Automation: Now, or in the Future?
NPR had an interesting story on home automation and "the Home of the Future" today on Morning Edition. You can listen to it and read a summary on their site.
It's a nice piece, but unfortunately it's the kind of story that misses the reality of home automation. Instead of talking to companies and people using home automation now, they spend their time talking about a Microsoft prototype home and a model-home project at MIT. A whole house control system that talks to you and tells you what you need at the grocery store is cool, but what if you don't have to wait years for people to perfect that technology to automate your lights? They could have mentioned that there are a lot of ways to automate your home even if you don't work at MIT.
That's why X10 automation products are so popular: you can buy them now, and they work.