Will You Automate Your Home?

Home automation has been around for decades.

I had a serious business plan in the works in the 1980s and all my research and work pointed to a rather bleak forecast when I was done. Several other big players formed consortiums in an effort to change the world. That change never came.

Ten years later a big company I worked for jumped in with both feet in an attempt to do the same. Wonderful ideas abounded, but no one was interested in buying.

Now, nearly 25 years later a quick review of the market and the technology has confirmed that little has really changed.

While there are many outstanding and very cool things home automation can do, the majority of people have simply yawned in response.

Today's hurdles and issues are essentially the same as they were 25 and more years ago. Home automation is essentially a niche market that appeals to the tinkerers or the well heeled that want something they can use to amaze and amuse their friends with.

I hope Verizon has some success in this field, however, after nearly 30 years home automation has yet to find a foot hold in the public's eye. It is more of a solution looking for an elusive problem.

You are probably correct for today but not forever.

Eventually, the mass of people interested in it will reach a point where it will be a "must" to have it. It will be just like the granite counter top or the new apps for your cell phone.

Example: the microwave oven took 20-30 years of failed product launches before it caught on.

Maybe the gizmos generation coming up will not be able to imagine the days when you had to get up to go answer the door. They will check the entrance camera on their phone and punch a few keys to open the door.

I don't know how you can make such a prediction.

The most potential home automation has is if it becomes a fad.

To do that a few things need to happen. First, something has to hit the market that just has bling to it that is irresistible (i.e., the pet rock syndrome).

Second, costs for this wiz-bang system has to be cheap.

The problem that has plagued home automation in the past and continues today is that home automation does not bring any real value added to life in the home.

The comparison of granite countertops to home automation probably is not a bad one. Granite is beautiful if you can afford it and adds beauty to a kitchen. However that is just about it.

Microwaves caught on early with restaurants. Once the price came down they did so in the home. I don't think that took anything like 20 years. More like 5 years. While the first commercial oven appeared in the 1950s, the cost was not something that the average home owner would buy. Amana changed that in the late 1960s with the first home version. Litton followed suit in the very early 70s and the revolution began in earnest.

Microwaves are very useful, compact, and cheap. Home automation is not very important for a house, can not be put into a self-contained box, and not cheap. It is not like a heater on an AC, which are essential components in a house. Sure, you can set up mood lighting, turn on your stereo and get ready for a party with the push of a switch. However, all that serves as nothing more than a toy that you end up turning on and off again to impress you guests while they are there.

I can do all of that with a few simple steps now. The dimmer switch is on the wall and 10 paces away is the stereo. Probably a lot faster than trying to hunt down some remote.

Also, when the front door bell rings, I get up and answer the door. It's not only easy to do, but it is the polite thing to do to greet my guests personally at the door. It shows that I care about them and appreciate their company.

You always give a good analysis of the situations. That is why I try to read all of your posts.

But, having young adults around me, I see the world changing quickly. Will it be in 5 or ten years? I don't know but listen to the kids answering their phone or the door once you force them to and you will realize that the end of politeness as we know it is near.

These days, what makes them feel good has priority over anything else. Since money is not such a problem anymore as the parents work like crazy to provide all the un-necessary material luxuries, the next generation will use a different logic than yours or mine.

Ask your parents if they would have imagined that someday everybody would have one or many personal phones. Don't even bother with internet, we know the answer.

The home automation has begun already anyway. It starts with computers that are more easily interface to the audio / visual systems. Then more gizmos will be added as the refrigerator and the coffee maker and the thermostat will respond to your schedule automatically. etc.. We are half way there. Just waiting for the technology to become "easy" and the critical mass to be reached.

It will not originate from X10 and specialized controllers and hardware that have to be installed and configured by professionals. It will come from the addition of inter-connectivity to everything you own. These functions will be useless at first but eventually somebody will figure out how to make it work properly so that you can sit on the couch multitasking while the supper gets prepared by the kitchen hardware.

We are a long way off from appliances that prepare food for us. ;-)

However, what do you want your refrigerator to do for you with home automation? Check if your refrigerator light is off when the door is closed? We joked about that one at a appliance manufacture. We called it Frig-Cam.

Coffe makers already come with timers.

About the best thing that came up was synchronizing all the clocks when time changes took place or after a power failure. However, no wanted to pay for that feature. Appliances are the cheapest (least expensive) white goods on the market. Engineering carefully selects the architecture and the materials required for the least expensive solution. There are some pretty innovated solutions to meeting that requirement. Adding functionality that requires communication is a tough sell.

Yes, home automation has been around for over 30 years. I still don't see an explosion in the market anytime soon. I thought of building something with my latest home, but there really isn't anything useful for such a system to do that I can't already do easily enough. It also just adds another maintenance layer on top of the normal maintenance the house requires.

There is nothing this home automation by FiOS can do that pretty much can't already be done with a broadband connection and wireless router.

It appears what they're attempting to do is consolidate all the control functions into a common app under a single corporate umbrella. IMO, having to deal with Verizon is not worth any potential convenience.

I, too, have looked into the home automation market several times over the last 20 years or so and found that it's too faddish for a lasting business venture and that many appliances need to have control infrastructure included at large cost.

On the other hand I'm looking at possibly developing single use wireless home app's (and associated stand alone hardware) to appeal to limited market segments. I'll not say more about that right now as I'd hate to see someone with more time and resources than me run off with my ideas.

Hooker <-- who is admittedly biased against Verizon as a discontented former customer