Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Joe Copia's daytrades/investments and thoughts -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: hoffy who wrote (8070)	9/24/1998 12:47:00 PM
From: Trooper	Respond to of 25711

What gives with your CLWK???? Going down hard!

To: hoffy who wrote (8070)	9/24/1998 2:53:00 PM
From: Trooper	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25711

Rearding CLWK. READ THIS!!!!!Though you guys might want this tagged for: IBM CLWK retrieval keys: !business !environment !hightech !infotech !wall+street california community computer construction energy florida housing krt marketing news newsgrid north+carolina oklahoma real+estate sales technology texas usa video washington Sep. 24 (Houston Chronicle/KRTBN)--Houstonians will be the first in the nation able to buy houses in IBM's "intelligent" communities -- where the average homeowner can automate everything from watering the lawn to watching the baby. IBM is working with Land Tejas Development of Houston to pre-wire at least 4,000 homes in several of the development firm's local new-home projects. The company says such pre-wiring will become a standard procedure in construction, as common as the plumber putting in pipe or the bricklayer laying bricks. The result? Intelligent Communities Powered by IBM will offer an abundance of gee-whiz features that sound like futuristic predictions from a 1940s newsreel. But this is real life in the here and now. Turn on your TV, pick up the remote control and set up a morning sequence. The front porch light goes off, the kitchen light comes on, the electric hair curlers begin warming. As you walk out the door, the thermostat rises to 80 degrees to save energy while you are at work. But that happens only Monday through Friday because your system knows you sleep late on the weekends. Another option is to press the "leave home" button by the front door, keying the system to run through the workday morning sequence. Hook up your security video camera in your baby's bedroom to keep an eye on him from the master bedroom while you watch TV. Pop in a video in the den, but watch it on a TV upstairs. Is it getting a little warm? Use the TV remote control to lower the temperature. The personal computers in your home are all connected to each other via the built-in wiring that was installed long before builders covered the walls with Sheetrock. No need to have one wire for cable TV and another for a phone. These services will come into your home with a single cable. More and more developers and builders around the nation are beginning to wire homes to handle the growth of technology, said Charles McGrath, executive director of the Home Automation Association in Washington, D.C. But the effort in Houston is one of the largest ongoing projects in the nation today, he said. Builders need to be forward-thinking, McGrath said. What may seem to be a luxury today may become a necessity in the future, he said. "When we were growing up, a remote control for a TV set was a luxury. But little did you know we would have 90 cable stations in 1998," McGrath said. The new systems will be adaptable and can be expanded in the future with new technology, said Michael McClere of ClearWorks Technologies, which is installing the IBM systems and fiber-optic cables in the homes in Houston. "We are trying to future-proof the home" so innovations in the future won't pass it by, McClere said. Another part of the local package will be a community intranet computer link, allowing the developer of the communities to communicate with area residents about neighborhood events or even concerns about the stray dog that has been wandering around. The Sienna Plantation community in Fort Bend County also has announced plans to create a community intranet. Land Tejas is jumping into the high-tech program in a significant way. Many of the homes in its Canyon Gate in Cinco Ranch will be wired with the IBM system. Several of Land Tejas' other new developments, including its Stone Gate community on U.S. 290; Canyon Gate at Northpointe, on Texas 249; and Canyon Gate at the Brazos, on the Southwest Freeway, will be completely wired. "We think we will get high-velocity sales out of this," said developer Al Brende, a principal in Land Tejas. Brende said the wiring will add about $2,000 to the cost of a home initially. But the new system will give the houses a unique selling point that is in high demand from consumers and is exciting home builders. "The leading edge is always good," said Kirk Baker of Gateway Homes, which is installing the system in its homes. "It prepares us for the new millennium," said another participating builder, Michael Speciale, division president of Royce Homes. Other builders that will feature the system include Centex Homes, Legacy Homes, Pulte Homes, Ryland Homes, Standard Pacific, U.S. Home and Village Builders. The rollout of the system in Houston is not just limited to upper-end housing. Homes priced as low as $110,000 will be fitted with the system in the Land Tejas communities. "It is not an elitist product," said Gary Brand, an IBM sales manager. The implementation of the system in Houston communities will soon be copied across the nation, said David Goswick of Goswick & Associates, a Houston marketing firm that has been working on the project. IBM plans to introduce the new system shortly in communities in California, Florida, North Carolina and Oklahoma. "We're connected to builders and developers across the U.S. and there's nothing like this anywhere in the country," Goswick said. "Houston is now at the national forefront of the real estate industry with this introduction." By Ralph Bivins -0- Visit Houston Chronicle Interactive on the World Wide Web at houstonchronicle.com