Aside from the need for a better translation, there is a minor flaw in the Margherita conceptâ€"one that astute readers have no doubt already perceived. If you can remember to put your sweaters in the washer before going to work, why would you need the Web?
      In case you think I chose the weakest example to pick on, here�s scenario number two:

      Again, I ask: if the son can load the machine, why can�t he press the Start button? Has he become so befuddled from kissing five girls that he can�t operate the machine effectively?
      You laugh, but the folks at Ariston take their appliances seriously. As their site proclaims, "The worlds of domestic appliances and information & communications technology are finally converging...." (Inquiring minds may reasonably wonder: on what? And why finally?) These words portend a future where toasters, ovens, blenders, cappuccino makers, Jacuzzisâ€"and possibly even sex toysâ€"will all be wired, remotely operable from your handheld computer or cell phone. Programmers will compete to code the perfect spin cycle or play Santana melodies on touch-tone buttons. Third-party vendors will build ActiveX® controls that speak Appliance Control Language. Microsoft® will launch Windows® AS (Appliance Server), and MSDN™ Magazine will run its first Appliance Q&A column.
      It could happen. Where there�s a way, there�s a will.
      But wacky washers aside, it�s fair to wonder: is there no place for appliances on the Web? It depends. What�s an appliance? If you include any electronic measuring or control device, the possibilities are endless: gas pumps, ATMs, industrial robots, meters of all sortsâ€"even the Hubble space telescope. If these devices had Web servers built in, gas station owners could probe their pumps, banks could analyze ATMs (which they do now, using proprietary means), utilities could interrogate meters, and ordinary citizens could get time on Hubble. And yes, Maytag could call before your washer breaks, just like on TV.
      Many of these appliances already provide remote access using proprietary means. If they used the Web, reach would extend to any browser. The Web would become the main bus of a giant global computer with millions of devices. Want to know how many Crunch bars are in your vending machine? All you need is a Web server on a chip. Even as we speak, the Redmondtonians are dreaming of a Web server on Windows CE embedded in every gizmo under the sun. People may wonder: why use Windows for a device with no mouse, keyboard, or monitor? But heyâ€"if it works, why not?
      So take your pick: TCP toasters or GUI gas pumps. Whichever vision floats your boat, it spells big bucks for software.
      Of course, there is a dark side. Unscrupulous marketeers will drop cookies in your washer that report usage and cleanliness habits so they can deliver more Tide as your supply runs out; hackers will hijack the world�s laundry, turning undies pink, and reroute Monica Lewinsky�s AgitatorCam to Times Square; Milosevic will seize factories, causing Chrysler and Ford to make Yugos; Saddam Hussein will put diesel in cars that take ethanol; ATMs will dispense free cash; your neighbor will steal your electricity; and Hubble will aim at the White House bedroom. But look at it this way: life will be more exciting!

From the May 2000 issue of MSDN Magazine.