The Internet of Things

Tim O’Reilly, the originator of the Web 2.0 concept, has been actively developing his views on the Internet of Things (IoT). O’Reilly observes that contrary to the standard financial and managerial objectives of gaining efficiency from putting various devices online the IoT is really about human augmentation. But useful applications are inherently different when built on sensors, actuators and data. O’Reilly cites the example of Uber, a company built around location awareness. An Uber driver is an augmented taxi driver, with real-time location awareness. An Uber passenger is an augmented passenger, who knows when the cab will show up. Uber is about eliminating slack time and worry. He notes that people would call Uber’s technology application ‘IoT’ if it utilized a driverless car, but in fact Uber’s business already utilizes the IoT. You can measure, test and change things dynamically at Uber through the interpolation of computer hardware and software into all parts of the business. It is more than just a single sensor in two-way contact with remote cloud servers, or a driver and a rider with a smartphone. There are many different data sets, and many different feedback loops. The ‘Things’ themselves have characteristics that are contingent on context (much as we saw methods in object oriented code being contingent on their specific usage). These ‘Things’ are on demand; they are load-balanced; and they are aware of other parts of the system. IoT offers a pre-eminently context-oriented world, but with significantly better data and a sophisticated reciprocation between humans, interfaces and machines. The pressing question when you have all of this information and actuation capability is the design of the human interface, where IoT is still developing suitable models. The tendency with new technology is to apply it in exactly the same manner as the technology it replaces. This is inefficient and sometimes silly. Consider the example of electrical motors. When efficient electrical motors became available in the late 19th century, they were typically installed as a direct replacement for hot, bulky, dirty steam engines, with a vast array of pulleys, shafts and gears to spread power over the factory. This was inefficient and hugely dangerous for factory workers. By the 1920s engineers had gotten the installation model right – small motors were placed directly under the machines they powered, and electrical wires were used to distribute power. Power losses dropped from around 50% to close to 0%, and 20th-century factories were much safer, cleaner places to work. In retrospect this is obvious, but it took close to 50 years for industry to figure this out.