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Domestic technology

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Usage of applied science in houses
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A kitchen with a range of types of domestic technology, including an oven, a microwave oven and a refrigerator
A kitchen with various types of domestic technology, including an oven, a microwave oven and a refrigerator

Domestic technology is the incorporation of applied science into the home. There are multiple aspects of domestic technology. On one level, there are home appliances, home automation and other devices commonly used in the home, such as clothes dryers and washing machines.

On another level, domestic technology recognizes the use of applied science to construct homes to achieve a particular goal, such as energy efficiency or self-sufficiency. For more information, read about self-sufficient homes. It has been claimed that domestic technology has led to decreases in the time people spend on household work, although the factual basis of this claim is disputed.

Types of domestic technology

Many technologies are now routinely used around the home. For example, microwave ovens and washing machines, among others.

Cleaning equipment

A picture depicting two front-loading washing machines.
For many, washing machines form an indispensable part of modern household laundry

Electric lighting

Main article: Electric light
Air Conditioners

Cooking appliances

Main article: List of cooking appliances

Food storage and preservation

Main article: Food storage

Home maintenance

See also: Household cleaning § Tools

Air conditioning

Computer systems

See also: Information and Communications Technology and Home computer

Power generation

Main article: Distributed generation

Home security

Main article: Home security

Home automation

Main articles: Home automation and Internet of things

In the 21st century, especially by the 2010s, home automation has increasingly been introduced into the modern household, colloquially referred to as smart home technology.

While the technology was already in development in the 1990s, only in the next two decades was local area networking ubiquitous in the home, thanks to the introduction of computer networking.

Since modern home networks often make use of wireless networking (e.g. Wi-Fi), modern automation can easily be set up without having to run wires through the building. Alternatively, they can be connected to wired networks.

Types of home automation

A robotic vacuum cleaner is an example of a domestic robot

Concerns towards home automation

Main article: Home automation § Criticism and controversies See also: Botnet

Unlike older forms of domestic technology, smart appliances are Internet-facing, and there have been many concerns that cyberattacks may be conducted on insecure home appliances. A kind of attack is to deploy malware on smart home appliances known as botnets, which can be controlled by a remote attacker.

See also

References

  1. Bittman, Michael; Rice, James Mahmud; Wajcman, Judy (2004). "Appliances and their impact: The ownership of domestic technology and time spent on household work". British Journal of Sociology. 55 (3): 401–423. doi:10.1111/j.1468-4446.2004.00026.x. hdl:1959.4/34267. PMID 15383094.
  2. "New technologies in washing machine smartphone Apps". Edmonton Maple Leaf Appliance Repair. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  3. "The Rise of the Smart Home, Apartment or Condominium". 30 August 2019.
  4. "The History of Smart Homes".
  5. "IoT botnets: Smart homes ripe for a new type of cyberattack". 10 September 2024.

Further reading

  • Cowan, Ruth Schwartz. More Work for Mother: The Ironies of Household Technology from the Open Hearth to the Microwave (Basic Books, 1983) ISBN 0-465-04731-9.
  • Habib, Laurence. Computers and the Family: A Study of Technology in the Domestic Sphere. PhD Thesis, London, UK: London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE) 2000 (PDF file).
  • Siddiqui, Shakeel, and Darach Turley (2006). "Media technologies: Mediated families" In: Gavan Fitzsimons and Vicki Morwitz ed. Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 34, Association for Consumer Research: Orlando.

External links

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