The Toaster 2.0
There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t find myself floored by technology and how it has changed in my lifetime. I still marvel at the fact that the small device in my hand that I’m typing “Padkos” on right now can transfer images instantly across the globe, live stream video when I’m speaking to my sisters in Australia and Canada, or immediately access over a billion resources over the internet in seconds. And make a regular phone call. We were a galaxy away from the rotary phone I used to need when making a call from home. Does anyone still have a home phone attached to the wall??
Most of us take technology for granted. Every time I’m on a flight,?and someone is complaining about a delay; I?want to remind them that they are about to sit in a sealed cylinder and be transported through the sky at close to the speed of sound.?
Technology is a marvel.?
But I can’t help but feel that when it comes to our homes, technology has lagged way behind the other places we spend our lives. Most of the things we use at home have been around for almost 100 years (albeit with some improvements), but our homes still have the same fundamental amenities.?
Heating.?
Cooling.?
Electricity.?
Lighting.?
Appliances.?
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These amenities have been in our homes for a hundred years and haven’t changed as dramatically as the other things that have shaped our lives.?
About 18 years ago, I was pitched a refrigerator system by a startup to put into the 52 apartments for the building we were designing. It had a barcode scanner that would recognize what needed restocking, notify the store, and the product would be delivered. “Home run,” I thought, but the cost was prohibitive, and this appliance never took off. This was before Amazon was more than a bookseller. Still, once they became the ten thousand-pound gorilla they are today, I expected that they would have integrated Alexa into a slew of amenities and connect and integrate music, food, lighting, and climate into one user-friendly application. The Google Nest system is uninspiring.?
If a homeowner is willing to pay a premium for technology, they can have their window treatments, music, climate, and lighting all controlled by an app, but this is still not found in most of our homes because it’s expensive and bulky. The backbone of this system takes up a significant amount of space,?and we often have to lose a closet to house the guts.?
I’m hopeful that over the next decade, new and affordable technology enters the home that will change our lives as profoundly as another appliance that hasn’t evolved much over the past 100 years did—the?toaster.?
Side Bar:
Bill Bryson is one of my favorite authors. I highly recommend his book “At Home. A Short History of Private Life”. It’s a look at the history of our homes and how they have evolved (or haven’t) throughout our history on the planet.?
Let’s do this.?
Shaun
Owners Representative/Construction Consultant
1 年Hey Shaun, Yep, we still have a landline phone in the house and many times we've asked ourselves why? Our kids and friends all call on the cell phones. The only calls we get on the landline are robots, politicians, and ads. But I did find out the value of a landline when I had a medical emergency. The 911 system automatically provides your home address to responding emergency services. Currently, many 911 systems cannot automatically locate you on cell service. The EMT was in my kitchen and revived me in less than a minute. He had coms equipment in his car and was driving down my block. So, some old stuff is still good to have around, like the toaster.