This week will find an armada of modern technology being marshaled on behalf of three Atlanta families and their desire to devote less time to a household chore that dates to the dawn of mankind - at least the dawn of clothed mankind.

That seems like an armada more than is needed to do the laundry, if you ask me, and no one's even offering to help sort, fold or put away clothes.

Laundry Time, an eight-week pilot program from the Internet Home Alliance, will eventually include nine families and feature the technology of Microsoft, HP, Panasonic, Proctor & Gamble and Whirlpool. The idea is to allow family members to receive alerts and control certain laundry functions from their PCs, cell phones and television sets, thus freeing up more time to spend with their PCs, cell phones and television sets. (They actually sell the idea better than I do.)

Microsoft is kicking in proprietary Laundry Time software and its Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005; HP is providing Digital Entertainment Centers; Panasonic is bringing transceivers and TV technology; while Proctor & Gamble applies its consumer know-how. Oh, and Whirlpool has the Laundry Time-enabled washers and dryers, although I couldn't find out whether the families get to keep them or not.

Whether this ever catches on with consumers - and whether anyone will pay money for such conveniences - will all come out in the wash, of course, but label me unenthused. And before anyone asks, the answer is, yes, I do plenty of laundry in my five-person household, perhaps more than my wife would like given our long-running disagreements over best practices.

You be the judge on Laundry Time, though.

According to the press release, here are three examples - and remember that they're supposed to be the best examples - of how a networked laundry operation will improve the quality of your life. I've taken the liberty of providing an alternative to each Laundry Time scenario:

Laundry Time's high-tech vision: "You decide to do your laundry while the family is watching TV. After you start the washer (the system will allow you to implement the process remotely), you relax in front of the TV. Thirty minutes later, an alert pops up on your TV screen saying, 'Wash Complete,' so you put the load in the dryer and put another load in the washer. You get a similar alert on your TV when the dryer is done, so you never forget about your laundry and can fold your clothes before they get wrinkled."