Living in a time when everything that isn't already digital is rapidly headed that way (whether we like it or not), new products are slowly but surely finding a place in our homes.
DVD players have replaced VCRs in most households, most televisions are high definition and more are making the move to digital, and why listen to the stereo when you can have a selection of thousands of songs in your ear at all times with an iPod?
The bar is set even higher for more luxurious residences - no longer are marble-clad bathrooms and a kitchen full of appliances enough. Now, flat-screen televisions that slide from view at the click of a button and home theatre systems that would shame most cinemas are a must.
Today, homes can be fitted with automation systems that integrate control of the lighting, computer and audiovisual equipment, home security and monitoring systems, even things like door locks and drapes that may not generally be thought of as electronic.
Forbes has recently released a list of seven top high-tech homes - the top of which is not unexpectedly taken by Bill Gates' Medina, Washington residence, which boasts (among other things) an underwater music system in the pool, a 22-foot-wide video display, and touchscreens throughout the house that can adjust music, lighting and air conditioning. Not to mention the wireless pins visitors to the house can wear that adjusts the lighting and temperature settings to their preferences as they walk through the house.
Such smart houses need not be recently built mansions.
"We took a brownstone that was built in the 1860s, and we added and we added more technology," said Robert Saltzman, the owner of a 5,500-square-foot Philadelphia home that has central controls for lights, temperature and security (including the glass-break sensors and cameras that can see in the dark), and a networked video and audio system. "Perhaps we went a little crazy."
The owner of a Long Island house on the list is a doctor who wanted to bring the blockbusters home. So he installed a reference-quality performance space with top-of-the-line equipment, including Crestron controls, B&W speakers, a Dwin projector, acoustical insulation and electric lounge chairs.
It is not all out of reach for the rest of us, however. As much as dishwashers, electric garage doors and central air-con were impossibly expensive novelties to most home owners of the 1940s, home automation is a technology that has a place in many homes these days. Less expensive technologies work over power lines or home wireless networks, and are bringing costs down and making installation easier.
"Historically, the ultra-wired home has been limited to the wealthy who typically spend upwards of $20,000 for a basic system, or technologists who like to tinker with older technologies," says Joe Dada, founder of SmartLabs - a Californian based company working to make the experience more affordable.
"But with advances in technology, creating the ultra-wired home is much less complex, making it affordable for all consumers."
