Available at the reasonable price of $100 a bulb. No thanks, I'll stick with my good ol' $1 a bulb, and if I want mood lighting...I'll use a candle.

#1
you're right !

Technology might by wonderfull, but this is simply a (unnecessary) luxury...

I am more interested in being able to control products in a holiday home when I'm not there including a security camera or camera(s) does anyone know what's needed. would I need to have a computer left at the property?

I must be one of those weird "Luddites" you hear so little about (lol ) As far as I'm concerned I'll use as little automation as I can get away with.

Wow, this would be really fun... for 5 minutes..

#1 yes it's expensive. I think you're better of with Phillips Hue. The starter package is ~$250 which includes 3 bulbs and a hub(basically a router). That's enough to light up a room. You have to take in account that these are LED so they are very power efficent and they last for years. Plus the colors are pretty good.

#3 I don't now what 'products' you want to control. For the camera just get an IP cam, they're not very expensive. For that you'd only need a router so you could connect to it remotly. You can also plug in a SIM card so you can get notifications on your phone when movement is detected etc.
For other simple operations such as turning things on or off I'd recommend Zigbee or Z-wave devices. You'll need a computer/controller for them.

fun fact (not rly) they were on the shark tank show and those guys quite liked the idea, sure its expensive but hey, if i got a billion$ i do what i want with them, and if i want a bulb that changes colors then ill call these people.
the beauty of the world today is that you can find almost anything necessary and unnecessary to buy

Here is an unbiased critique of these bulbs which points out the pros and many cons with using them.

http://greenmonk.net/2014/01/14/lifxs-internet-of-things-connected-bulb-the-good-and-the-not-so-good/

this looks useful... if it was cheaper. Also the lights flashing when you get a notification would be really annoying

for how long? 50years? yeah right...

#6 Thanks for that

I'll take the women in the commercial. You guys can keep the light bulbs.

#12 okay we're cool with that, but obviously need to know where you intend to take her and what time you will be bringing her back