Typically, the first thing I do when I get home is put the kettle on. In fact if I’m working from home I’ll get up around every 45 minutes to make more tea. Don Norman wrote about automating the process (so the coffee machine talks to the cupboard, fridge, dishwasher etc) and that would be awesome.
However, as a creature of habit I want the kettle to know when my car pulls in to the garage because that’s about the time for it to be turned on (so tea is ready as soon as I get into the apartment). Unless I’m going to the gym right away, in which case I want a cool bottle of water ready to go (so my appliances should be talking to my calendar, as well as each other).
Although, if I’m really stressed, I probably want Cherry Coke rather than tea. So perhaps my appliances could monitor my twitter feed and predict what I’ll want when I get home. And if I’m working from home, my kettle should be talking to my mug and predicting when I’ll want more tea.
And, of course, if I develop a taste for white wine and that’s what I’m drinking as soon as I get in… my appliances could conclude that it’s time to call the doctor. Which presents the very interesting possibility – that in the future we won’t just be hiding our bad health habits from our friends and relatives, we’ll be choosing red wine over white – so we can hide it from our fridge.