The known past and hopeful future of IoT
Where did “IoT” come from, and where is it going?
The Internet of Things (IoT) era is already here. At least, that’s what they say. The era of machine-to-machine communication. Instantaneous, global reach. Smart technology. We have perfected use of the cloud and shared information.
Maybe.
But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. In order to understand where IoT technology currently is, and where we hope it’s going, we need to understand where IoT has been. Let’s go back a moment to the original vision.
The history of “IoT”
Postscapes constructed a relative history of the term “IoT”. We’ll take you through what we believe to be the top highlights of that timeline.
1844. Samuel Morse sends the first public telegraph message using Morse code. The potential of faster communication seems boundless.
1926. Nikola Tesla appears to be the first to imagine the reality of an interconnected earth. He compares this vision to a large brain, stimulating images of communicating instruments. Parts of a larger whole.
1970. The Internet is born. Its purpose is to provide a communications network that could survive a nuclear attack. Is this the birth of instant (or near instant), global connectivity?
1990. The first “IoT” device is created by John Romkey. And it’s a toaster. A toaster that could be turned off and on using the Internet. The potential for Internet connected devices is (somewhat) realized.
1999. Kevin Ahston finally coins the term Internet of Things. He uses it to describe an idea, that computers could be used to keep track of everything we humans are too busy to calculate. We could use this ability to better understand what we do. And, do it more efficiently. From here the use of the term and its applications explodes.
All throughout the ages preceding and following the birth of the Internet, man seemed to have some inclination of the ideas behind IoT. There always seemed to be the possibility of an interconnected planet, although the implications varied from dreamer to dreamer.
Between 2008–2009, these ideas finally became a reality. The number of Internet-connected devices outnumbered the human population for the first time in history. Ashton’s idea, that we could use technology to evaluate what we do and help us be efficient, could take roots.
The present and future
Now that the idea of IoT has been realized, the market continues to grow rapidly. McKinsey estimates that the total market will reach $3.7 billion by 2020. IHS predicts that there will be 75.4 billion connected devices by 2025.
At first, IoT’s greatest asset was thought to be the ability for machines to talk to each other. With this theory, smart technology would be your thermostat telling your phone what it was doing. But, the folks at Wired and others have realized that this isn’t the case. M2M is cool (really!). But, it’s machine-to-sensor communication that will make IoT globally impactful.
Sensors gather data. Machines help us leverage data. IoT is the future of data acquisition and leveraging. Smart technology isn’t just your thermostat updating your phone on its activity. It’s your thermostat using that data to then tell your phone how it SHOULD be used. And then you take it up on that suggestion. Probably through that same phone. The future of IoT is being able to do anything from anywhere, and doing everything efficiently. AKA, Kevin Ashton’s original vision.
But, are we there yet? We sure seem to think so. Everyone advertises the perfect IoT experience, with limitless connective potential.
Over at Harbor Research, they’re more inclined to believe we still have a ways to go before we reach the perfect IoT vision. We still need to work toward free information (information that can actually merge across “information islands”). Data is still tied to physical machines. In the dreamed of IoT future, information will exist separately, and be perfectly free and perfectly accessible.
The risks
For most, the implications are amazing and endless. For some, however, the very basis of IoT is dangerous. If IoT is so amazing in the right hands, then couldn’t it be destructive if used incorrectly?
Parks Associates published a white paper titled “Top 10 Consumer IoT Trends in 2017.” Within this paper, they discussed consumer concerns with the growth of this technology. IoT presents a challenge. Consumers want interconnectivity between every device in their life, but they’re also concerned with theft. Data theft, identity theft, and theft of technological control in the form of hackers. And the fears aren’t necessarily ungrounded. There are risks in a connected world. Privacy and security will always be big concerns.
Who knows exactly where IoT will take us. Already we’ve seen technology that can monitor health, and technology that monitors energy use. There are children’s toys that report back to a parent’s phone. Or lights that can be controlled from an app.
The transition to a wholly interconnected world is already happening. Whether for better or for worse. Only the future will tell if the risks were worth the limitless possibilities.
