Imagine the fridge automatically ordering more milk and eggs when you're running low...
The only thing that I've seen at more trade shows -- other than the "booth Betties," that is -- is the promise of home convergence.
Every year, we're bombarded by the promises of smarter smart phones, toasters, pianos, TVs, cars. Oh, I could go on.
This time around I want, no, I demand to see some solid and practical products that I can actually buy at a local giant electronics store sometime before I die.
For the past few years I've heard how Bluetooth products will wirelessly and invisibly connect together various devices -- be it handhelds, cell phones, or notebooks.
The only progress we've made: cute technology demos of wireless headsets and great tchochkies freely distributed among the passersby.
Microsoft promises convergence, again
Year after year, Microsoft promises that a future version of Windows CE will interconnect everything from refrigerators to microwave ovens.
That's right; imagine the fridge ordering more milk, eggs, and Brita filters automatically from a grocery service like Webvan when you're running low on supplies.
How about a future where you grab a new recipe wirelessly at the grocery store and its beamed straight to your oven at home? In both of these scenarios a common operating system is what makes the convenience possible.
This year promises even more convergence hijinks as Microsoft may show off its new gaming console -- the Xbox.
Part game console, part computer, part home entertainment center, will the 800-pound gorilla of the computer industry get that much closer to world domination? Only the antitrust lawyers in Washington, D.C. know for sure.
The Clapper isn't enough
At last year's CES, we saw companies like Sun Microsystems display automated home appliances ranging from computer-controlled player pianos to things as banal as lights.
What? They never heard of The Clapper? Please, I need something more than that.
There was, however, one announcement last year that made my ears perk up: a Bluetooth enabled storage device based on Sony's Memory Stick.
I hope they've added to it and are closer to shipping the product. The idea is it would plug into any device, whether it's a notebook, PC, digital camera, heck even an MP3 player.
Finally, the possibility of a truly networked lifestyle!
While I still think I've got better odds of seeing pigs fly or winning big at the blackjack table, I'll keep my fingers crossed for seeing the house that can do all the work for me.
Damn, I'm lazy.
