Global futurist and author Jack Uldrich offers essential strategic information on nanotechnology, robotics, biotechnology, RFID and many other future technologies to help you prosper as exponential trends converge at this unique moment in history.
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Future Technology Blog Recent Posts
Throw Out the Kitchen Sync
What is it about kitchen and computers? In 1969, the good folks at Honeywell, Inc constructed this hulking monstrosity and honestly thought that some people would willingly shell out $10,000 for a device the size of a kitchen table but which could only store recipes.
Fast forward to 2008 and the fine people at Crave are now drooling over this kitchen computer—the Kitchen Sync. Granted, it is much improved over Honeywell’s computer but will people really go for it?
I don’t think so. It is not that people are anti-computer in their kitchen (although, undoubtedly, some are), I just don’t believe people really crave yet another device that will further clutter up their already overly-cluttered kitchens.
When computers do become commonplace in the kitchen, my prediction is that they probably just be an extension of people’s existing laptop computers. For an idea for what the computer will look like, I refer you to this new concept computer Cario. It looks suspiciously similar to the Kitchen Sync but has far greater functionality.
Lastly, though, if you were to ask me where kitchen computing is really going it is my beleif that the computer of the future kitchen computer will simply be embedded in the kitchen counter—as this photo from the MIT Media Lab hints at. (It is cleverly dubbed “counter-intelligence.")
I’d be interested to know what your thoughts are?
Interested in what else might be in the kitchen of the future? Check out this recent post:
Jack Uldrich is a writer, futurist, public speaker and host of jumpthecurve.net. He is the author of seven books, including Jump the Curve and The Next Big Thing is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business. He is also a frequent speaker on future technology and future trends, nanotechnology, robotics, RFID, innovation, change management and executive leadership to a variety of businesses, industries and non-profit organizations and trade associations.
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Jeffrey,
Interesting thoughts. Though I suppose if robots are doing more work, people might have more time to cook and socialize.
(Unfortunately, I pulled all the photos off Google/Images)
By jack uldrich on 2008 03 27
I think the kitchen of the future will be more like the kitchen of the past. In the Victorian era, labor was inexpensive and most middle class homes had a cook/maid. In those days the kitchen was not a place that people gathered and ate in, it was more of a functional room that the help worked in. In the not too distant future, AI robots will be the cheap labor of the past. The kitchen will once again become a workspace that the robots use to prepare food. Of course nanotechnology like antibacterial countertops and other technologies will become more apparent in the kitchen, but the significance will not be as relevant.
Is there any way to link those pictures so they could be enlarged?
By Jeffrey Frankel on 2008 03 27