2014 could very well be the year home automation comes into its own.

One writer in his blog listed six good reasons he believes 2014 is the break-away year for home automation.  But what impact will that have on homeowners in general?

First, the marketplace changes dramatically when people go beyond having heard of a technology to actually grasping what it is AND its benefit!  Due to mass marketing, people have seen commercials about being away on vacation and remember they didn't change their thermostat settings, so the actor in the commercial simply does so on his phone.  Or else its the one where they can't remember if they locked the house and--again--casually do so on their phone or tablet.  As a result, the public is beginning to understand that is an example of what home automation (AKA smart homes) is about.  John Q. Public, therefore, now gets both what home automation is and also why it can add security to our lives.  Smart technology is found in our phones, homes and even cars (see our post on smart car technology here!).

Second, as people are understanding the value of home automation, they realize its something they want for themselves.  Remember in the early days of the internet when travelers wanted internet access in their rooms and had to pay a small fee for it?  Hotels quickly learned they could entice guests with "free wi-fi access."  That's because they understood the value of offering that amenity to their guests.  Before you knew it, it seemed wi-fi was everywhere.

That might be just how home automation takes off.  What has been a growing technology in recent years may just about mushroom into popularity the way desktop computers gave way to laptops and tablets