Originally, IoT was an idea based on RFID: tag everything, track everything, and somehow, good things will happen. Now instead of RFID the focus is on low-power radio ("Chirp Networks"). But as before, there's still no discussion about what it's for or why we need it.
Remember that there's a difference between "The Internet" and "The World Wide Web". The WWW is now basically just a user interface platform for internet-enabled applications. The Internet is all the things that make the WWW work. So how will the IoT affect the WWW? In theory, once your toaster is Internet-capable, you could schedule toast every morning from your iPhone (has anyone yet patented a slot-loading bread box/toaster? probably.). Very Jetsons.
From ideas like this we get the broad-reaching declarations that "The IoT will change everything!" But being realistic for a moment, think about all the devices you have now, and how they work. Does it all come together magically? Or do you still have five remote controls for all your entertainment equipment? Do you pay rent in apartments that have 15-year-old bargain-bin appliances? Is your watch synced to the USNO clock? Does your car even have bluetooth?
I don't know about you, but I still live in a pre-Internet world. All my devices and appliances are still completely independent mechanisms. Even the devices that are Internet-capable don't communicate with one another; they're made by independent companies for independent purposes, and nobody's even attempting to find ways to combine them; that would probably require whole separate R&D divisions just to create add-ons.
What would be nice is if somebody started by identifying the major problems in our lives that actually need an Internet of Things solution. But then we'd expose the true identity of the IoT: a hammer looking for a nail. I'm pretty sure that it's only purpose now - as an idea - is to serve as a marketing platform to get people to spend money on things that don't do anything.
a marketing platform to get people to spend money on things that don't do anything.
Worse, a marketing platform for things that don't do anything but break after 2 years. Even if the hardware lasts, there will always be unpatched security issues.
This could be the secret reason for the hype around IoT. Monthly subscriptions for your toaster's security patches. Maybe Google will start giving toasters away for free, and while your toast is toasting, it'll play a jingle for I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!®
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Originally, IoT was an idea based on RFID: tag everything, track everything, and somehow, good things will happen. Now instead of RFID the focus is on low-power radio ("Chirp Networks"). But as before, there's still no discussion about what it's for or why we need it.
Remember that there's a difference between "The Internet" and "The World Wide Web". The WWW is now basically just a user interface platform for internet-enabled applications. The Internet is all the things that make the WWW work. So how will the IoT affect the WWW? In theory, once your toaster is Internet-capable, you could schedule toast every morning from your iPhone (has anyone yet patented a slot-loading bread box/toaster? probably.). Very Jetsons.
From ideas like this we get the broad-reaching declarations that "The IoT will change everything!" But being realistic for a moment, think about all the devices you have now, and how they work. Does it all come together magically? Or do you still have five remote controls for all your entertainment equipment? Do you pay rent in apartments that have 15-year-old bargain-bin appliances? Is your watch synced to the USNO clock? Does your car even have bluetooth?
I don't know about you, but I still live in a pre-Internet world. All my devices and appliances are still completely independent mechanisms. Even the devices that are Internet-capable don't communicate with one another; they're made by independent companies for independent purposes, and nobody's even attempting to find ways to combine them; that would probably require whole separate R&D divisions just to create add-ons.
What would be nice is if somebody started by identifying the major problems in our lives that actually need an Internet of Things solution. But then we'd expose the true identity of the IoT: a hammer looking for a nail. I'm pretty sure that it's only purpose now - as an idea - is to serve as a marketing platform to get people to spend money on things that don't do anything.
Worse, a marketing platform for things that don't do anything but break after 2 years. Even if the hardware lasts, there will always be unpatched security issues.
This could be the secret reason for the hype around IoT. Monthly subscriptions for your toaster's security patches. Maybe Google will start giving toasters away for free, and while your toast is toasting, it'll play a jingle for I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!®