projects. Anyone who presently orders one of these products must understand that it is a 'pre order' with delivery at a later time. Crowd funding is certainly a legitimate way to develop funds for product development.
The problem is that most security products, and all other conceivable products or services, are now available on the web for the general public to purchase at very competitive pricing. An article by Turn 10 in this issue describes the price war now unfolding concerning the sale of safes on the web. The age-old network of products moving from manufacturer to distributor to dealer is being threatened as many manufacturers gear up to sell individual products direct to end-users and end-users become accustomed to waiting a couple days for delivery. Amazon is building warehouses in strategic locations, stocking large inventories of manufacturer products, and even experimenting with radio controlled copters to hasten delivery time.
The Security Hardware Distributors Association (SHDA) began their annual convention April 28th. This problem should make a hot topic for conversation. Unless something changes, our future livelihood may depend on selling labor, parts and installing products which our customers bought elsewhere. This not what either locksmith distributors or locksmith dealers want to hear.
