From the 32nd Floor: Computer-life integration only moving forward

Okay, I admit, I want to be Martha Stewart. Aside from the insider trading and raging temper issues, she's my hero. I like to pretend I am her when I throw dinner parties or host wedding showers. I make a mean mocha shortbread with raspberry cream, but my pancakes need a little help.

I'm a compulsive multi-tasker, especially when I cook. I can't just cook, I have to be reading my homework, watching the University of Michigan football game or talking on the phone. What was that last ingredient I threw in the bowl? It's a dangerous question when cayenne pepper is in the recipe.

But like everything else in life, technology has help for us. Students at Georgia Tech University may innovate Martha wanna-be's like me with The Cook's Collage. A flat screen that is mounted above the countertop displays the last six actions the cook has taken. According to Wired Magazine, the researchers see The Cook's Collage as a helpful tool for senior citizens.

The Cook's Collage is being tested and developed in the Aware Home, a research center for technological advances for everyday living. The center emphasizes helping the elderly live more independently.

In an article published by Research Horizons, associate professor and Future Computing Environments co-founder Chris Atkeson said computers are no longer going to rely on human operation.

"We will be breaking new ground with the Aware Home," Atkeson said. "The computer will be aware of who people are and what they are doing, rather than needing a human being in charge of the remote control, for example. This is the next generation of computing."

Just when I thought technology has accomplished so much, someone invents something like The Cook's Collage. It begs the question, "Who pays for this?" The Aware House Research Initiative is partially funded through the government. Yes, that means taxes. It is also partially funded through corporate sponsors like Hewlett-Packard, Intel, and Motorola Labs.

The Cook's Collage is far from becoming common, but it makes the point that technology hasn't reached it glory. Sure, a cooking contraption doesn't exactly scream glory, but it is one more thing to make life easier. It's another step to having a wholly digital life.

Our generation is a little too young to remember when computers were totally new and still in labs being tested. When Apple introduced its first personal computer in 1977, not many people took the Apple I seriously. Now, over 54 million households in America have at least one computer.

The world of total computer and life integration is far from what many technology critics call computer-run lives. We choose to depend on these computers because computers enhance our lives. It took me less than a minute to find the number of computer households.

Fifty one percent of American households own computers, and 41.5 percent of households have Internet access. If that many people are willing to pay money for what is available now, they're going to be willing to pay for advances in the future.