consumers | Technology Bloggers

Technology Bloggers is getting bigger and growing day by day. When the community was founded in April last year, our readership was just a few hundred people a week. We now have tens of thousands of visitors a month.

With size comes opportunity, and recently we have been gifted a fantastic opportunity by British Gas. In the past Technology Bloggers has been British Gas’s blog of the month, demonstrating that they understand the work we are doing.

A few weeks ago I was offered the chance to step into the future of smarter living, becoming one of the first people ever to have a Remote Heating Control system fitted. How could I refuse such an amazing offer?

On behalf of Technology Bloggers, I am to test and review an innovative new technology which is going to be making its way into all of our homes very soon.

British Gas’s Campaign

There have been some great technological advances in the last few years in the energy sector, like for example smart meters and Baxi Ecogen boilers which can ultimately help us to be more efficient in the way we use energy.

British Gas are now starting to offer these innovative new technologies to me and you – the consumer, and in order to give the consumer an unbiased view of the technologies, they have asked a handful of bloggers to test out the technology. This handful of bloggers (including me from Technology Bloggers) will then blog about their findings, in order to help people better understand the new technologies available, and the potential implications of upgrading/installing the technologies.

Here is a television ad British Gas have launched, to raise awareness about smarter homes.
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During the campaign, my aim (as always and as stated in our privacy policy) is to remain impartial and give you my honest feedback and views on the technology. As with every technology, there are always positives and negatives. I will be exploring both the advantages and disadvantages of the technology I have been selected to test.

Series

Testing a new technology is a journey, and therefore I feel as I am going to be writing about my journey and experience of the technology, it would be appropriate for me to write in the form of a series. Our blog has had two series before, making this its third. If you are unsure what a series is, please check out our writers guide to writing a series, which gives an explanation.

I feel that if I write the posts in a constant flow (i.e.) a series, it will feel less fragmented then were I to write the posts individually.

The series will post fortnightly on a Friday, meaning that every other Friday, you will get an update as to how my experience and understanding of the technology is progressing.

The next post will go live on Friday the 7th of September.

About The Technology

The technology I am to test and review is known as Remote Heating Control, and really it does what it says on the tin. It is an innovative new technology which gives you better control over your heating, whether you are in the house or a remote location.

Controlling your heating via a smartphone – Android and iPhone

The technology is programmable via three methods: on the device itself; via smartphone; via an online account – accessible anywhere you have an internet connection.

The technology also has a very advanced and programmable timer system. You can set exact temperatures that you want your house to be at, at exact times. From what I understand it is very easy to set up a reasonable complex heating scheduled, to make sure your comfort is maximised, whilst you potentially save money at the same time, by reducing unnecessary heating.

More to come on the technology over the course of the series.

About Me

If you have been a loyal reader for sometime now, you probably know a lot about me, my views and the way I like to operate. If you don’t, below is an extract of my profile on the British Gas user reviews site, which can hopefully help you understand a bit more about who I am.

I am a techie at heart and love to follow the latest innovations and developments in the industry. I specifically take an interest in green (sustainable, efficient and renewable) technology, and always consider the environmental implications of new innovations.

I have always thought heating systems are inefficient, and this ultimately leads to big waste of resources. Therefore I am really pleased to be testing a technology that could potentially revolutionise the way we control our heating.

I couldn’t refuse the opportunity to test a new technology which is set to revolutionise the way we all use energy in the future, ultimately changing and hopefully improving our lives!

I really look forward to having better control over my heating, by having Remote Heating Control installed in my home and am really excited to test and review this new, innovative, green technology!

Promotion

As British Gas want to get the word out, the have said that they will be promoting the content myself and the other bloggers involved write via their website and social media. This means that the content published on our blog, could potentially help hundreds of thousands of people (maybe even millions) in formulating their opinion on these new technologies. My hope is that this should also help speed up the growth in our readership ever further.

Who Benefits

As a community blog, we are very used to analysing who benefits from a given activity, but who will benefit from this project?

Me – I will get Remote Heating Control installed in my home, giving me better control of my own heating
Technology Bloggers – I hope that the promotion British Gas can offer us will boost our readership, helping us grow the community further
The consumer (you) – The information and reviews of the technology I provide, I hope will benefit anyone who is a potential install candidate, make their mind up about whether or not to embrace the new technology
British Gas – British Gas will be getting impartial reviews which they can show to consumers, potentially boosting their sales

Your Thoughts

What are your thoughts on the campaign? Do you think it will be beneficial for the blog? What sort of things would you like me to mention/discuss in my series? Are you interested in getting a smarter home?

Throw your comments at me below 🙂

The internet is full of ads. There is no escaping that fact that despite it being a free web, the word ‘free’ probably means you will have to put up with an awful lot of adverts. People who work online have to make a living, and ads is one of the most popular ways to do so – fair enough.

Sometimes you have to accept that we need ads to help keep so many free services on the internet running; information on blogs, free emails, forums and search engines just to name a few.

Many people believe that the ads are there, and that is the way it is going to stay. Useless information will get in your way when you are looking for useful content, but that is not entirely correct.

Advertisers advertise, ultimately because they want to boost their or their business or organisations income. Advertisements may drive sales, increase donations, raise awareness, promote a brand, offer freebies, or do a whole number of other things.

Most consumers (that’s people like you and me) think that adverts are an inconvenience, but need they be?

Advertisers are now getting clever, cookies are being used to track what you look at online, and are then used to present you with ads that are relevant to you, which you might actually find interesting.

Many people may find that a daunting prospect. Advertisers are collecting information about me in order to try to ‘improve my ad experience’ and at the end of the day get me to spend more money. Is that right?

Enter AdChoices.

The Digital Advertising Alliance have founded a site called Your AdChoices, which gives you information about the choices you have about the adverts that you see whilst browsing the internet.

Would you rather the ads that you see online were relevant to you, or random? Now, for the first time, you have the ability to choose.

Hundreds of advertising hosts now use AdChoices, to let you personalise the way you view the web. Google, AOL, Adobe, Disney, Kraft, Microsoft, News Corp and Yahoo are just some of the big names that participate in the AdChoices scheme.

Here is an extract from the AdChoices website:

“The Advertising Option Icon gives you transparency and control for
interest-based ads:

Find out when information about your online interests is being gathered or used to customize the Web ads you see.

Choose whether to continue to allow this type of advertising.”

Still not understanding the concept? See if watching this video helps.

So you have a choice. You can choose to receive personalised ads, which could potentially improve your browsing experience, or you could choose to opt out. Your choice.

For more information, or to opt out, head over to YourAdChoices.com.

Sometimes, Technology Bloggers writers will choose to display an AdSense Ad in there articles. These all have the AdChoices button on them. I rarely add one, but for your interest, look below. Can you see the ‘i’?

What will you do, opt out or stay in? Do you think it is good that we are now offered personalised ads, or is it an invasion of privacy?

With regard to personalised ads I am undecided, but am slowly warming to the idea.

Technology Bloggers

Championing responsible innovation in partnership with the Bassetti Foundation