One of the early scenes in the movie Parental Guidance pits visiting grandparents Billy Crystal and Bette Midler against an entire home system that is able to perform a variety of functions. From identifying and greeting family members and guests as they enter the home to showing a movie on a big screen that was previously stored behind a piece of artwork, the home automation systems throughout the house, the yard, and the garage provides helpful, and often hilarious, instructions to the grandparents who struggle their first few days on the job. And just when the children, the menu, the rigid schedule, and the home automation systems seem to be getting the best of the babysitting grandparents, the home entertainment music system provides a tender moment. The grandfather realizes that even though the distance between he and his daughter, the mother of these three needy grandchildren, seems insurmountable, he does still have a very sentimental connection. The home music system lets the grandfather know that the song he sang to his daughter when she was young remains at the top of her play list.
Armed with enough nostalgia to try one more time to find some common ground with their grandchildren, the grandparents finally succeed in making a connection. A connection that was prompted by a top song listing on the home automation systems stored music information.
Home Entertainment Services and Home Security Systems Increase in Popularity
What once may have been an imaginary system in movies of the past is now a reality in many homes today. From large theater screens that store themselves in an attic and only lower when needed to security systems that allow working parents to know when their adolescent and teenage children have made is home safe from a day at school, home automation systems prove useful in nearly every room in a home.
Home theater systems that include surround sound and other high grade features may have been some of the first integrated technologies that new home owners installed, but the newest models incorporate whole house sound systems that even allow for music in the backyard or at the pool. The ability to have a simple box in a small and unnoticed storage closet allows sound and video to be connected throughout every connected television in a home.
With access to streaming services like Hulu this interconnectedness means that every person in a home has nearly unlimited access to movies both old and new. The fact that Hulu alone has 4 million subscribers and that Netflix has 64 million subscribers are indications that we are a society that wants to have instant access to an infinite number of programs. The 38 million people who indicate that they have used the Hulu service at least once in the last year are an indicator that the desire for home entertainment systems will not decrease any time soon.
One of the frequent uses for home theater systems is likely today’s popular trend of binge watching. With the ability to stream almost any show any time that you want, a home theater can become a family sanctuary as they laugh their way through entire seasons of a new found favorite program. Consider the following statistics about binge watching:
- 38% of individuals who like to watch multiple episodes at once like to watch their shows solo.
- 51% of individuals who like to watch multiple episodes at once like to watch their shows with at least one other person.
- 79% indicate that watching several episodes of their favorite shows at once actually makes the shows even more enjoyable.
- 76% of people who stream television shows indicate that watching multiple episodes of a great TV show is a welcome break from their hectic lives.
- 73% of people indicate that they have positive feelings toward binge streaming TV.
- 73% of people indicate that they defined binge watching as viewing somewhere between two and six episodes of the same TV show in a single sitting.
Home automation systems, though often thought of for their entertainment value, also provide security as well. Connected with an online security system, many home owners who install these systems see an insurance savings of as much as 20%.