Apple - two words to consider: "Home Automation"

[applewhore]

karavite - you've hit the nail on the head...

I used to work for a construction company that promoted "smart homes", but it was all Windows based...

The lack of standards in our devices is definitely the problem behind everything today - Apple could certainly solve this (We certainly know that M$ aren't going to!)

I've just ordered Smart Homes for Dummies from Amazon - I therefore expect to be, if not an expert, less of a dummy within a month! Thanks for the tip...

PS - The weather's still perfect here! Time for a swim, I think! ;-)

[karavite]

Oh, you are cruel! ;-)

You enjoy your swim and think of me while I shovel my driveway clear of snow and continue to make chicken soup for my wife who has a bad winter cold! I can see you now, reading your smart home book on the beach...

[fryke]

Hmm... interfaces? There's WiFi. I don't quite get why nobody just "does it". Apple's almost predestined to it. Connecting an iPod to a home stereo is nothing magical, of course, but Apple could easily create a set top box that works with my stereo, my home cinema and my Mac(s). The Mac could stream iPhoto slide shows, movies and stuff to the video beamer, the set top box could send recorded video to the Mac for archiving (so the set top box wouldn't need 200 GB of disk space, the Mac would...) etc.

[karavite]

Amen fryke - and I think with Apple's marketing and ability to make new stuff (like the iPod) so seductive in a design sense is a really important. Of course none of us really *need* such a thing, but they can sure make us WANT one! I think I have another thread on this somewhere, or maybe I say it somewhere here, but I agree completely with your "predestined" comment since this kind of thing would seem a natural extension of the "digital hub" stratgey that Apple/Jobs is always talking about.

Perhaps it is all being developed and they just need a name for it that will take well to the "i" prefix?

[mr. k]

And then iLife would all be integrated into your smart home system, so you could control events with iCal. You could program your bedroom digital hub to turn on at 7am and start iTunes or FM radio for five minutes, at which point if the mini iSight mounted in the corner hadn't detected your motion yet it would blast the audio until you got up and turned it off. You could also have it trigger an applescript to fire up netnewswire with all the major news channels plus anything else that is syndicated on your main computer downstairs. It could start the oven in which you put the bread dough you had raising over night, and automatically turn it off providing you with fresh baked bread by the time you were out of the shower and ready to go.
But as sweet as that would be I never see apple implementing a full home automation system -- even the iBox seems like a pretty far fetched idea to me. But I think that eventually anything electronic in your house will come 'networked,' so all you have to do is assign it some kind of key so it interacted properly with your network automation server (macintosh computer, linux server, whatever) via wifi or bluetooth, and that it could have it's own special code libraries much like different applications have their own applescript libraries that would be ubiquitously (I love option-escape) transfered from the device to the server as soon as the key was given.
I was thinking about this some though and it would be hard to configure devices to your server and only your server - because if your oven can be controlled by a server in the apartment next door, or even worse the wireless streaming color video camera in your bedroom that could have some akward consequences...

[karavite]

because if your oven can be controlled by a server in the apartment next door, or even worse the wireless streaming color video camera in your bedroom that could have some akward consequences...

All the more reason not leave this up to Windows based machines! Could you imagine having to install security patches for your ice maker, water heater, coffee maker... every other week? I can see the headlines now:

"Nation paralyzed by latest toaster worm. 6 million burnt bagels in north east cause panic as supplies dwindle."

Seriously mr K - you raise all valid points. According to my new friends at the high end audio/video store who have been doing this kind of thing for years (one whose own father also specializes in smart home set ups for the rich and famous) the one thing that has always stopped home automation from really taking off (for the middle class anyway) is an agreed upon standard between all the different companies. Now it seems even more companies are getting involved including PC-ish and related companies. In addition, "home automation" can mean so many different things - appliances, phone, networks, audio/video, security systems... it is hard to draw the line as those lines become more blurred.

Any way, my own selfish desire is to see Apple blaze a new path by expanding their own digital hub hardware/software to the home, but maybe sitting back and seeing others mistakes is a good strategy too?

FYI, here is a link to the Consumer Electronics Show site: http://www.cesweb.org/attendees/markets/networking.asp

Also see this one with Apple included: http://www.cesweb.org/attendees/conf...ID_session=ET6

[Arden]

With a broadband connection, I could have a video and/or audio chat room (not sure if iChatAV does this already). I could have multiple audio conversations simultaneously. I think all the software is basically there, it's just refining it more for those features.

Am I the only one who thinks this would be awesome? Imagine having several iChat AV video windows tiled across your screen, including your own tucked into the corner, and being able to conference with lots of people all over the world at the same time, with everyone seeing the same thing... makes Star Trek look like the original telephone.

[applewhore]

"Nation paralyzed by latest toaster worm. 6 million burnt bagels in north east cause panic as supplies dwindle."

LOL!

I don't think it's just me... I have HUGE faith in Apple and their products... I know they're not perfect but I would be completely happy for it to be an Apple system that controlled my house - anything based on Windows now fills me with dread!