What exactly is the Internet of Things?
Simply put – it is objects (not just computers, phones and tablets) that are connected to the internet. And by objects we mean everything from tables, to refrigerators, to heart monitors to pillows—all connected through built-in chips that collect and transmit data.
There are more technical definitions, but all of them share the idea that while the Internet we know is about data created (and shared) by people, the next version is about data created (and shared) by things.
The implication of this is that products and services will improve by becoming more efficient, knowledgeable and tailored to us… and that this improvement will happen almost automatically because ‘things’ will know stuff.
Understandably, almost every tech company wants to sell products or services as part of the Internet of Things. John Chambers, CEO of Cisco, predicts that the Internet of Things could be a $19 trillion opportunity, with more than 50 BILLION objects hooked up to the Internet in the next 5 years. 50 billion! The Internet of Things seems to be pretty much unstoppable.
But amidst all of this recent chatter about the revolution that is the Internet of Things, I keep hearing (quite strangely) Chief Seattle’s words in my head:
“All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the children of the earth.”
All things are connected. It was a quote I first heard when I was 13, after a camping trip with my classmates in the Genesee Valley. Our teachers made us write what we thought it meant in our journals. We all wrote (after three incredible days of flying through tree tops on zip lines, building camp fires with wood we collected and staring at more stars than we had ever seen) that it meant humans and nature are inseparable. The woods, the rocks, the birds… those stars… are all connected to us, as we are to them. And whatever we do to them, we do to ourselves.
I never thought that 20 years later, the car that picked me up from camp would one day be able to drive me home itself because itwas connected. Or that my refrigerator would know when I was out of milk and order more automatically, because it was connected. Or that my uncle could be saved from a heart attack because a sensor warned him, and it was connected.
Universal truths hold their integrity throughout the ages. Chief Seattle’s words remain true, even in this information age of microchips. No matter what technology we develop… no matter what innovations change our lives… they, as our creations, will be connected to us, as we are connected to the rest of our planet, and even more so if it is their actual intention (as it is with the IoT).
The connectedness of nature is not limited to the woods, the trees and birds… but in fact, it would seem, not limited at all.
So get thinking future-forward and call us about how you can connect with your world through your voice on 0207 078 3200. Or email me on aoliver@vtsl.net.