Ruth points me to a voice control Instructable that's Harry Potter spell-themed. Voice commands for computers have existed in the periphery for a long time, and they have always had a kind of incantation quality, but it's interesting to see that kind of macro creation framed as Harry Potter spells. Like my gyroscopic mouse magic wand from last year, I think that the most interesting use would be if the computer is eliminated as the focus and the voice command just used to control the behavior of other devices or to create other experiences (I can imagine that you could issue commands to some kind of Arduino or NADA-based physical computing rig).
Judith points me to the rather unexpected line of "smart furniture" from Pottery Barn. By "smart" they mean that there are iPod and laptop charging stations and cable caddies, but it's an important acknowledgment of people's relationship to technology in their everyday spaces. Moreover, they have figured out how to integrate wires and connectors into the manufacturing process of mass market furniture. Though technically not difficult, like adding wires to clothing it's almost certainly a lot easier to do one-off than to mass produce. That they're mass producing this stuff means that including smarter electronics is conceptually and practically much closer. Now, of course, the next question is what those genuinely smart electronics will be, but that's probably for next years' catalog.
