Big computer industry players like Intel, Sun, IBM and Microsoft were there as well, touting the advantages of embedded chips and Internet connectivity in everything from refrigerators to ovens.
Having played out their OS and microchip wars in the enterprise arena, these computer giants are now attempting to storm the home front with ovens that browse the Internet and refrigerators that give you the day's weather and automatically call the serviceman when the ice-cube maker gets jammed. All of these automated home wonders, of course, presuppose that the home is fully networked and that broadband Internet service is available 24 X 7.
Well, surprise, neither of those conditions is going to be available for the average consumer anytime soon and, except for a few intrepid souls willing to take a few arrows in the chest, the overall cost of "smart" appliances will far outweigh any immediate benefits. And who's going to install all those complicated gadgets anyway?
First things first
Home Director, however, recently spun off from IBM, is taking a more pragmatic approach to the whole home technology market by starting at the basics -- networking. Home Director has created a home systems integrator program to train and develop qualified individuals and companies to install and service home networks -- in effect creating an IT department for your home.
The primary market for home networking today is new homes, and just as an electrician wires a home and an alarm system specialist puts in the alarm system, so will a home network integrator (probably the same person who installs the electrical or alarm wiring) install data, video and voice lines, all connected to a central hub. It's this network foundation that needs to be put in place before any appliances surf the Internet.
At CES, Cisco and Whirlpool announced a partnership in which Whirlpool will incorporate Cisco's Internet Home Gateway products into a refrigerator and oven. The idea is that when you're ready to make dinner, you simply use the Web browser in the refrigerator to download recipes from the Internet to a Whirlpool networked oven, which is then automatically programmed according to the recipe instructions.
Even supposing that a home's network works as well as intended, the weakest link is the Internet. As any IT manager can tell you, Internet connectivity is only as good as the ISP service. You might have a rock-solid LAN, but you're still at the mercy of your ISP for Internet connectivity.
I don't know about you, but I don't want to rely on the good graces of my ISP provider for my next dinner.
