The iThing
Apple won’t make a watch. That’s too limited.
They’re not making glasses. That’s too niche.
If anything, Apple will make a Thing.
“The internet of things” is the next frontier for consumer technology; the Nest, FitBit, Automatic, Lapka, August. These are devices that are carving out the future for home automation, data collection and more.
If Apple has proven anything in its past successes, it’s that it can reign in the exploration of a new frontier and quantify it into a usable product. The “smartphone” was a mess before the iPhone made sense of it; the “tablet” was a novelty before the iPad legitimized it.
The Verge, reporting on the new Yves Behar-designed smart lock, August:
As for what happens when your phone dies, Johnson remained coy, saying only that there would be “things” that could also serve as keys. Asked if other BLE devices like the Fitbit One could be used as keys, Johnson just smiled and repeated the word “things.”
“Things” are ubiquitous. What is Lapka? A thing that, when paired with the hardware and software of a phone, will sense the minute details of the world around us. What is Automatic? A thing that, when mediated between our car and phone, will structure the way we commute. This ubiquity of things is on the cusp of interconnection; where, with the context of the now established mobile device, we will start to use things to do things.
Apple may understand this more than anyone, and that’s why I don’t think we should expect a wearable device to simply replace the watch. We should look forward to a thing that unlocks doors, collects data, and whatever else we tell it to do.
“The internet of things” is tough to wrap our heads around right now. I think Apple plans to help us understand.
