What is internet of things or IoT?
What
is the Internet of Things? – Taking a Look at IoT!
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a buzzword that
many people are searching google for. This term is widely being
queried on many popular search engines, in an attempt to know its significance in real life.
Many people want to know whether it matters, whether it is safe and
whether it even is not just another hype. Read on and know about IoT, and some
frequently asked questions about it.
The
Internet of Things (IoT) – What Does It Mean?
This is not a completely new concept. The idea
has been in discussion for decades among tech gurus and tech companies. This is
a simple concept at the core. It is mainly about connecting devices to each
other over the web, and allowing them to communicate with each other. It was as
far back as in 1989 that the first internet-connected toaster device was
launched at a conference.
The smart fridge is a popular instance, albeit
silly. Imagine the scenario that your fridge could inform you through a text
message that milk has been finished, as its internal cameras found that there
was no milk anymore or that the milk carton has passed the expiry date. Such a
device could be actually useful.
However, IoT happens to go beyond smart homes and
paired equipments of daily use. It can cover smart cities. Smart bins can
indicate when they trash has to be taken out, while smart traffic signals
connected to each other could monitor the use of utilities. In industries,
sensors could be connected to track everything from crops to components.
What
Makes It Important?
Is
Internet of Things (IoT) Safe?
Just like there are negative points with
everything, privacy and security happen to be the biggest issues related to
IoT. All the internet-connected systems gather significant amount of personal
information about individuals. For instance, the smart meter knows the time
when someone is home and the electronics equipments that he or she uses. The
information is shared between devices and stored in manufacturer company
databases. Cyber criminals can hack these databases and use such information
for actual intrusion into homes and facilities.
However, hackers have not concentrated that much
on IoT, given that not many people are using them as of now. This makes the
technology comparatively safe at this time. People using smart meter are not
likely to face greater losses than what they can face when their PC is hacked.
However, there is no surety. As IoT becomes more popular and more people start
using the technology, and cyber criminals see the monetary benefits of hacking
into smart homes, they can go all out in compromising the safety of the
Internet of Things.
How
Can IoT have an impact on work and business?
The extent of impact actually depends on the
industry that you are in. IoT possibly has the greatest scope in manufacturing,
as it is helpful for organizing people, equipments and machines as well as
tracking them. Farmers are already opting for smart sensors that can monitor
both cattle and crops, with the hope that it can increase efficiency and
production as well as help them track the health of their cattle.
There are plenty of instances, and it can be
predicted that IoT will possibly enter businesses in the same way as the
internet and computers. The benefits of IoT can be appreciated when it comes to
plants or equipments. However, it can have some dark undertones in the
workplace if employers use it to spy on employees and track every minute of
their work time, thus de-humanizing the corporate sphere. On the other hand, it
can be a boon for productive workers who are often neglected in place of
slackers and time-wasters.
IoT
and its Impact on Healthcare
There are smart monitoring patches and pills
available already, which emphasize the life-saving ability of IoT. Many people
are also wearing fitness bands or smart watches on their wrists in an effort to
track their heartbeat or steps while running.
There are plenty of uses for this smart
technology, and connect medical equipments. There is a smart band from Intel,
which can track the number of people actually shaking due to Parkinson’s disease.
It can gather data more accurately than simple writing down of information can
achieve. There are monitors from Sonamba, which can track daily activities of
ailing or elderly individuals and look from potentially fatal abnormalities.
Those suffering from cardiac ailments can make use of AliveCore for the
detection of irregular cardiac rhythms.
In the domain of healthcare, IoT has the ability
to save many people by preventing ailments, monitoring disorders and evaluating
them to devise new cures.
The
Internet Of Things – Is It For Real?
Is IoT for real - is possibly the most searched
question about the technology on Google. Strangely, it is difficult to offer a
straightforward answer for this question. There is a lot of hype and promotion
for every new technology these days. It is often tough to decide whether a
specific technology is going to break new grounds or not.
However, IoT is not a single device that might or
might not meet with success. It is actually a technology of smart devices and connected
sensors, which would go on even without any individual contribution. 10 years
from now, the technology of connecting devices could have wider mainstream use
or simply become another technology without any actual impactful use, such as
smartphones - which are used just like normal mobile phones. Although IoT is
for real, whether or not it will have significance in the wider scheme of
things is a question that cannot be answered by any search engine.
Also see:
How people read people
The Technologist In You!!
Nanite Solutions
Also see:
How people read people
The Technologist In You!!
Nanite Solutions
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