Refrigerator Future Shock
I wrote this on July 29, 2001 in response to a pre-IoT article about connected “smart” appliances from IBM’s lab. I guess we were a little bit ahead of the times at the Media Lab cuz the nuisance bit of this anticipated future is only coming to full strength now. You can tell it’s legit 2001, because it mentions a “pager,” not a “smartphone.”
News item:
UMBC AgentNews v6n22IBM’s fridge doesn’t just hum, it knows the words — An AP story on the IBM Pervasive Computing Division and its work on developing smart homes. … “Imagine being paged with word that the milk in the refrigerator has spoiled. Imagine turning off the porch light at home while vacationing at the beach. In the future, when the words “home computer” take on new meaning, it might be possible. That future is on display now at an IBM lab, where researchers are testing new technology in a fully furnished living room, kitchen and garage. In the kitchen, a screen on the refrigerator tells what’s inside - without opening the door. Digital stoves and microwaves cook automatically, following recipes downloaded from the Internet. (7/29)
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/review/2001-07-27-smart-house.htm
“Imagine being paged with word that the milk in the refrigerator has spoiled”
“Imagine turning off the porch light at home while vacationing on the beach”
GIVE ME A BREAK ALREADY!!
The ideal home of the future will be quiet. It will know how to do what’s needed to leave us alone, not pester us with tasks in the middle of an already crazy day. Now I have to get a pager in case my refrigerator wants to tell me something while I’m trying to drive?
The porch light? From the beach? I’m VERY SURE that at the top of my list when at the beach will be “did I leave the porch light on?”
OK here is how we solved THAT problem in Toledo, Ohio circa 1995:
(porch light) — (motion detector w/ photocell) — (timer in wall switch)
So… the timer sets the range of times that the light is enabled. A little button on the timer lets you make the light come on for 30 minutes any time you want.
The rest of the time, if (there’s motion && it’s dark) the light comes on
all other times, [!(motion & dark)] it’s off
no computer required, and when you’re at the beach, it works without human assistance!
I even have a electric iron that turns itself off after 15 minutes!
I can just picture this…
(I’m in a meeting)
bee bee bee bee
“hang on a sec, my pager’s beeping”
[ M I L K I S S P O I L E D ]
“uhhh guys, the milk’s spoiled in my fridge. You mind if we wrap this up later?”
(meeting persons look alarmed and scurry out)
(reaches for desk phone and dials)
(bee boo doop doop bee doop dee)
(ringing)
(mechanical voice #1) “Thank you for calling Jim’s refrigerator. Please enter your passcode”
(bee doop doop beep doo bee)
(mechanical voice #1) “Hello Jim. Temperature is forty-one degrees. Light is . . . OFF! Freezer temperature is . . seven teen degrees. The milk is spoiled. Contents three eggs, one bottle of ketchup, yellow mustard, four hot dogs, one quarter pound of ninety three percent lean ground beef, one half liter of Pep…”
(beeeeeeeee)
(mechanical voice #1) “Inventory readout cancelled. Hello Jim. The milk is spoiled.”
“Order milk”
(mechanical voice #1) “Your last order for milk was on . . . July .. Twenty … One at . . . Seven … Twelve PM for . . . One gallon of . . . Skim Milk. Would you like to place an identical order?”
“Yes”
(mechanical voice #1) “You said . . . Yes”. If this is not correct, press . . seven. If this correct, press . . three. To hear the question again, pre … “
(beeeeeeee)
(mechanical voice #1) “Ordering milk. One moment please . . . The current price for . . . one gallon of . . . skim milk is . . . Three dollars and . . . twenty nine cents. Would you like to place this order?”
“Yes”
(mechanical voice #1) “You said . . . Yes”. If this is not correct, press seven. If this correct, press three. To hear the ques . . “
(cellular phone rings / I’m juggling the cell phone on one ear and the desk phone in the other)
(mechanical voice #2) “Hello jim. This is your porch light. Exception status report. . . Status is . . . On! . . . Ambient light condition is . . . day light. Exception five one five five porch light on ambient light condition day light. . . Command?”
“Turn off”
(mechanical voice #2) “You said . . . Turn off”. If this is correct press one three one. if this is not correct, press seven six nine. To hear the command again . . “
(bee booo bee)
“Please enter your passcode to authorize the command Porch Light Turn Off!”
(mechanical voice #1) “I have not received your response. You said . . . Yes”. If this is not correct, press seven. If this correct, press three. To hear the ques . . “
(pressing key on desk phone)
(doooooo)
(mechanical voice #1) “Skim milk ordered. One gallon. Please stay on the line for confirmation number.”
(I juggle a pen, two phones and a scratch pad)
(mechanical voice #2) “Command timeout. Please enter your passcode to authorize the command . . . Porch Light Turn Off!”
(mechanical voice #1) “Your order number is . . . five five three . . . six one seven . . . two two one zero. You may pick up your order for . . . Skim Milk . . . at Seven Eleven . . .
(mechanical voice #2) “Command timeout exceeded. Command cancelled. Goodbye.”
(dialtone from cell phone)
(mechanical voice #1) “between the hours of seven and eleven p m. Goodbye”
(dialtone from desk phone)
(cellular phone rings)
(mechanical voice #2) “Hello jim. This is your porch light. Exception status report. . . Status is . . . On! . . . Ambient light condition is . . . day light. Exception five one five five porch light on ambient light condition day light. . . Command?”
(pager: bee bee bee bee)
[ S O M E T H I N G S M E L L S F U N N Y ]