Power Homes

Sure, you might have DSL and Wi-Fi, an Xbox and a TiVo, maybe a Bang & Olufsen stereo with 5-foot speakers and a six-CD changer, but youre still an amateur in the world of extreme home networking ? where computer-controlled window shades and palm-scanning security systems are de rigueur. It is a world driven by insatiable gadget lust and no small amount of money. Youve met these people before: the rich, often famous, who build and furnish outrageous homes to match their larger-than-life personas. In the 70s they installed the latest in hi-fi, in the 80s remote everything, and in the 90s megaplex-scale home theaters. The newest generation of electronics pioneers is different, because home networking is more than just the latest entertainment indulgence. It will be the backbone infrastructure of the 21st-century lifestyle. Just as the office LAN, designed to let PCs share printers and exchange files, helped supercharge the growth of the Internet, so the home network will help seamlessly weave the Net into our lives.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.11/power_houses.html