Appliance Chatrooms
If we attach all of our appliances to the Internet, will they start their own chatrooms?
———- from Don Byron of Sunnyvale, CA
They’ve already done it. Sure, they’re only communicating at 60 hz, which works out to only five bits per second, unless the appliance is actually on, in which case data transfer rises to the level of an 300 baud modem on local echo. If you go fiber optic and run a LAN connecting all the appliances in your house, you may find that they take longer to warm up, probably because they have a few bones to pick with the way you’ve been handling them. Imagine being grilled by your microwave, while your refrigerator plays good cop and the washer and dryer downstairs destroy your clothes as a scare tactic. Read your appliance warranties, and you’ll see no mention of freedom of speech. There’s a reason for that.
They’ve already done it. Sure, they’re only communicating at 60 hz, which works out to only five bits per second, unless the appliance is actually on, in which case data transfer rises to the level of an 300 baud modem on local echo. If you go fiber optic and run a LAN connecting all the appliances in your house, you may find that they take longer to warm up, probably because they have a few bones to pick with the way you’ve been handling them. Imagine being grilled by your microwave, while your refrigerator plays good cop and the washer and dryer downstairs destroy your clothes as a scare tactic. Read your appliance warranties, and you’ll see no mention of freedom of speech. There’s a reason for that.