
Originally Posted by
squid007
I think smart houses is the best thing people invented. I use my smartphone to control some kitchen gadgets and air conditioner. Of course, it's quite expensive, but very convenient!
The advantage of "smart homes" is that they aren't specific to one (small!) section of the population (like a wheelchair is). As such, you have economies of scale to help drive down costs. And, a more ubiquitous offering that people are willing to embrace.
Unfortunately, most of this automation is still little more than "remote control"... 1970's mentality updated to allow a phone to be the "remote" (instead of a little handheld/bedside box).
Eventually, these devices will cooperate and anticipate the user's needs instead of twiddling their thumbs waiting to be TOLD what to do:"Ah, Bob is headed to bed. Let me pull the drapes in the living room, turn off the lights in the rest of the house, turn the heat down a bit, make sure the garage door is closed, make sure nothing has been left ON in the kitchen, kill the TV in the living room, turn on the bedroom TV (cuz Bob likes to watch TV in bed just before retiring) and check to see if he has any appointments tomorrow morning that would warrant setting an earlier wake-up time on his alarm..."