Remember a few years ago when the “wired” home was a big selling point. It came ready with internet ports, multimedia stations, central hard drives in the basement and all the trimmings of tech goodness. Well, that’s so 2004.

Welcome to a new decade where wireless rules and digital sharing of information in the home is now a must-have. I’m willing to bet that over the past 24 months your computer has moved from a dedicated room to a more common space. That five disc CD-changer has been replaced with a miniature dock for a digital music player. And your TV now does much more than just broadcast entertainment programs.

Homes today are closer in theory to what you see on Minority Report than Disney’s Carousel of Progress attraction. I remember visiting Disney World as a kid and going on the Carousel of Progress ride which showed how in the future we would be able to talk to people through our TV sets and other “futuristic” ideas. As an 8-yeard old, that blew my mind, but today my 5-year old knows it’s common practice to chat with people across the country through the Xbox 360.

Verizon FiOS and other TV service providers are incorporating Facebook, Twitter, photo and video sharing from your computer through your TV. I can even control my DVR from my phone.

LG has a dual-screen refrigerator (is one screen ever enough?) that streams online content and video just to the right of the ice dispenser. HomeLogic, a company whose tagline is “intelligent home control,” now offers you the ability to adjust your home’s temperature, lighting, media, security system and even pool from your iPhone or iPod Touch.

What was science fiction is now an everyday real estate reality. I can only venture a guess that when we look back a year from nowhow our homes have changed that we will be surprised to see just how far we’ve come.

Photo from Flickr user Award Photography

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