Don't you hate it when someone tells you, "stop watching so much TV!" Well, maybe you do watch too much TV. But then again, maybe not. Maybe you should tell them it's research, like, for the future. Because the future of television is going to affect nearly everyone sometime in the next 10 years. It'll probably happen first in countries like the US and Japan. But it'll eventually spread throughout the world. And what is the future of television?
They'll become more like computers.
The way you work with MSN today--jumping from forum to forum, sending and receiving email, downloading games and fun stuff--will be the way you work with your television someday. Only then it'll include audio and video along with email, bulletin boards, shopping, and of course, games.
"Yeah, but that's a long way off," you say. Well, the marriage of televisions and computers isn't as far off as you may think. And it will affect more than what you watch and how you watch it. When computers and television really get it together, they'll probably affect your entire household.
The people at Microsoft are trying to figure how this might happen.
Hidden away in your typical boring office building sits the Microsoft Home. No, this isn't where old programmers go to retire. It's a fully furnished model home inside an office building that acts as a place for Microsoft product groups to test out their ideas on real people in real life surroundings. Real life, that is, if your home has a computer in nearly every corner.
Pierre De Vries is the guy at Microsoft whose job it is to figure out what goes into the Microsoft Home. And to watch how people react to it when they're inside. According to de Vries, "people never use technology the way you expect." That's no surprise, given that most probably have never seen technology like this.The first thing you notice when you hit the family room is the large screen TV. Now, being large isn't particularly fantastic. What's different about this TV is the things you can do with it. Bopping around with the remote gives you many more choices than just which channel and how loud. You not only can choose what to watch now, but you can program what to watch tonight, tomorrow, or even next week. If there's a specific movie you want to catch, you can have it delivered to your TV when you want it. And you can even tell the TV to remind you when your favorite show is about to come on!
Now TV like this is pretty cool. But Microsoft didn't stop there. They went and hooked everything together inside this house--the TV, the computers, the stereo system, even the lights! Practically everything electric is linked by computer control. You can turn on the stereo from the TV and turn down the lights from your PC. You can even put the screensaver on your PC onto your TV. Hey, tonight let's watch the flying toasters!
The key to all this isn't the machines, it's the software. Software's the new kid in the family that's going to change how we relate to our homes and how they relate to us. According to de Vries, "Software is still made and bought just as it is. You don't change it. But someday soon it'll be just another part of life that you can change yourself however you want."
Combining computers, televisions, and home electronics with software improves our ability to communicate with our appliances and homes. "Appliances already talk to you," says de Vries. "Your microwave tells you when food is cooked, your dishwasher tells you when the plates are clean. Someday soon they'll all be able to talk to each other."So, maybe someday we'll hear the furnance yelling for a filter? Or the toilet pleading for a plumber? Not exactly. But if toasters and our vacuum cleaners are ever going to find something to talk about, it'll probably happen first at the Microsoft Home.
