What’s With IoT and Consumerism?
I see so much hype about IoT (Internet of Things) that it’s difficult to know exactly what to think. I see articles telling me that IoT is “the next big thing,” but I also hear reports that consumers are slow to take to IoT and that the process is going to be much slower than some experts predict.
What to make of all this noise?
Since taking an IoT course at Stanford (Continuing Ed — BUS20) with Sudha Jamthe (@sujamthe) in fall, I have had dozens of conversations with friends and colleagues about The Internet of Things. Their knowledge base ranges from “I.o-what?” to “Of course I know it’s coming but I just don’t understand how it will impact me,” to “I loved my Fitbit but I lost it.”
I know a few people who own Google Home or Alexa but most of them haven’t really found a significant purpose for it yet; and I know people who used to track their every step and compare notes with friends, but I don’t know that any of them have kept it up over time.
The bifurcation is clear: the people I know who work in tech, are all about IoT, while the people I know who are not in tech just don’t know that much about it. What will it take for consumers to really begin to spend in the IoT sphere?
Recommendations
On their webpage, Accenture Interactive boasts that “connected devices are poised for massive growth in the next decade.” That is probably true but in the business world, a decade might as be an eternity. They concede that “the biggest barrier to consumer adoption of IoT devices is lack of awareness and value perception among consumers.” They emphasize that businesses much educate consumers before IoT will really emerge as a leader in the business world. I could not agree more.
Under recommendations to businesses trying to break into the IoT sector, Accenture Interactive lists:
- Show Value
- Entice Interest
- Deliver Outcomes
- Delight Customers
None of that sounds bad but the real issue is how exactly to do that.
Likewise, in his article, “Why the Consumer Internet of Things is Stalling,” (Forbes) guest contributor Mike Farley (CEO and Cofounder of Tile @mikegfarley) tells us:
The potential power of IoT is truly awe-inspiring, but in order to boost sales and drive demand beyond the early adopter set, we need to stop making toys no one cares about and instead work on building simple solutions to real, everyday problems for real people.
He actually takes it a step further and delineates three specific targets that will “solve a simple problem that strikes an emotional nerve.”
- Safety for Seniors
- Security
- Loss
Seniors
I agree that safety for seniors is a potentially lucrative market, especially as the baby boomers get older and require more care. The one drawback I see is that seniors are not typically a consumer segment known for spending a lot, and with Social Security potentially dwindling, that probably won’t change anytime soon.
Security
To me, security should be an area for significant growth — one of the biggest. When I was in class at Stanford, guest speaker Andrew Thomas (Co-Founder of SkyBell @apthomas) told a very compelling story about a woman who, while traveling in Europe, was able to use SkyBell and her mobile phone to talk a stranger off of her front doorstep. SkyBell enabled her to see the stranger at her door from thousands of miles away, and to talk directly to him through a speaker at her front door. Shortly after the woman talked the stranger off of her doorstep, a neighbor’s house was robbed. This function really grabbed my attention, and I can see a lot of potential for growth in that sector.
Loss
Farley’s discussion of loss also struck a nerve for me. As the father of three boys, I cannot tell you how much “stuff” we have lost. Being able to better track our possessions via IoT tracking devices (like Tile) would greatly reduce the number of water bottles, tennis racquets, sweatshirts, etc. that my family has lost over the years.
To Farley’s list, I would like to add a few more target markets that I think will prove lucrative for IoT businesses:
Child and Family
New parents have proven time and time again that there is nothing they won’t do for their children. Be it smart baby monitors, toothbrushes or thermometers, the “family” market is one that seems to have nearly unlimited room for growth. Parents who think their child will be healthier, safer and/or smarter are willing to pay for whatever seems to be the latest improvement.
Auto
Hardly a day passes that I don’t stumble upon an article about self-driving cars. It seems to be the market that consumers and the media are most interested in. It’s a race to see who will be first to develop a viable consumer option in the self-driving car area. Will it be Tesla? Google? Maybe Apple will leapfrog everybody. We don’t know who will be the first to capitalize on what will be an enormous market, nor who will do it best, but suffice it say that within a few years, the auto industry may be the largest IoT market in the world.
Healthcare
IoT healthcare advancements have been well documented. IBM for one, boasts great advancements in terms of reduced errors, decreased costs and improved outcomes (click here to read IBM’s IoT Blog). IBM Watson is on the cutting edge of medical advancement and one would think that they have only begun to scratch the surface. IBM however, is not the only one. Doctors are using smart drones to deliver critical medicines to remote corners of the globe (CNN, Rwanda’s Hospitals Will Use Drones to Deliver Medical Supplies), and while Rwanda may not the place to go to make huge profits, the concept portends the possibilities of how IoT can be used in the medical industry.
Conclusions
The possibilities go on and on, but what exactly will help businesses cross the bridge to this potentially lucrative field of IoT consumerism?
This may be another case of technology being slightly ahead of the consumer — think Newton. (Wired, “Remembering the Apple Newton’s Prophetic Failure and Lasting Impact,”by Mat Honan). We all know that Newton ultimately failed; the world just wasn’t ready for a handheld device, but Honan reminds us that, “the real impact of the Newton was the thinking that took the computer out of the office.” So, while Newton was not a commercial success, it did lay the foundation for hand held computer devices. I don’t see IoT disappearing like Newton did, but the adoption may take longer than some people think.
It gets back to the same principles that business students hear over and over. Find a problem that needs a solution. Find an effective solution that you can monetize. Sounds simple — only time will tell who does it best.
