I have been reading the words "the Internet of things" recently but had no idea what was meant by it. I wish I could come up with some clever definition but I was just clueless as to what was meant by the phrase. More recently I have been seeing the term IoT which meaning nothing to me my brain immediately went to iOS which is the abbreviation for any i device's operating system.But it simply means internet of things.
So back to...what does it mean?
The internet of things is the interconnection between all things, animate or inanimate, that have the ability to connect to the Web. It could be your home air conditioner, your car, your scale, your phone of course, even you! Almost everything that can be powered on or off can connect and share information.
Your phone can know that you are running late for work and tell your coffee machine not to bother making coffee this morning. Your phone can then tell your car which can reroute you to McDonald's for a drive thru breakfast. Your scale informs your car that you have gained five pounds so to pass on the sausage biscuit. When you get to work your standing lunch order is changed to a healthy salad and your twice a week gym appointment is rescheduled to every day. Your after lunch workout makes you late for your appointment with your primary care doctor who has already printed out a diet worksheet for you and a prescription for a statin drug is at the checkout counter as you leave. Your spouse knows to drop by the pharmacy to pick up the new Rx on the way home since it is right on their way. When you reach in the freezer to take out the steak you were planning for dinner the fridge
beeps and the display screen suggests fish instead. After a light dinner your TV powers on and the documentary on Birds of the Amazon begins to play, recorded last night while you were at a concert. Before the Spix's Macaw has arrived on the screen your alarm clock has reminded you that you overslept last night and you need to get to bed a little early tonight. The TV automatically shuts off, the lights dim, the door locks click and, before your know it, you are tucked into bed.
The Internet of Things sounds a bit 1984ish. Wait, "1984" is 31 years ago! Instead of a government run Orwellian society do we face a well ordered life managed by "things" talking to each other in the "clouds?" Will we no longer miss an appointment, fail to meet a deadline, or overlook paying a bill? What if we don't want to be on time but prefer fashionably late? Can our computer understand withholding payment because we were dissatisfied with the job done? Is there room in the Intenet of Things for the flawed, forgetful, disorganized, but very human, being?
So back to...what does it mean?
The internet of things is the interconnection between all things, animate or inanimate, that have the ability to connect to the Web. It could be your home air conditioner, your car, your scale, your phone of course, even you! Almost everything that can be powered on or off can connect and share information.
Your phone can know that you are running late for work and tell your coffee machine not to bother making coffee this morning. Your phone can then tell your car which can reroute you to McDonald's for a drive thru breakfast. Your scale informs your car that you have gained five pounds so to pass on the sausage biscuit. When you get to work your standing lunch order is changed to a healthy salad and your twice a week gym appointment is rescheduled to every day. Your after lunch workout makes you late for your appointment with your primary care doctor who has already printed out a diet worksheet for you and a prescription for a statin drug is at the checkout counter as you leave. Your spouse knows to drop by the pharmacy to pick up the new Rx on the way home since it is right on their way. When you reach in the freezer to take out the steak you were planning for dinner the fridge
beeps and the display screen suggests fish instead. After a light dinner your TV powers on and the documentary on Birds of the Amazon begins to play, recorded last night while you were at a concert. Before the Spix's Macaw has arrived on the screen your alarm clock has reminded you that you overslept last night and you need to get to bed a little early tonight. The TV automatically shuts off, the lights dim, the door locks click and, before your know it, you are tucked into bed.
The Internet of Things sounds a bit 1984ish. Wait, "1984" is 31 years ago! Instead of a government run Orwellian society do we face a well ordered life managed by "things" talking to each other in the "clouds?" Will we no longer miss an appointment, fail to meet a deadline, or overlook paying a bill? What if we don't want to be on time but prefer fashionably late? Can our computer understand withholding payment because we were dissatisfied with the job done? Is there room in the Intenet of Things for the flawed, forgetful, disorganized, but very human, being?
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