“Oh oh it's magic” – Part Deux

Sonos is remarkably well done. But in my mind it’s only the tip of the iceberg; Sonos is a very-specific audio implementation of the combination of three technologies:

1. WiFi as the new household remote control standard – replacing infrared, X.10, and other standards. For $50, a house can get a WiFi access point that is not only the current and future standard for all things digital, but also is secure, reliable, free to operate, and covers the entire house. There is a whole new level of range, reliability, and flexibility with the adoption of WiFi.
2. Invisible network appliances (NettApps): Sonos uses an invisible network appliance to invisibly deliver music. By invisible, I mean that I will never ever have to worry about it:
   1. The Sonos box will be hidden away and will be unseen by humans for years – it delivers music without being thought about. The functionality is provisioned by the NetApp, but the power resides entirely in the remote. And, we’re now at a place where the cost, utility, and ergonomics (size, power consumption, noise, location requirements) of NetApps are no longer a barrier to purchase/implement.
   2. I’ll never have to manage the box: there will be no concern about rebooting, upgrading the CPU or RAM, etc. Therefore, the Sonos NetApp will never become obsolete. (Okay, it will eventually break and need to be replaced.) The NetApp works; there is no room for thought about updating or upgrading; that is nonsensical, because the box already does everything it is supposed to. There is no “more is better” with this NetApp. Pause for a moment: can you say that about any other hardware you own?
3. A multi-purposed handheld computer as an infinitely flexible remote control. The iPhone (or iTouch) is such an awesome platform that with some relatively easy coding you can build a remote control UX that far surpasses the UX of any other remote control you’ve ever had. Oh, and I already have one on my all the time anyway, because it’s a phone! By the way, although iPhone is remarkable, it’s only the first; there will certainly be other handheld platforms that equal and/or surpass it.

In other words, I can now (or in the very near future), can:

• Take any or all of my hand-held computers (iPhone et al) – think interchangeably, meaning whatever is most convenient or newest or coolest
• Walk into any location ( home or office or restaurant or …)
• Control all the devices that need to be controlled that I have access to.

The future (tomorrow) is gonna be so cool!

Related posts:

1. More on the death of cable TV Recently I upgraded an old computer with an HDMI-capable video...
2. “Oh oh it’s magic” Oh oh it’s magic When I’m with you (Oh-o, it’s...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.