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| EMagazine Volume 4 Issue 6 December 1999 |
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Toys Article - December 99 - [HTI Home Page] |
HomeTech Hot Products Continuously Updated [Click Message To Learn More] |
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Home office networking — while lacking the glamour of networked DVD jukeboxes and streaming audio from every room in the home — is quite possibly the home networking industry’s “foot in the door” for generating consumer confidence as it prepares to expand into the next logical opportunity — networking both CE devices and PCs. |
A number of industry pundits and research studies wax philosophic about the “home of the future” and its opportunities to serve as a panacea to consumers seeking a future in the “wired world.” While it is true that the potential for home networking in a future scenario is truly unlimited, it is equally important not to forget the importance of the “home of the present.”
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According to recent data from IDC:
- Nearly 28% of U.S. households reported conducting work from home
- Approximately 34% of PC-owning homes have two or more active systems
- Nearly two million homes will have an installed home network by the end of 1999
- Nearly 12 million homes will have an installed network by 2002
Home office networking — while lacking the glamour of networked DVD jukeboxes and streaming audio from every room in the home — is quite possibly the home networking industry’s “foot in the door” for generating consumer confidence as it prepares to expand into the next logical opportunity — networking both CE devices and PCs.
The Lay of the Land
Home office users who want to network their PCs have the same concerns as those who want to integrate home control, automation, and media distribution. They want a low-entry price point to avoid investing in technology that could become obsolete. They want elegant and easy-to-install systems that avoid unsightly in-room wires or the unpleasant prospect of having to install new in-wall wiring. They want a solution that’s easy enough to install that they can set it up themselves or have it put in place for a reasonably low cost. Most importantly, they have the devices they want to network right now.
Multiple-PC homes are rarely so fortunate as to have each system in close proximity to the others and with straight wiring runs between peripherals. In most cases, the systems are not just in the home office but throughout the house — for example, in the bedrooms of teenagers who use them for homework or other areas of the home that are not anywhere near the shared printer, cable modem, or DSL line.
Go Beyond “Printer Sharing”
“Early adopters” of technology are traditionally eager for the next available gadget, have a lot of expendable cash and are willing to gamble they haven’t purchased this decade’s Beta VCR or Newton in hopes that they can show off their technical savvy to their peers. Done properly, home networking, is actually more of an enabling technology than a gamble for early adopters.
As long as a home networking technology is flexible enough to accommodate future upgrades and is inexpensive enough to avoid becoming the next “boondoggle” for high tech fanatics, multiple PC owners will adopt it because it’s easier to use, cheaper and less intrusive than a typical Ethernet network.
However, technology advances quickly in this market. For example, the latest version of the HomePNA phoneline networking standard has increased its throughput from 1 Mbps to 10 Mbps. And at Avio Digital, we are working on the first commercial version of our MediaWire home network technology, which has a throughput of over 100 Mbps on Category-5 “Ethernet” wiring and Category-3 phoneline wiring and is designed to deliver high-quality media and communications services as well as data.
For a home network to be a truly successful investment over the long-term, it must support not just computer data (such as TCP/IP packets), but also high-bandwidth streaming video, audio, multichannel telephony, and home control over a single wire.
Pushing Technology
This becomes especially important given the personal computer’s history of providing convergence peripherals used for both work and play. For example, CD-ROM drives are now playing music as often as installing software and nearly every computer that’s shipped for home use has a set of decent speakers attached to it. With these convergence PCs, users are watching video DVDs, downloading MP3 files and burning their own CDs for home audio enjoyment. Integrating these devices into an optimized multimedia home network is the next step for these systems. We’ll soon see a world of connected devices where all types of digital products — not just PCs, but also home theater equipment, telephones, game consoles and set-top boxes — will have network capabilities such as MediaWire technology.
With
the advent of DSL, cable modems, and XML as prevalent standards within 2-4
years, we’ll see many new, compelling applications for broadband Internet
access combined with high-speed (100 Mbps and up) home networks. Computer games
have also served as a catalyst to jumpstart a massive market for 3D and Internet
gaming and can work well in this environment. For example, on a multimedia home
network, a game (or a videoconference, for that matter) can be experienced on
the 32” TV in the den and use the home stereo system as opposed to a 15”
monitor and low-cost speakers.
Bringing it to the Masses
To achieve mass adoption, home networks need to be:
- Unobtrusive (support a variety of existing in-home wiring schemes such as phoneline, structured wiring, or coax)
- Flexible (able to accept different types of wiring as well as different standards)
- Inexpensive (because a network is a means to connect devices, not an end in itself)
- Easy to implement (both by users and the vendors that design and sell network-enabled products)
These are all qualities that are both useful and attractive to users who want to implement a home office network. They’ve shown the need as well as the desire to connect their computing devices and have also exhibited a certain amount of trust in technology.
If home networking vendors can't offer simple and expandable solutions to those who need it now, it’s hard to imagine they will be able to convince the less technically savvy that home networking and automation is “the next big thing.” At Avio Digital, we’re dedicated to providing practical home networking technologies for all types of devices and all types of users. You can find out more about us and our MediaWire home network at www.aviodigital.com .
Keith R. Crosley is Director of Market Development at Avio Digital, Inc. He evaluates market direction and viability, and leads Avio's multimedia home networking vision into consumer electronics, telephony, computing, and home control industries.
