Introduction

At 7:00 am, half an hour before the alarm on his digital watch wakes him, the central heating thermostat has already activated the heating in his flat. The hot water for the shower comes from the same heating system that heats his home. For breakfast he has two slices of brown bread (taken out of the deepfreeze and thawed in the microwave) and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. He has sixty seconds to leave the house after he has set the burglar alarm. At half past eight he steps into his BMW and drives to the office, busy on his mobile phone, via a toll road. To pay the toll he has recently had a transponder fitted in his car that automatically deducts the amount from his smart card with an electronic purse. The same card allows him access to the office building where he works, lets him pay for the first cup of coffee of the day and allows him to log on to his Windows machine. After he has read his mail he synchronizes his electronic organizer, sets his GSM to vibration alert and sets off for the ten o'clock meeting.

Three hours in the life of someone chosen at random in a technological developed country. He is probably unaware of the fact that in those three hours he has made use of at least ten embedded systems. Generally speaking that can only be a good thing given the enormous...