I assume you are talking about home automation?
In the early '90s, I got swept up by that fad and automated my whole room. It was based on an ISA 8 bit I/O card and a parallel interface, ran by an old 8086 computer. Worked well for a few years, but I ended up taking the whole system down.
Really, until every consumer device will interface with every other, I don't see the point. I think most consumers have very little interest turning on and off (and dimming) lights from anywhere in the house.
Now, when I can set my VCR over the Internet, then we're talking...