It’s been fashionable to drop the phrase “Internet of Things” in tech circles for some time now, but what does it really mean? And just as importantly, what will its effects be in the years to come?
The Pew Research Center Internet Project and Elon University Imagining the Internet Center have been wondering the same thing. They did something about it, too: canvassing more than 1,600 experts about where the Internet of Things will be by 2025.
The resulting report, which was published this afternoon, is a balanced affair, giving plenty of space to Internet of Things sceptics warning about privacy and potential technical gremlins in a world of networked devices talking to one another, as well as exploring the potential benefits.
Here are some of the key quotes and points that stood out when I read the report:
1. A new definition for the Internet of Things
The next time someone asks you what the Internet of Things is, you could have this definition to hand:
“A global, immersive, invisible, ambient networked computing environment built through the continued proliferation of smart sensors, cameras, software, databases, and massive data centers in a world-spanning information fabric known as the Internet of Things.”
Possibly Sid to its friends.
2. It’s about devices all working together
“Most of our devices will be communicating on our behalf—they will be interacting with the physical and virtual worlds more than interacting with us. The devices are going to disappear into what we wear and/or carry. For example, the glasses interface will shrink to near-invisibility in conventional glasses,” said Paul Saffo, managing director of Discern Analytics.
“The devices will also become robustly inter-networked (remember the first conversations about body networks of a decade ago?). The biggest shift is a strong move away from a single do-everything device to multiple devices with overlapping functions and, above all, an inter-relationship with our other devices.”
Not forgetting their relationship with us. “We will talk to devices in essentially the same way we talk to other people. Yes, you will be permanently connected to the network via wearable devices. You will interact with these devices mostly by voice, as you would interact with another person,” said Google’s chief economist Hal Varian.
“Centuries ago, rich people had servants, and in the future, we will all have cyberservants.”
3. Get set to quantify yourself even more
The “quantification of the self” is already a much talked-about concept, particularly around fitness tracking. It looks set to accelerate by 2025, and some of the consequences sound frankly terrifying.
“Every part of our life will be quantifiable, and eternal, and we will answer to the community for our decisions. For example, skipping the gym will have your gym shoes auto tweet (equivalent) to the peer-to-peer health insurance network that will decide to degrade your premiums,” said social media educator Laurel Papworth.
“There is already a machine that can read brain activity, including desire, in front of advertising by near/proximity. I have no doubt that will be placed into the Big Data databases when evaluating hand gestures, body language, and pace for presenting social objects for discussion/purchase/voting.”
4. There are plenty of IoT sceptics
If all this has you reaching for the ragecomment button, remember that the research did manage to find sceptics about the Internet of Things’ likely impact – and indeed about whether that impact will be as big as some think.
“The Internet of Things has been in the red zone of the hypometer for over a decade now. Yes, there will be many niche applications, but it will not be the next big thing, as many pundits predict. If the Internet of Things had any true validity, you would think you would start to see evidence of its presence on early adopter Internet networks,” said green-internet consultant Bill St. Arnaud.
“No, yuck, we don’t need this, and most people aren’t asking for it. I’ve never been quite clear on where the demand is supposedly coming from,” agreed Ope