IoT (to me) means green field network of sensors (BLE, mesh, Wifi, etc) which securely connect to the cloud (azure, aws, google) that has big databases, machine learning and dashboards. So, yeah, it has meaning.
I think the problem I (and most people) have with IoT is that the marketing is coming before the UX. Sure, you can spend 100 bucks on a lightbulb that can be controlled by your email, but will it really be usable? There is a lot of potential for zigbee/zwave/thread/BTLE/etc, but until there is an actual use case that will hold water it will only be over commercialized gadgets.
Poor security, buggy software and over-reliance on cloud hosted "intelligence" could become the Achilles heel of IoT.
Unfortunately PHBs rush in, jostling to dominate the new opportunities which IoT promises. The result could be a slew of meh products that work poorly and hardly ever interoperate with other brands.
IoT products could become the VCR blinking 0:00 of this decade.
I think it is kinda "meh" for me at this point, because it is difficult to get even home networks talking to each other still. Printers have gotten better, but Google something like "Plex can't 'find server" and there are tons of results from people trying to get a TV to talk to their computer 20 ft away.
The future looks a little brighter...I just got a new Zmodo surveillance camera DVR and setting up the mobile viewing app was a snap...just scan the QR code on the DVR using the app on the phone and everything was set up automatically. I think that kind of experience would go a long way toward user adoption.
I can see why it's a good thing for people who want to sell expensive gadgets, but they aren't doing a very good job of explaining why anyone would want to buy them.
IoT is great for tinkerers and hackers. It's kinda cool to have the watering system turn on as you unlock the front door. Changing the colour of the lights when your phone rings is fun too.
As for the average consumer, where are the use cases that make the over-priced products appealing?
Not until we get pneumatic tube technology like they have at bank drive thru's. Yes a smart fridge is anti-climactic, but a smart fridge connected to a grocery store with pneumatic tubes?
Smart trash can... meh. Smart trash can connected to dumpster with pneumatic tubes?
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[ 3.8 ms ] story [ 39.7 ms ] threadHow do you cope with the support issues when things don't interoperate?
Unfortunately PHBs rush in, jostling to dominate the new opportunities which IoT promises. The result could be a slew of meh products that work poorly and hardly ever interoperate with other brands.
IoT products could become the VCR blinking 0:00 of this decade.
I can see why it's a good thing for people who want to sell expensive gadgets, but they aren't doing a very good job of explaining why anyone would want to buy them.
"IoT" = Network-enabled sensors on things.
"Cloud" means "Server hosted somewhere else"...and we had that in the very early bits/bytes.
Practice the air quotes with me. ;)
As for the average consumer, where are the use cases that make the over-priced products appealing?
Smart trash can... meh. Smart trash can connected to dumpster with pneumatic tubes?