E-Mail in Your Kitchen

You@fridge.com

Granted, tapping on a handheld computer to replenish groceries isn't exactly using a refrigerator to stock itself. But that's not so far-fetched, some visionaries claim.

It's very likely people will use such appliances to do their grocery shopping, watch TV, surf the Web, send and retrieve e-mail, and bank online as well as set up calendars and videoconference, Calhoun says. "All those capabilities can be done in the door of a refrigerator."

Calhoun says retailers could end up giving away intelligent refrigerators to top-tier customers in return for recurring Internet account and delivery-service fees.

Customers want to determine "when, how, and where to shop," whether it's scanning orders from the kitchen or placing orders from office PCs or cellular telephone screens in the field, according to Hulton. ICL developed a program for British Airways that lets employees order groceries from their office PCs, and Calhoun says he believes refrigerators will soon have the same capabilities.

Every business that serves consumers should consider its future interactions through Internet appliances.

After all, you don't want to be the last to post your online mortgage application on refrigerator doors all over America.