This is pretty cool: IBM connects washers and dryers to the web, meaning students living in dorms can monitor and control their laundries from their computer. From a website they can monitor if a washer is available, they can dispense soap and even receive an email when their laundry is ready to be picked up. Payment for the laundry is handled by either credit or by using a cellphone - very nice touch.
To put this a bit in perspective, back at my old dorm we considered putting a webcam in our laundromat to spare us from having to walk to the basement to check for available machines. The idea was scrapped because of lack of funding - I suppose we should’ve have asked IBM to spearhead the project for us.