1.1. The Internet and the Networked Home

Since the early 1990s, the Internet has grown tremendously and its impact is now felt in almost every aspect of our lives. It has changed the way we obtain entertainment, communicate, and conduct commerce, and is becoming a household presence like the telephone and the television.

Because of the ubiquity of the Internet and the vast resources it makes available, a computer that is not connected to the Internet becomes less useful, and the features available locally become less relevant. In fact, many people own a general-purpose computer solely to access the Internet.

As the Internet matures, services are being offered in addition to contents. We shop, trade stocks, lan trips, and get news on the Internet, and we want to do these things not only sitting at a desk, but also on the road. Thanks to hardware that is getting more powerful and less expensive, many smart and connected devices such as mobile phones, pagers, and personal digital assistants have emerged on the market. As a result, a traditional computer cannot meet the requirement of staying connected while at the same time be portable, specialized, and convenient. People have begun to dub this trend the post-PC era.

As we bring computing technology to our daily lives, we find our homes full of promising opportunities. On one hand, broadband services such as digital subscriber line (DSL) and cable modem are widely available, a growing number of households own multiple personal computers (PCs), and all forms of home entertainment are becoming digitized. On the other hand, various device control networks, pioneered by CEBus, Echelon, and X10, have already been developed for use inside the home.

Cahners In-Stat reported that the number of cable modem subscribers in North America reached 1.8 million in 1999, and the number of broadband cable data subscribers worldwide will be 9.5 million by 2002. In fact, today more than 110 million homes in North America are within a short distance of a broadband coaxial cable line and 77 million homes have cable TV services. The research firm also predicts that the average number of connected nodes per home network will increase from 2.9 in 1999 to 5.0 by 2003 [1].

Enthusiasts predict fascinating applications: refrigerators ordering groceries automatically, TV programs delivered based on personal interests, merchandise offerings catering to consumer taste, optimally tuned climate control systems for comfort and energy conservation, not to mention microwave ovens that can be turned on from afar.

The market potential is huge. Cahners In-Stat estimates that the revenue for cable broadband services will increase from its current $1 billion to $4 billion (US) by 2002. Alliend Business Intelligence projects that home networking equipment market alone will reach $2.4 billion by 2005, whereas Parks Associates estimates that the total value of the end user market will be more than $4.5 billion by 2004 [1].

Given the market size, it is not surprising that a large number of companies are investing millions of dollars in developing technologies, creating standards, and manufacturing novel products. Numerous field trials are also underway as a necessary step in understanding customer needs. Although the application for service gateways is in the pilot stage, some of the dreams have begun to take shape. For example, the TiVo service allows you to rate TV programs and record your favorites automatically through a recorder connected to the service provider over the phone line. The Echelon LonWorks control network allows you to control light switches, window blinds, and thermostats through a browser over the Internet (http://demo.echelon.com).

As another example, in the Danish capital of Copenhagen, a trial began in September 2000 in which each family received a futuristic Electrolux Screenfridge, a Tele Denmark 2-Mbit/second ADSL high-speed data connection, and an Ericsson WAP phone. For the next few months, the families had the opportunity to try out an array of applications—Internet e-mail, intrafamily messaging, Web access, online grocery shopping, weather information, and news—targeted to improving the quality of life at home [1].

Some of us will really enjoy a good successor of XCoffee, a coffee maker that not only sends us detailed status information about itself automatically, but also produces personalized coffee at just the time we need it.