Keys? Who Needs 'Em!

High-tech locks open with the touch of a button

by Max Alexander

For as long as there have been door locks, people have been losing
keys. Which is why combination locks have been around for almost as
long. But it took the arrival of digital technology for manufacturers
to come up with keyless systems that are truly simple and convenient
to use. First adopted in the 1980s by hotels and other security-minded
businesses, keyless locks — such as digital keypads, magnetic cards,
and remote-controlled deadbolts — have lately exploded onto the home
market.

Plummeting prices are a big factor behind the growing demand. "Twenty
years ago, a commercial system could cost $20,000," says Allan Rich,
president of Nokey.com, an Internet retailer of keyless systems. "Now
you can get good residential models for $400." And as the technology
becomes more affordable, the shortcomings of conventional keyed locks
become more apparent. For instance, most keyless systems allow you to
program in different codes for different users, so when the
housekeeper quits, you just delete her code. Some let you define time
periods for each code. That way, the furnace repairman can get in at
noon, but not midnight. Still others can be linked to your computer,
which can keep track of who’s coming and going, or allow you to add
and delete codes remotely. "We’re seeing the whole home automation
market expanding, and locks are part of it," says Jimmy Pendley,
director of product management at Black & Decker’s Kwikset division.
"It’s all about convenience now."




1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | NEXT
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/know...452083,00.html


===
"In the future, my private life will be expressed solely through art."
-- Britney Spears

Only the most technologically ignorant person would agree to put this
into their house.

It use to take a skilled criminal to rob your house, now it can be
achieved by a highschool kid with a laptop and a short frequency
scanner.

In article .com,
wrote:

Only the most technologically ignorant person would agree to put this
into their house.

It use to take a skilled criminal to rob your house, now it can be
achieved by a highschool kid with a laptop and a short frequency
scanner.

Huh? Keyed locks only keep out honest people...my understanding is that
lock-picking isn't terribly hard to learn. And don't forget brute
force, which bypasses any locking mechanism. ;-)

A 'highschool [sic] kid with a laptop and short frequency scanner' seems
like it's raising the bar -- expensive high-tech equipment required,
versus a simple lock pick set...or plain brute force (e.g. breaking a
window). 'Sides, are most burglars high school kids with laptops? I
think not.

Unless you have an alarm system...and frankly, even then...you're not
safe from common burglars.

IMHO,
Kendall, jaded homeowner ;-)

--
Kendall P. Bullen http://www.his.com/~kendall/
kendall@---^^^^^^^

Never e-mail me copies of Usenet postings, please.
I do read the groups to which I post!

In article .com, wrote:
Only the most technologically ignorant person would agree to put this
into their house.

It use to take a skilled criminal to rob your house, now it can be
achieved by a highschool kid with a laptop and a short frequency
scanner.

Nonsense. It's *never* taken a "skilled criminal" to burglarize a house. Most
residential doors don't have reinforced strikes, and any idiot can kick one
in. Even that level of effort isn't always necessary: a surprising number of
people don't lock their homes, or leave keys "hidden" in really obvious
places.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?