The Internet of Things

As an avid follower of the tech industry, particularly in Silicon Valley, I have been watching the unfolding story of ‘The Internet of Things’.  For many non-tech individuals this might be a fairly new concept as it is still generating mainstream attention, let alone adoption.

To be fair, The Internet of Things is still evolving.  Much like social media was a few years ago, it is in its infancy as the technology Mavens are still developing new devices, sensors and gadgets which assist it in functioning more fluidly.  Once these devices begin to generate mainstream usage and integration with social media, then it begin to have a dramatic influence.

So what exactly is The Internet of Things?

According to ReadWriteWeb, “The Internet of Things is a network of Internet-enabled objects, together with web services that interact with these objects. Underlying the Internet of Things are technologies such as RFID (radio frequency identification), sensors, and smartphones.”

What this means is that your milk carton will be embedded with a chip that indicates when it is sour, your smart phone will be a control panel that allows you to control your household appliances from the road as well as buy and sell electricity that you might be generating.  The internet of things is taking the internet and integrating it into our daily lives through the use of technological devices and mechanisms.  In other words, it is the futuristic visions of 2 decades ago coming into reality.

A current example of this is provided by ReadWriteWeb.  “A small UK startup called Pachube (pronounced “PATCH-bay”) lets you tag and share real time sensor data from objects, devices, buildings and environments both physical and virtual. In ablog post by Tish Shute, Pachube founder Usman Haque explained that Pachube is about “environments” more so than “sensors.” In other words, Pachube aims to be responsive to and influence your environment – for example your home.”

The Internet of Things is one of many new trends coming out of Silicon Valley and elsewhere in the world, yet what makes it so potent is the convergence of so many utilities.  Location, smart phones, communication, economics, sustainability, data and connectivity are the underlying fundamentals which it uses to make it work.  And much like social media, the more people who buy into it, the bigger its influence will be.

This trend is something to look at when thinking strategically about the next five/ten/fifteen years for your business.  It is going to have a profound effect on the global environment whether you are a business, consumer or homemaker.  It will be of use to everyone on this planet…and this is precisely where both the opportunity and threat lies.  The threat is that your business could get left behind and become obsolete, the opportunity is that the rules of the game are changing and you know where to look.