It's a Looney Tunes Kind of World in the Home of Tomorrow

Building Toward the Home of Tomorrow.  (The New York Times, 1/19/2014)

It this feature really necessary? Without setting foot in the door, a person headed home could turn off the security system and turn on the shower, and begin preheating the oven.

Let's assume this technology is currently available?  What would California officials say?

Sacramento Bee, 1/17/2014

Turning on your shower while driving home from work on a clogged freeway is going to earn an exemption?  [snort]

According to the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration's Climatic Data Center, 

moderate to exceptional drought covers 34.4% of the contiguous United States, up from 33/2% last week.

"Smart" products designed for an upscale market. One challenge is that a connected home is expensive to set up. For now, at least, “smart” products cost several times more than their traditional counterparts. For example, the Nest smoke and carbon monoxide detector costs $129, while many typical detectors cost $40 or less. Nest has estimated that its $249 thermostat, its most popular product, is in less than 1 percent of households.  (Excerpted from the Times article.]