Now I know why my refrigerator should be connected to the Internet.
Like many other folks, I chuckled when an appliance maker announced a refrigerator with a video screen on the door for television viewing and Web surfing. I’m a fairly dedicated gadget hound, but that sounded absurd.
I’m still skeptical about multimedia refrigerators. But a recent homecoming has persuaded me of at least one good reason to have more useful residential networking. Here’s the unpleasant tale.
Last weekend I arrived back in California from a 12-day trip to South Africa, where I’d spoken at a conference. It was mid-afternoon, and I was tired after more than 30 straight hours in airplanes and airports. The outside temperature was about 100 degrees, and it wasn’t much cooler inside the house.
My nose wrinkled when I opened up the front door. There was a faint but odd odor in the air.
When I opened the refrigerator, I discovered the reason.
The electrical circuit feeding the appliance had fried itself. The refrigerator and freezer were off, and clearly had been off for days; everything inside was as warm as the outside air.
I won’t be too graphic about it, but the food — including yogurt and formerly frozen meat — was decomposing in an especially pungent manner. Luckily, I hadn’t eaten anything in many hours, if you get my drift.
The circuit is now repaired. The foul smell is more stubborn. (There’s also a whole industry devoted to “odor control,” I’ve discovered.)
In any event, the experience has convinced me that the modern home should be more intelligent, and communicative, than it is today.
Lots of people already have anti-theft systems, though the prevalence of false alarms has greatly reduced their utility. We need to increase the information flow from our homes in a variety of ways.
Frequent travelers need to know when devices or power circuits fail, as I can attest. Appliance makers, with customers’ permission, should be able to perform remote diagnostics on what they’ve sold. Power companies need — again with people’s permission, in return for lower rates — to briefly turn off water heaters and air conditioners on a rotating basis, reducing the need for outrageously expensive peak generating capacity.
The electronics industry has made some progress. But we’re a long way from where we need to go.
Home automation is not a new idea. A technology called X10 — a communications standard for in-home power lines — has been around for several decades, and you can find a variety of devices for controlling lights, coffee makers and other gear. X10 is typically an add-on to an existing home electrical system, rarely built in from the outset.
Some automated systems will make a phone call to designated numbers under certain circumstances, such as a power loss. Others will call if their sensor-embedded devices spot conditions like flooding or freezing.
Matt Dean, vice president at SmartHome (www.smarthome.com), a home-automation company in Irvine, says appliance makers are beginning to think about making their devices part of the Internet — that is, embedding them with technology that would let people monitor and control them via data networks without having to add all kinds of extra gear.
His company has started selling “SmartHomeLive” — a combination of hardware, software and services that looks like a good start toward what we need. Users can monitor and adjust lights, cameras and other devices from a Web browser. The system requires an always-on computer at home, however, preferably on a broadband line. (I’m going to give it a try and will let you know in a future column how it works.)
What we really need is a new generation of boxes to which we’d connect a variety of devices and systems embedded with Internet communications and sensors. Put an Ethernet plug on every appliance.
Maybe the central control box would be part of a Net-connected home entertainment system, or maybe it would stand alone. We’d have a choice of linking directly to it from remote locations, or having a third party handle the monitoring if we chose.
The technology, electronics, appliance and power industries are working on all of this. Some intriguing experiments are under way, including a project in Italy, using technology from Echelon of San Jose, to help manage electricity demand via remote systems at residences. The financial case for doing this is compelling from an energy standpoint alone; the savings could easily end up paying for the installation and operation.
It’ll be vital to have open systems, to prevent proprietary lock-in by monopolists and cartels. Serious privacy protection should be built in from the beginning, not bolted on as an afterthought.
Most of all, these future systems need to prevent trouble if possible, and solve problems when they occur. The more their makers try to peddle trivial features, the less real people will care.
I want my refrigerator on the Net, all right, but not to tell me when I’m low on milk. I could care less if it shows movies on the door.
I want it online to let me know when it’s not working. Now that’s what I’d call a consumer-friendly feature.
>From siliconvalley.com