The home network is the kindergarten of consumer electronics

Image by www.cherrycreekschools.org

In my last post, I talked about “Why CES screams go outside and play!” But, before we can go outside and play, we need to learn to play nice, to share. And not just us, but the very consumer electronics we use.

Remember where we first learned to share? If you have siblings, it was probably at home, but playing nice hit full speed in kindergarten. According to Wikipedia, “Children attend kindergarten to learn to communicate, play, and interact with others appropriately.” Where do consumer electronics learn to do this best? I would argue it’s on the home network.

Home networking got it’s start in teaching technology to communicate sharing files between PCs, then quickly expanded sharing internet access to play, and with broadband internet access proliferating the home, our technology began to learn to interact with each other. CES is proof of this. We see televisions, appliances, lighting, security, HVAC, and storage all talking to each other via apps and APIs. All sharing content and information. All learning to play nice with each other via a wired or wireless network connection in the home.

The beauty is what our technology learns to do in kindergarten (on the home network) carries over to the outside world, just like our kids. With an internet connection and mobile apps for Android and iOS, our smartphones, tablets, phablets, Ultrabooks, and even laptops can interact with consumer electronics on our home network. We can turn lights and appliances on an off with technology like WeMo from Belkin. Set our thermostat with Nest. Remote monitor our home with cloud enabled surveillance cameras from D-Link. Watch our TV remotely with Dish’s new Hopper, and of course, backup, access and enjoy all of our photos, videos, music, and docs with the new Seagate Central.

And this is just scratching the surface. Services from companies like Comcast, AT&T, and others look to tie everything together. And once again, the enabling factor here is where our technology first learns to “communicate, play, and interact with others appropriately” and that’s on the home network.

Is your home network ready to teach? Better yet, are the consumer electronics you are scoping out at CES ready to learn to play nice?