Capital not Technology

People often think of technology spreading as it’s invented, so we talk about the progress of technology. It’s not entirely wrong to think of it that way, but the technology that you see depends on capital. Sometimes a large company will have older computers than a smaller one. The reason is capital. How much does it cost to replace all the systems? How often can it be done?

So we’ve been hearing about how wired the house of the future is going to be, but if you were reading carefully, you’ll see just how expensive those new, intelligent appliances actually were. Because of their price, they were for use by those who have lots of disposable cash. This isn’t anything new. One of the keys to the automobile becoming generally successful was Henry Ford’s design of a mass-producible car. It wasn’t the best vehicle on the road, but it was affordable. More people could afford it, so more people bought it, and the pressure was on to produce vehicles that were more accessible.

So when I saw the devices shown in the featured picture for this post, I immediately thought, “A sign of the times!” When you have an internet connected cooking pot out there for $39, the automated household is on the way to becoming the rule rather than the exception.

Enjoy yet another aspect of the future!