IoT at the moment is missing the point.
IoT is huge and is projected to get huger. Like massively huge.
We are talking billions of smart devices. This growth, for the most part is driven by the fact that something 65-70% of the worlds population is expected to have some sort of smart (or connected) mobile device by around 2017.
In a vain and shallow attempt to be the first to make lots of money, most tech companies are trying to rush to market their smart device.
I have dipped my toe in the water and have invested in a few domestic ones to get a sense of what’s on offer today.
Philips Hue. Its three wireless light globes. Each globe can be set to any of a rainbow of colors. (You might like this one Sue)
Belkin Wemo Insight Switch. Its a switch that I can plug stuff into and turn on/off and look at how much power said thing uses from my phone. (Gary and Dan, this one is very much you guys).
SparkCore. Its the most unfinished and techy thing on the list. In a nutshell it is a small wifi programmable computer. I can add my own sensors and output devices and program them to my liking. (Nick, warning, the firmware is bug city, but its cool).
(I could, and if there is interest, do a blog for each of these devices).
I will get straight to the point.
Each of these three devices has their own app on my phone.
To turn my lights on off or change their color, I have to use the Hue app.
To turn my switch on or off or to see how much power its used, I have to run the Wemo app.
To see the status of my wifi sensors, I have to use its app.
None of them know about each other!
So I have all these cool devices in my home, I have a phone full of apps.
Is my life better? No. After the fun and novelty of each device wares off, its about done. There it sits.
This guy put it beautifully. At the moment, the Internet of Things is like the basket of remotes that most of us have at home.
One for the TV, one for the DVD, one for the stereo and so on.
Sure, some of us have tried the whole universal remote, with varying degrees of success (And some frustration in setting it up and a chunk of money to buy the thing in the first place).
What we have at the moment is a whole lot of smart devices, and no connected devices.
All these ‘things’ connect to the Internet, but they don’t know about each other. Not only don’t they know about each other, but in some cases they don’t play nice with others.
By that I mean that some of these manufactures don’t open up their communication protocols and they don’t share how to talk or listen to their devices.
Its like they have a secret hidden language. Sure. Some talk and listen in English, but not all of them.
Where does this leave me?
Frustrated.
