Anybody notice? Mr Refrigerator (Phil M) quoted in 20th anniversary issue of Infoworld:
Appliances get smart
By Brooks Talley
t's pretty obvious that we're heading toward the integration of
computers with pretty much everything else that runs off a silicon chip.
Whether it's a good idea or not, the day will soon arrive when you will
be unable to find a decent vacuum cleaner that isn't running Java,
Windows CE, Lucent's Inferno, or some other embedded operating system
undoubtedly networked in some way with the rest of your household
devices.
For about 100 years, household-appliance makers have gone through
tedious product development, stabilized on a good model, then left the
products alone. Unfortunately for those appliances, the attitude of
appliance users has shifted. Home dwellers now accustomed to "smart"
working environments want to come home to equally smart households. So
the technology industry is making that happen.
There's no question that smart appliances are on their way, the only
question is how far it will go. Although some glumly predict
developments as ridiculous as IP-enabled disposable razors, many believe
it will stop before that. Phil Morettini, vice president of sales at
Patriot Scientific, a San Diego-based Java microprocessor developer,
opines, "Where I draw the line is with cost; I don't see embedded Web
servers in the toaster, but I do see them in the refrigerator. The
division [of complexity] is where you'd call a service guy if it
[breaks] vs. just throwing it out."
ANOTHER WINDOWS WORLD? Because major appliance manufacturers don't have
a lot of expertise in embedded system development, look for partnerships
between established brands in both fields. Microsoft, Sun Microsystems,
Lucent Technologies, and other players all are jockeying to be the
platform of choice for appliance computing. Microsoft's scaled-down OS,
Windows CE, is already appearing in cable boxes, and Microsoft is
positioning it to create other appliances with attitude -- let's call
them active appliances.
Sun, of course, is touting Java's cross-platform nature in the active
appliance arena. In the ideal world, Java would enable different smart
appliances to connect to different hardware, and things would work
together. If your Whirlpool washer, for instance, ran on a StrongARM
platform and you replaced it with an i960-based Maytag, you'd be able to
simply move over your washing-machine program. You'll have to move the
program, of course, because new appliances probably will come bundled
with trial versions of their appliance applications. A new dishwasher
with Cascade Lite might pop up nag screens urging you to buy the full
version -- instantly, via the Web, for a small fee -- between each
washing cycle.
Sun's Jini OS project aims to simplify the integration of Java-enabled
devices by allowing the devices to automatically send small applets to
each other. So your oven might send an applet to the dishwasher that
would inform it about the quantity of food cooked at what temperature,
to better enable the dishwasher to clean the pans. But Java and Windows
CE aren't mutually exclusive.
"I think you'll see embedded Java running on top of Windows CE,"
Morettini says. "The kernel will be more appropriate for managing the
device, and Java will run the applications on top of it."
A DIFFERENT FIRE IN LUCENT'S CAMP. Lucent's Inferno OS has received less
press, but arguably it's a more versatile and useful OS for appliances.
Like Java, Inferno runs in a virtual-machine environment, so object code
is portable. But unlike Java, Inferno is lean and fast, so there's more
hope that an oven's temperature display would be accurate and not
time-delayed. Inferno offers an advantage because as far as a program
running on Inferno is concerned, everything it has access to is a local
file. This gives it a great deal of versatility, as well as simplifies
the work for application developers.
"There will be two trends in the marketplace in the next five years: The
first is equipping the individual at home and at work," notes Ron De
Lange, vice president of Inferno network software at Lucent, in Basking
Ridge, N.J. "The second is equipping the environment. Interoperability
of the environment will lead to some pretty wild stuff that we haven't
even thought of yet."
Once the appliances, entertainment systems, and computers in a house can
communicate, we can expect to see all sorts of value-added services,
especially when tied to the Internet. When will all these smart devices
appear? Some will take form as soon as next year, others may be another
20 years down the road. Unless nobody wants to use them, of course. I'm
holding onto my trusty vacuum as long as I can.
Test Manager Brooks Talley (brooks_talley@infoworld.com) has specialized
in networking technologies, IP and the Internet, communications, and
application development during his 11 years in IT. |
