Thinking Home is Back

Old school Mac-based home automators will probably remember the application Thinking Home. As I remember it, it came onto the scene towards the last days of Mac OS 9 (circa 2000) and garnered an Apple Design Award or two for its wide adoption of Apple technologies, such as speech recognition and Apple Guide, and its simplified approach to automation. While it did make the jump to Mac OS X with a carbonized version, it seemed to fade away with very few updates not too long afterwards.

So last week, while thumbing through the latest issue of MacTech magazine, I was surprised to see an ad for the new Thinking Home 2.0. A visit to the Always Thinking website reveals that not only has the app been totally rewritten, it now supports both X10 and INSTEON control protocols. This is important because it lets you continue to use any old X10 devices you might have, and you can expand your system with devices that support the newer and more reliable INSTEON command set.

One comment I sometimes hear from people who are just getting started with home automation is that automation software is intimidating and complex. If you agree, you'll want to check out the free demo of Thinking Home. As you can see from the developer's product comparison chart, the app doesn't do everything, but its friendly approach to getting started and selecting devices will get you off on the right foot. And, since it supports controllers that work without a computer, you won't have to dedicate a Mac to the process of exploring what it's like to live in a smart home.