Home Automation Explained

The beginnings of home automation start from as far back as the time of the cave man. Fire was most certainly the most useful advancement in home automation. Fire made conveniences like cooking, heating, and sanitation possible. Convenience is what home automation is all about. But let's not start quite so far back. Instead, let's begin in more recent times with the introduction of electricity into homes of millions.

Electricity is the birthmother of modern home automation. After all, what is multi-room audio and HDTV distribution without electricity? Because of electricity families could stay up late into the night and read a book or eat dinner. The hassle of buying and lighting candles was eliminated. Light was attained by simply flicking a switch thanks to Lewis Latimer in 1884. Thomas Edison was quoted as saying: "We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles." (WikiQuotes).

Not long after, mothers could keep their perishable food items cool in the home refrigerator, saving time and money. The Franklin stove provided more heat than an ordinary open fireplace and became a staple in early American homes. The introduction of the dishwasher in 1886 helped ease the burden in the kitchen while the invention of the vacuum cleaner in 1869 eased the burden in the rest of the house. Early home automation wasn't just about ease but about saving money.

Electricity also paved the way for the first telephone, introduced into the home in the late 1800's. Now families can connect with each other from across the country. The automation of communication meant no delays, instant access to information.

A significant step in access to information came with the invention of the radio in 1891. The radio brought entertainment and news to the public. The invention of the phonograph, or record player for the younger crowd, allowed families to listen to any tune they wanted from any room in the home. Convenience is what makes people go out and spend their hard earned money.

But electricity isn't the only contributing factor to early home automation, the invention of the thermostat was a welcomed addition to many homes in the late 19th Century. Until the invention of air conditioning in 1902, home owners had no way of regulating the temperature in their homes. What was once a luxury item has now become a necessity. That is the nature of home automation. All these inventions and innovations were just the beginning. Imagine the changes that the late 19th century family experienced. Now think about what is yet to come in home automation. That is what we will discuss in the next article in the Evolution of Home Automation series. We have only laid a foundation for the home automation industry. This early era of home automation paved the way for all the modern conveniences that we enjoy today.
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Now that we have laid a foundation of home automation (HA) lets discuss its advances. Electricity is no longer an exciting innovation and it is something that we generally take for granted. It is also hard to be enthusiastic about using a record player or even the telephone because by today's standards they are relics of the past. So what did the people of the early to mid-Twentieth Century consider modernizations? For the second part of the Evolution of Home Automation series we will discuss the advances and changes the home went through during this time in Home Automation History.

With the emergence of a new century, home-owners began to demand more from their home. No longer satisfied with a single light bulb hanging in the kitchen or cold running water flowing from the faucet, the American people wanted more. With the growth of the middle and upper class people began to want the latest gadgets and regarded them as status symbols. This new era in home control saw more advancement in entertainment than in practical use. Amid the change in the economic status of the middle class technology was beginning to impress the public with its advances.

The twentieth century was a time of great technological advances and H A was no exception. A significant change in the home came with the introduction of the water heater. Bathing and washing became effortless. These, of course, were luxuries reserved for the upper class but as we have learned, most home automation advances begin as a luxury items and eventually become a necessities. This is the nature of home automation.

More importantly, American's were interested in entertainment, which was satisfied with the introduction of the television into the home in the late 1920s. Not many families had a television set in the 1920s, but it quickly became a coveted item in the following decades. Not long after the introduction of the family owned television came the introduction of cable TV, bringing more channels into the home. TV had become an even bigger part of home entertainment. Technology was advancing at a rate faster than anyone had seen, but it was no match for the degree in which technology advances today. It wasn't until the late 1940's that another invention of entertainment came about: the video game. These games simulated a missile firing at a target, exciting stuff for the 1940's crowd.

Technology was just beginning to change the lives of families; nothing exemplifies that more than the invention of the TV dinner. The simple convenience of preparing a quick meal to enjoy in front of the television was novel to families of the 1950s. Suddenly their lifestyles were changing according to the technology in their homes. This was just the beginning of transformation the home was about to go through.

The late 50s and 60s brought advancements that would have a tremendous effect on not only the home but our lives. The computer, probably the most significant technological advancement, was in its beginning stages. While these early models weren't initially in the home their creation paved the way for modern home control. Now think about the exciting advancements yet to come in home automation. That is what we will discuss in the next article in the Evolution of Home Automation series. We have only laid a foundation for the home automation industry. This early era of home automation paved the way for all the modern conveniences that we enjoy today.

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Computers have come a long way from their humble beginnings in the 1940s. A single computer used to fill an entire room and it consumed as much energy as hundreds of modern-day computers.

Remarkably, the term "computer" is not as recent as many would suspect. Wikipedia tells us that the word was used in the 1600s to refer to men who carried out calculations. However, by the 19th century, technology was blossoming, and the human computer would soon be replaced by the mechanical computer. People can certainly execute a list of instructions, but the computer can complete that list, or program, millions of times faster. However, the computers we enjoy today are nothing like their humble ancestors.

The personal computer entered the picture in 1977. PC, as you can well imagine, did not stand for "portable computer" because these devices were large and heavy. But the new personal computers wowed the 1970's generation. They were finally made public due to the ability to mass produce the microprocessor. Some recognizable brand names from this early period in computer history are the RadioShack TRS-80, Atari 800XL, and Apple II. In the late seventies, the PC was competing with gaming systems, and the early computer was also capable of game play. It could also run user-created programs, word processor, spreadsheets, and educational software. Not only was the users imagination enticed, moms felt good about allowing their children to learn from these sophisticated machines as well.

By the 1980s, IBM's Personal Computer standardized the PC while Apple released the Macintosh. As performance was improving-graphics sound, storage-price was decreasing. People's lives were revolutionizing. Mothers had recipe databases for cooking dinner and medical databases in case a child got injured. The family finances could be managed on the computer, making the check book as balanced as ever. Encyclopedias could be purchased on disks, saving the children endless trips to the library. And, of course, avid gamers owe their happiness to the personal computer.

Computers were doing more than simply making daily life easier, they were actually automating home life. Computers were not just for gaming and homework; they leaped out of the keyboard and screen into every mechanical aspect of the home. The 1980s brought about big dreams for what the computer was capable of: a coffee maker that could be programmed to turn on, home lighting that could be controlled via remote, and eventually robots that would service our every whim.

Computers are what make modern day home automation possible. Without the technology of the computer there would be no garage door openers, motion detectors, or multi room audio systems. Home Automation today hinges on on the capacity of computers. Our next article will discuss the home automation industry specifically and its advancements to make your life easier.