Fairfield, CT, Dec 7, 2017— Popular tech critic and best-selling author David Pogue told a packed room of Fairfield County real estate agents at the Patterson Club on Wednesday, November 29, that robots, drones and a dizzying array of sensors and new apps are poised to take over virtually every corner of the houses they list and sell, along with most other aspects of American life.
The Westport resident wrote the personal tech column for The New York Times for 13 years before becoming the tech critic for Yahoo Finance and a monthly columnist for Scientific America, as well as host of science shows on PBS’s NOVA and a Special Correspondent on CBS “Sunday Morning.” A prolific author, some 3 million of his books on technology are currently in print.
Entitled “The Next Wave: The Unrecognizable New World of Sensors, AI and Automation,” Pogue’s presentation was hosted by Higgins Group Real Estate as part of its 2017 Annual Conference. Founded by former real estate lawyer and developer Rick Higgins, the company is celebrating its 20th year in business this year.
Also addressing the audience was Kathleen Coumou, Executive Director of Christie’s International Real Estate, of which Higgins Group is the exclusive local representative. Christie’s new real estate office in Rockefeller Center, she said, will expand the company’s brand, benefitting Higgins’ agents and their clients in Connecticut.
Noting the power of the iphone and the embedded 24 sensors that themselves are launching billion-dollar business, Pogue told the agents, “Right now there is a kind of land rush to stick these sensors into everything there is.” In the near future, he said, “your dishwasher could be texting your vacuum cleaner!”
To illustrate how technology is transforming the real estate industry, he showed a slide of a virtual tape measurer for quickly sizing furniture and rooms. With his trademark mix of tech savvy and humor, he said, “I don’t know if any of you are in the real estate industry, but this could come in handy!”
David Pogue’s topic is particularly timely for Higgins Group Realtors. In mid-January, the company, which has 12 branch offices throughout Fairfield County, plans to open a second Westport brokerage in Bedford Square in the heart of Westport. Fittingly, the sleek, new, high-tech office, designed with lots of glass and chrome, will be wired for the highly-mobile, social media-connected, 21st-century real estate agent.
For more information on Higgins Group Real Estate, please visit higginsgroup.com or call Rick Higgins at 203.254.9000.
