When a manufacturer or industry consortium displays a home of the future, it is usually of this type. A robot cannot yet shave your face, but the sink could fill with water when your alarm rings. In Bill Gates' home, visitors will wear electronic badges that allow the house to track their movements. A surprisingly high number of homes with pervasive automation have been built already. In 1994 the number reached 22,000, according to the Home Automation Association.
Cost is certainly a prohibitive factor.
Potential consumers face a double whammy from this intra-industry war, because the incompatibility among these three standards is added to the fact that standard appliances are inherently incompatible with most electronic appliances sold. A boost for X-10 may come, however, from IBM's Home Director, which lets Aptiva owners program their machines to turn on the coffeepot, lights, and television. Of course, the fact that Home Director runs only on IBM's own Aptiva is yet another incompatibility headache. The more popular view of automation in the home revolves around what might be called a home-area network. This network would become common in many houses, using interconnected computer systems customized for particular areas or uses.