Smart Homes (1999)
Bill Gates didn’t become one of the richest people alive without bold and risky ideas. Back in 1999, he made a dozen predictions, all of which seemed preposterous at the time but some of which eventually came to pass.
One forecast in particular seemed especially outrageous, even as we approached a new millennium. “Constant video feeds of your house will become common,” Gates wrote, “which inform you when somebody visits while you are not home.”
It may have once seemed like science fiction, but now devices like Nest, Netgear, and Amazon’s Ring allow you to not just to monitor your home from afar, but also change the temperature, check smoke detectors, and even answer the door via video chat.
