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November 16, 2003
Who Wants It?
Posted by Arnold
Somehow, the visions for the smart home sound kinda dumb. For example,
coffeepot that starts when your alarm clock goes off (after warning you the night before if you forget to fill it). A security camera that e-mails you at work if it detects motion and then lets you see through it and pan around a room remotely. A refrigerator that will scan its own contents to keep a running inventory. A combination oven/refrigerator that can be instructed from a cellphone to start dinner and have it ready when you get home. A microwave that scans the bar codes on frozen pizzas and programs itself with the manufacturer's suggested cooking time. A home theater that plays music and movies off the Net. Remote controls for lights, locks and the thermostat.
Yawn. I think that the entrepreneurs will have better luck if they think in terms of child care and elder care. Think of ways to help people to remember to take medicine--and to remember when they have already taken it. Think of ways to deal with situations where babysitters or elder-care workers cancel on short notice. Stuff like that.
Comments (2)
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1.0
1. Frank Borger on November 17, 2003 10:03 AM writes...
I've discovered as I'm getting older that three things start to go
1. Your memory
2. I forget what the other two are.
3.
Permalink to Comment2. David Thomson on November 17, 2003 11:15 AM writes...
I think Arnold Kling is being too harsh. There’s nothing I wouldn’t find to be advantageous to my lifestyle whenever they become available:
1.) coffeepot that starts when your alarm clock goes off (after warning you the night before if you forget to fill it).
2.) A security camera that e-mails you at work if it detects motion and then lets you see through it and pan around a room remotely.
3.) A refrigerator that will scan its own contents to keep a running inventory.
4.) A combination oven/refrigerator that can be instructed from a cellphone to start dinner and have it ready when you get home.
5.) A microwave that scans the bar codes on frozen pizzas and programs itself with the manufacturer's suggested cooking time.
6.) A home theater that plays music and movies off the Net.
7.)Remote controls for lights, locks and the thermostat.
What’s there not to like? However, I’m still waiting for the pill that will make me the equal of Shaq O’Neal. It’s not fair that his basketball talent surpasses my own.
Permalink to Comment