Reply to post: re: I can't think of a single legitimate reason

re: I can't think of a single legitimate reason

why a toaster, washing machine, or fridge needs to be networked to anything, or any benefit it could provide.

Actually, I recently got into gardening and have a poly tunnel in the back garden. Before that I was (and still am) interested in Arduino and sensors and that kind of thing. It seems to me that these two hobbies could come together quite nicely. I can get a "weather board" to measure temperature, humidity, light levels and UV index and a combo of a solar panel, battery charger and voltage regulator would give me a wealth of data on conditions in the tunnel. Add in an SD card module for storing the data and some actuated devices (like fans or vents) for increasing ventilation when it's needed and you've got a pretty good system, I think. I could envision using a similar sensor system at other stages in food production, such as monitoring temperature in a solar dehydrator or for keeping stored fruit and veg at the optimum temperature and humidity.

The three items you mention probably have no reason for being "connected", but for the example I just gave, it's much more about the increasing ubiquity of cheap sensors that people can use to come up with new and interesting projects. My plans don't (yet) include any way to get real-time access to data or to get alerts when things go into the "red zone". I've toyed with the idea of using bluetooth or even an RF transmitter, but both are a pain to develop and add extra cost.

I think that bluetooth holds the most promise going forward. If it managed to win out there'd no doubt have dirt cheap components available for tinkerers like me, and it should work in places where you can't get wifi (at least not without expensive repeaters) and have the advantage of being really low power so that each part of the net could run for ages on battery power.

I don't care at all for "middleware", though. Especially those that want to store your stuff for you "in the cloud" and then charge you for the privilege. Hopefully people will see through these blatant attempts to insert themselves into the minutiae of your sensor network and tell them to fuck right off.