Few non-geeks can see why a coffeemaker or a microwave oven should be linked to a PC. After all, appliances have had their own built-in chips for years.

But many PC users want home appliances and electronics to work together, now that the industry is keen on networking home computers. Some 15% of U.S. households have more than one PC, and one estimate says North Americans will spend more than $1 billion (U.S.) annually on networking by 2002.

As well, several devices that link PCs with household gadgets debuted in 1999. Some allow you to play MP3-format songs downloaded from the Web through your fancy sound system instead of tinny PC speakers. You can also watch movies on your big TV screen and save yourself the purchase of a $500 DVD player.

DVD Anywhere, made by Seattle-based X10.com, is a transmitter and receiver that uses radio waves to enable PCs with DVD drives to play DVD movies on any TV up to 30 metres away--even through a floor. Download some free MP3 Anywhere software, and the device plays songs on your sound system. The price is $88 (U.S.), and you can control everything with a remote.

X10.com also offers gadgets that piggyback signals on a home's electrical wiring, including an automated Robo-Dog barking sound. However, one hitch with home networking is getting the industry to agree on standard protocols. An everyone-but-Microsoft coalition has endorsed Open Service Gateway. But Microsoft plans to fold its own protocol into Windows. Sony, in turn, is pushing its non-computer i.LINK interface for electronics.

Also, it's not clear how many consumers will upgrade PCs or replace good stereo and video equipment just because they won't do the latest trick.

Of course, a Windows-based PC without configuration challenges wouldn't be a PC at all. It would be a Macintosh, and trouble-free. Which raises another problem: Few of these products are available for the Mac.