Hardware Hacking - The new frontier

I have been reading this book for quite a while and since everything is becoming a computer of sorts and computers can run software (even if its saved on flash memory) there seems to be a new wave of tinkerers. In the old days is was mechancial parts in the potting shed like Trevor Bayliss. Now is rewriting the software or improving on it. A great example of this is Bob Cringely's column this week talking about a Linksys wiresless ASDL router.

While I don't agree with Bobs model of the people's ISP, I do believe that hardware hacking will change technology in new and exciting ways. The main thing that worries me is when will I have to run anti-virus software on my washing machine or microwave.