Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a trend in which objects, animals or people are provided with unique ability to transfer data over a Internet without requiring any conventional internet network interaction.

                                      

Simply put this is the concept of basically connecting any device with an on and off switch to the Internet. This includes everything from cell phones, coffee makers, washing machines, headphones, lamps, wearable devices and almost anything else you can think of.  

This also applies to components of machines, for example a jet engine of an airplane or the drill of an oil rig.  In short if it is a power driven device then chances are it can be a part of the IoT. 

The analyst says that by 2020 there will be over 26 billion connected devices…that’s a lot of connections.  The IoT is a giant network of connected “things” (which also includes people).  The relationship will be between people-people, people-things, and things-things.

Broadband Internet is become more widely available, the cost of connecting is decreasing, more devices are being created with WiFi capabilities and censors built into them, technology costs are going down, and smart phone penetration is sky-rocketing.  All of these things are creating a “perfect storm” for the IoT.

Impact on Us

Okay. So now we know that Internet of things is a device being connected to another device, but what good use will it be, to the people. Let's start with really simple example, you have a meeting scheduled in your outlook calendar for 10:00 am at a venue 10 kms from your place, your alarm will be automatically set in the morning considering the distance. While in car you don’t have to ask the routs or look at Google maps, your car will automatically route the way and if there is heavy traffic it will send a text to the other party telling about the delay in meeting due to heavy traffic. What if your mobile knows that it is to be recharged and begins it automatically, 

what if your refrigerator knows you are low on supplies and orders it automatically, what if your wrist watch tells you when you were most happy, productive or sad during the entire day.

What’s Next?

There has been a lot of conversation about IoT for several years, people are pondering about its pros and cons, contemplating on the implementation of it and digging out the value to be created out of IoT. We all know the opportunities are endless and so are the challenges to be faced, but right now we have to educate ourselves about IoT , figure out ourselves what impact it can create in each of our lives.