Every device with a computer chip should have a WiFi connection

Now that all of our electronic devices are powered by open source software, we need a good way to get at the devices to update them and tools to use to provide them with more functionality. The ideal way to do this is with a WiFi connection.

Yes, I’m talking about nearly every device yet again. It would be nice to be able to login to your dishwasher and determine when it had last been run and/or the current state of the wash cycle. But there are other devices where that wireless network connection would be far more useful. Namely my car.

Think about what you car could do with even an “sometimes” network connection. Your car could e-mail you with diagnostics reports and maintenance requests (without some satellite based service that comes with a large monthly fee). Better yet you could login to your car’s web server while it’s parked in the driveway and check it’s status along with getting all sorts of interesting but useless stats.

Combined with the WiFi connection there are a billion new applications for your GPS navigation system. Anonymously submit your driving time/location/speed information to my new web service and I’ll generate an average speed for a given road at at given time of day. You can then upload that info back to your GPS which can now use it to determine the shortest route.

Forget trying to enter your destination with your car’s touch screen (or worse mine uses a cursor system). You can send destinations from your address book to your car’s nav system which can then design the optimal route for the 4 errands you need to run. Oh, and don’t forget to check the box that makes the grocery store your last destination - wouldn’t want your milk to spoil while your getting your haircut.

And finally there’s your stereo/entertainment system. Download your MP3 collection directly to the car. And beam the latest Disney flick to your in car pvr so the kids have something to watch on that next road trip.

The possibilities are nearly endless here and once again free boost for the device makers.