If IoT is So Wonderful, Why Does it Confuse Me?

I don’t know about you, but I’m struggling to get my head around the Internet of Things. I see its desirability for many use cases. Others? Let's just say not so much.

This is more of a series of questions rather than an informative article. If you can shed any light, don't be shy, Comment Away!

I can see planes and automobiles, even pleasure boats, connected to their owners, manufacturers, and servicers. Reports on predictive failure would literally save lives. Simpler reports on scheduled maintenance can increase our enjoyment while avoiding headaches.

I can also see a watch, bracelet, or ring that monitors blood sugar, pressure, and heart rate. It could report to a health team when I pass a threshold. That thing can also act as a discrete version of the Medic Alert bracelet. It would just need to transmit any pre-existing conditions to the EMT's phone.

I can even see a humidity sensor in my clothes dryer that lets me know when the clothes are dry. That could save on energy costs, and, possibly, avoid a significant risk of home fires.

Why does my coffee maker need to be connected? What possible utility could that provide that a simple timer couldn’t do?

Hype, Real-World Benefits, or Both?

Sometimes I wonder if it’s just a bunch of hype or if there are real legitimate and widespread uses for IoT. I’ve read IoT market estimates that range from nothing much to the American GNP.  Such a wide range is not very actionable.

Tim Berners-Lee: “I need to create a way for people to distribute funny cat videos all over the world!"

When Tim Berners-Lee first thought of the World Wide Web, I’m sure he didn’t start off by thinking, “I need to create a way for people to distribute funny cat videos all over the world!”

Full Disclosure: I don’t know Sir Tim. Maybe he’s a huge cat-fancier. I don't know. I’m just saying.

IoT will probably end up the same way. We’ll have many solid, legitimate uses, and many WTF uses that will make us wonder why we ever even bothered.

What about the actual connection method?

If everything is connected, then every thing needs a means to connect. What will we use?

The current front-runners are Bluetooth Low Energy beacons, likely supported by Wi-Fi. I see a few problems with that.

1. Beacons transmit often, much more often than most IoT uses would need. I guess they can be programmed to transmit less to fit IoT's needs.
2. Beacons have a 31-byte payload. That’s probably much more than most IoT would need. Further, most efforts I’ve seen are aimed towards increasing the payload.
3. Beacons are too expensive. I use the term “expensive” as a relative term. They aren’t very expensive at all. Most are under $25, but the definition of “expensive” directly relates to function. Even with economies of scale, and replacing battery power with AC, I can’t see adding their cost to a $75 coffee maker (example).
4. Maybe SigFox, or something like it, is the answer. It has a much smaller payload (17 bytes) and can eventually be deployed for under a buck. A little cheaper than that and my bottle of single malt can re-order itself.

What about bandwidth?

Right now, as I sit in my home office, I have five devices that are sharing a single connection. As I look around and count the light fixtures, appliances (both small and large), thermostats, humidistats, etc., ad nauseum, I start wondering if I should upgrade my internet connection.

In the interests of complete research, I should probably count all the stuff I have that may eventually be connected. I won’t, not man enough to want to know.

What about the cars? Are they going to share my cell data plan? All the stuff that I bring around me will probably need to share my data plan as well. Maybe I should upgrade that as well.

The Best Use IMHO

I hope that someone somewhere is working on a system of IoT golf balls that tell me where the heck they ended up after my shot. Now that would be useful!

About the Author: Paul Croubalian is a battle-tested, veteran problem-solver of the business world with more years of experience than he cares to admit, and loses more golf balls than he cares to admit as well. More recently, he has made it his mission to bridge the gap and make peace between CMO's and CIOs. 

Founding member of the LinkedIn Group

Customer Engagement for Retailers, Restaurants, and Hotels

Paul is currently hard at work starting a new company aimed at helping retailers, restauranteurs, and hospitality pros solve their.problems.