the future, right now

whether you realize it or not, a lot of the fancy things that you usually see in futuristic movies are perfectly feasible today. home automation is a growing hobby; not only is it available at an affordable price, but with the right touch it could be enough to make people think that you spent a fortune.

i'm sure the following will sound familiar as it's a popular household setup. you have a 42 inch tv, a dvd player, several different gaming consoles (playstation, x-box, nintendo…), and a stereo system with surround sound speakers and sub-woofer. as for accessories, you have an alarm clock/radio, telephone, and who knows how many different remote controls. i just have one question, why? it's a waste of space, a waste of money, and certainly a waste of time trying to move any of it around. consider the following scenario as an alternative: you have a computer, and that's it; everything else is just an accessory (with only one remote, should you opt to have that accessory).

your computer monitor can double as both a computer screen and a tv screen, or you could buy a tv that you can hook up to your computer (which would double as a monitor). you can play tv, dvds, and video games or just about anything else you want on your computer and best of all, everything is upgradeable. games usually hit pcs before they do consoles anyway and they're not only cheaper but upgradeable as well. you can make phone calls from your computer; throw in a webcam and you've got one of those fancy tv-phones. the alarm clock is already built-in; everything you had before all compacted into one neat little area, plus, it's all better! watching tv while surfing the web with transparent windows would be very futuristic. you can save the streams of tv shows or movies so you don't miss anything, and you won't need any bulky equipment to record it. you can get radio stations from all over the world for free. throw in an advanced cellular phone, usb key, or pda (personal digital assistant), and you can store your files and music on a portable device and simply plug it into your computer when you get home, combining your entertainment and work areas into one.

there is an endless amount of accessories made especially for computers: cigarette lighters, cup holders, cassette players, you name it. add some speech software (allowing you to control your computer simply by speaking into a microphone) and beam me up scotty!