Track Your Laundry By Phone Or Web

College campuses have long since wired their dorms and libraries. Now some are going even further: cyberlaundry.

IBM Corp. hopes a new system of smart, wired washers and dryers will instill a little efficiency in the college dormitory laundry room, letting students keep tabs on their laundry from anywhere they can access the Internet - their dorm rooms, the library, or even a cell phone.

Big Blue plans to unveil the "eSuds" system here Friday. The Armonk, N.Y.-based company plans to install about 9,000 of the machines on 40 campuses, mostly in the Midwest and Ohio, including Ohio State University and Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio.

Students can log onto a Web page to see if there are free machines and receive an e-mail or page when the load is finished. The system can also automatically charge students through their ID cards, though it would still accommodate traditional coins.

Users can't reserve machines, but the system could eliminate back-and-forth to the laundry room that cuts into studying and partying time.

Nor would the system prevent unsavory aspects of laundry room culture like the dumping of wet clothes on the floor. But it could let users know from a distance when their laundry is done, preventing it from sitting around and frustrating other would-be users.

"Where I went to school, if you left your clothes in the machine, it would end up on the floor," said Dean Douglas, vice president for IBM Global Services. With the new machines, "You could be outside throwing a Frisbee or whatever instead of waiting in that laundry room waiting for the load to finish."

It's an idea many people have dreamed about, and some have already made work. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology student rewired his dormitory's phone lines to build a similar system connecting four washers and three dryers in 1999.

IBM's machines got a trial run last spring on nine washers and 10 dryers at Boston College. The school hasn't decided whether to commit to the devices, but Joe Schott, 25, a residence hall director who lives in a dorm there, said the machine made life easier for some huffy students.

"I think for most students, doing laundry is a pain in the butt," Schott said. "You'd get all your clothes, go to the elevator, trek up the sixth floor, walk down the hallway, get to the laundry room and then find that they were all in use."

The system also could help schools and businesses keep better tabs on their machines. In some cases, troubleshooting can be done from a computer hooked up to the network, said David Goldberg, president of American Sales, Inc., a Dayton, Ohio-based commercial laundry company that has contracted with IBM to install the machines.

"If anything it can increase the potential of the university's laundry services," said Linda Riley, acting director of resident life at Boston College.

Cedarville University plans to have units installed in 150 machines by the spring semester.

"This just seemed like an obvious opportunity to leverage our technological investment for our students," Cedarville spokesman Roger Overturf said.

Schott, of Boston College, said it's more about being a good fit for the way students live their lives.

"With the online system, you wouldn't have to get up from what you were doing," Schott said. "And our students truly do live at their computers."

By Jack Hagel