What advances in technology really make the biggest difference in people’s day-to-day lives at home? Imagine you had a little windfall—say $200—to spend on something to make your home life easier. Forget the broken garbage disposal that needs to be replaced or the new automatic garage door opener. I’m talking about taking advantage of recent technological inventions or innovations, things you may not have even known you wanted until you got them and then wondered how you ever lived without them.As a certified technophobe (all the phones in my house still have cords, for instance), I wanted to find out what modern conveniences would make the biggest difference in my life if I did want to part with a few hundred dollars to bring myself (belatedly) up to speed with the new millennium. I asked several experts for their picks on the five most indispensable technologies for the home and was surprised to find that they were in almost complete agreement. They all swear by the products (and services) listed below, even going so far as to claim, in the case of one beloved product, that they’d give it up the day they died and not a moment sooner.
The Experts
- Patrick Hurley, director of research for Telechoice, Inc., a consulting firm for the telecommunications and digital home industry and co-author of Smart Homes for Dummies, (Wiley Publishing, 2003).
- John Morris, director, home and entertainment, CNET.com, a website covering personal technology.
- Christine Frietchen, managing editor, Consumersearch.com, a website that analyzes and rates product reviews to identify the best products in a wide variety of consumer categories.
The Top Five Home Tech Necessities
Well, OK, so they’re not absolutely necessary, but once you’ve got ‘em, the experts swear you won’t want to give them up.
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