Okay, so I’m sort of a middle majority adapter, I like to read about early adapter technology, but I’m a little later at actually purchasing the tech, however I seem to adapt earlier than my friends. I currently own two Google Assistance’s; one near the main living area and one in my bedroom. The second one I got from a friend who “didn’t trust it listening to her” so I was overjoyed to take it off her hands. Which lead me to an impulse buy a few weeks ago when I bought not one but two smart devices; a smart plug and a smart bulb (If I’d known the bulb was $29 I’m not sure I would have bought it, but once home it was so much fun!). I quickly connected it to my WiFi, downloaded the App and added it to my Google Assistant. Y’all I had no idea how much these devices would change my life! But apparently Business Insider knew as they “expect there will be more than 22.5 billion IoT devices on Earth by 2021 (or four for every human being on the planet), up from 6.6 billion in 2016”. – I think I’m already there!
IT HAS BEEN AMAZING!! In my mind the key to IOT is the convenience it offers. For example, in the app for my Google Assistant I can set a bedtime routine and all I have to say is “Hey Google, Good Night” it then proceeds to tell me the local weather, asks to set an alarm for me and finds my morning mix play list on Spotify and then it is set to play thunderstorms. I can add additional setting in the app for that routine or create other routines as well. Right now, I’ve only found use for the bedtime routine. I also have routines set for my two smart devices; in there app I have them set to turn on every week day at 5:30pm. Having lights on when I get home has changed my life; no longer am I coming home to a dark apartment trying to fumble in the door to find a light. I also like the convenience of being able to say “Hey Google, turn the bedroom lamp on or off” and it “magically” comes on or goes off, especially when I’m all tucking in bed. I do have other routines set for the smart devices, but you get the idea of how convenient it is to have things done for you which is the whole concept of IOT.
Not to say there aren’t going to be challenges to the IOT, security, networks, privacy; if I list them all you may decide it’s too complicated and not see the bigger impact, but to stay on course for class, I’m going to keep to the challenges data will present. The data storage will be massive for IOT, if they track every command I speak or set, can you image the data that will populate? Apparently, the Federal Trade Commission does, as a report entitled “Internet of Things: Privacy & Security in a Connected World” found that fewer than 10,000 households can generate 150 million discrete data points every day.
Now with all that data comes analysis, how to use ALL that data to make informed decisions, that’s going to be a lot of data to analyze. “Unfortunately, only 47% of the respondents in the Business Insider Intelligence survey said they analyze the data they generate. Part of the problem is that users struggle to understand how to generate useful information from the data. As a result, platforms are trying to make this process easier, but this has proven difficult given the variety of IoT devices on the market and the lack of a universal standard for analysis.” Is there an opportunity lurking in all that data for a company to come and assist all those organizations? What if IOT had a data.gov site that all these companies could post there “open” data for people to consume, image the companies that could be created by crunching all that data!! How data is used to benefit IOT will be something to keep an eye on for the foreseeable future. For now, I’ll keep enjoying my four IOT devices and setting new routines to help make my life more convenient.
Business Insider, IOT 101 The Essential Guide to the Internet of Things, April 2018 Andrew Meola
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