What is iOT?
In this article we are going to understand what the Internet of Things means. In layman's terms the Internet of Things, or "IoT" for short, is about extending the power of the internet beyond computers and smartphones to a whole range of other things, processes, and environments. Here's everything you need to know.
The Internet of Things is at the center of the revolution we call digitalization. The digital revolution is changing business, adding new concepts to buying and selling and over all is changing the shape of business, enterprise and people’s lives. This transformation influences everything from how we manage and operate our homes to automating processes across nearly all industries. But what is IoT, actually? So keep reading this article as we will help you understand the key areas that fall under the Internet of Things.
So if you ask any expert in this field to define The Internet of Things, you will get so many different definitions based on their understanding. So for the sake of this article and what your going to learn from it lets define it as mentioned below?
“The Internet of Things (IoT) is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.”
Yes now what do you think? Are you baffled yet? Well if you're confused as to what it meant then you're not alone. But hang on tight, we will provide you with a simple explanation that will make this definition more easier to understand.?
IoT Explained: Simple and Non-Technical
You could be reading this on a computer or a tablet, but your device is connected to the internet. Connecting objects to the internet has a lot of advantages. We've all experienced these advantages with our smartphones, computers, and tablets, but the same can be said for anything else. And yes, we do mean everything when we say that. The Internet of Things refers to the process of linking all of the world's objects to the internet. We believe that the internet of Things is often misunderstood not because the concept is narrow, but because it is broad and ill-defined. When there are so many examples and possibilities in IoT, it might be difficult to pin down the concept. So, in simple terms, it means connecting things to the internet, but before we go into that, let's look at why it's vital to do so in order to grasp the concept better.
Why IoT Matters
When something is connected to the internet, it can send, receive, or both send and receive information. Things get smarter as a result of their ability to send and/or receive information, and smarter is better. Let's use smartphones as an example once more. You can listen to any song in the world, but not because every song is stored on your phone. It's because every song on the planet is stored somewhere else (dubbed "the cloud"), and your phone may request a song and receive information on how to stream it. An object doesn't have to have mega storage or a supercomputer inside of it to be smart. All that is required is for something to link to super storage or a supercomputer. It's fantastic to be connected.
In the Internet of Things, all the things can be put into three categories:
And all three of these have enormous benefits that feed on each other.
1. Collecting and Sending Information
This refers to sensors. Temperature, motion, moisture, air quality, light, and almost anything else can be measured with sensors. When sensors are combined with an internet connection, we can collect data from the environment, which helps us make better judgments. On a farm, getting information about soil moisture automatically can tell farmers when their crops need to be watered. Instead of watering too much or too little (which might result in poor results), the farmer can ensure that crops receive the exact amount of water they require. Sensors enable robots to make sense of their surroundings in the same way that our senses do.
2. Receiving and Acting on Information
We’re all very familiar with machines acting on input information. A printer receives a document and then prints it. A garage door receives a wireless signal and the door opens. It’s commonplace to remotely command a machine to act. So what? The real power of IoT arises when things can both collect information and act on it.
3. Doing Both
Let's return to farming for a moment. The sensors gather data on the moisture content of the soil. The farmer could now activate or deactivate the irrigation system as needed. You don't actually need the farmer for that process with IoT-enabled systems. Instead, depending on how much moisture is sensed, the irrigation system can automatically operate as needed. It's also possible to take it a step farther. If the irrigation system receives weather information via its internet connection, it can also predict when it will rain, allowing it to decide whether or not to water the crops when they will be wet by the rain anyway. It doesn't end there, either! All of this information regarding soil moisture, how much the irrigation system is watering the crops, and how well the crops actually grow may be collected and transferred to cloud-based supercomputers that run algorithms to analyze the data, resulting in models that could be used to predict crop growth.
And that’s just one kind of sensor. Add in other sensors like light, air quality, and temperature, and these algorithms can learn much much more. With dozens, hundreds, thousands of farms all collecting information, these algorithms can create incredible insights into how to make crops grow the best, helping to feed the world’s growing population.
Your Takeaway Definition of IoT
What is IoT?: The Internet of Things, or IoT, is about extending the power of internet connectivity beyond computers to a whole range of other things, processes, and environments. Those connected, smarter, things are used to gather information, send information, or both.
Why does IoT matter?: IoT provides businesses and people better insight into and control over objects and environments that are currently beyond the reach of the internet. By doing so, IoT helps businesses and people to be more connected to the world around them and to do more meaningful, higher-level work.
So there we go, if you didn't understand this article still well you got to do a bit more research. If you're also interested in more similar articles you can visit www.earltech.biz and read up on our other articles as well!! Catch you in the next one!