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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Timetobuy who wrote (61915)	10/22/2001 9:42:29 AM
From: Bill Fischofer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

The "intelligent refrigerator" nonsense was never a MSFT vision. You need to take that particular bucket of cold water over to the SUNW thread, because it was the Java enthusiasts who were pushing this sort of thing the hardest. But remember that people always overestimate the impact of technology in the short run while severely underestimating its impact in the long run. That's because technology follows exponential growth curves while evolution has equipped us to think linearly.

To: Timetobuy who wrote (61915)	10/22/2001 12:55:10 PM
From: David Howe	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74651

<< In 1999, my brother told my wife and I that any house without a CAT 5 connection to the washer and dryer, refrigerator, and dishwasher "wouldn't sell" by 2002. >> You're brother was making extreme statements. You are making extreme statements. Any chance there's a middle ground? Of course there is. People buy PC's every day. It's because they are old and don't run new software very well. Your vision of NO new improvements in PCs of software is extreme and false. You're brother's "wouldn't sell" comment is extreme and false. Obviously the answer is somewhere in the middle. I happen to know that in Bellevue (the affluent neighborhood that I live in) there are literally thousands of houses wired with CAT 5. Dave

To: Timetobuy who wrote (61915)	10/23/2001 3:10:42 PM
From: TheStockFairy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

I'd kinda like a microwave that is a fridge also that handles a wireless link so I could dial in, switch the microwave from freeze to cook, then I can have a hot swanson meal waiting for me when I get home from work. Wait....it only takes 2 minutes to cook a swanson meal from the time I take it out of the box to the time I am eating it. Maybe it isn't a good idea. Something nice would be a wireless (it would have to be cheap) device on the fridge that would allow me to keep a running list of items I need, then I could forward it to the grocery store so it would be ready for me to pick up when I get there. That might actually be a good idea, if I wouldn't have to pay anything for the service. Wait....I like banana and strawberry yogurt and they are always out. What would they substitute with? Do grocery stores have sophisticated inventory tracking systems? If so, why do they keep running out of my yogurt?

To: Timetobuy who wrote (61915)	10/31/2001 8:05:18 AM
From: i-node	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 74651

I haven't seen any houses advertising CAT 5 wiring to their refrigerators and washers either and I don't even see any washers that support it. There is a tendency to exaggerate how quickly technology changes occur. In 1977 I boldly forecasted to my roommate, "By 1985 cash will be virtually eliminated from society" -- this, in response to the initial deployments of ATMs. Of course, I was nowhere near right -- but in 2001, cash has become much less important and over the next ten years it will become less important still. I never, ever carry cash or checks. Period. So, my prediction, while at least 15 years late, may well come true before it is said & done. As to your brother's forecast, he really missed the mark with the "Cat 5" cabling. In fact, such cabling is totally unnecessary even today since all the bandwidth you need can be handled with 802.11b wireless equipment. You plug in a $200 access point and everything in the house is networked and internet accessible. It's funny how technology evolves really fast in some ways and more controlled in others...

To: Timetobuy who wrote (61915)	11/4/2001 5:41:07 AM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74651

[ "Btw. The microwave is programmable. We can preprogram a whole meal cycle. Do we? No. Have we ever done that? No. Do I know anyone who has? No ".] I program my microwave every day. I have one microwave. Actually, I need two in order to prepare a meal at once. By the way, I can't wait until my house is wired so that I can consolidate features that I use now and add new ones.