The Automated Home

I've said for several years now that I want to be able to control all the functions of my house from a web interface. I'm talking lights, door locks, tv, oven, everything.

Saw a commercial for the Schlage Link iPhone app recently. It's based on a subscription service that allows someone to monitor his door locks and lights and such via the web.

http://link.schlage.com/Pages/home.aspx

This brings me to my uber-geeky point: 20 years from now, every household appliance will have an IP address (or at least they should). The fully automated home could happen now, but it would be very expensive and time consuming. However, we are getting closer everyday. Things like the Android Microwave, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSMerma7nBY&feature=youtube_gdata, and Schlage Link are perfect examples of how it could all work. Just think if you refridgerator and cupboard could build your grocery list for you based on barcoded or RFID(even better) labeled products. I'd pay an extra $300 per appliance for a system that 'just worked'.

But as always, big business and gov't will have to champion the effort before it gets to the consumer because they're the only ones with a checkbook powerful enough to handle such "cutting edge" technology.

Until then I'll just have to suffer through and build my grocery list the old fashion way (by asking my wife what we need).


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone