In a blog post on Fast Company‘s CoCREATE site titled “The Sensing Planet: why the Internet of Things is the next big thing,” Internet of Things theorist Rob van Kranenburg makes a very compelling case for why the IoT will have such an impact.
He starts with a point that I’d forgotten: that animism, visualizing inanimate objects as having consciousness, goes back to our earliest ancestors, so letting things “talk” to each other via the Internet is just a logical progression.
van Kranenburg goes on to detail the factors that have converged to make science fiction a reality, ending with:
“….. us. Ourselves. We have jumped on the Internet, mobile phones, smartphones, iPads, social networks like no other technological invention before. We can not deny that as a species the drive is towards more connectivity, more awareness of where people and objects are and an ever-growing synergy between all the different applications and services, none of which can survive on its own any more.”
van Kranenburg cites what he calls my “timely text” on the contrast between US inaction on the IoT and the Chinese’s massive investment in the technology, but concludes that ultimately the human factor will be what drives the IoT’s development:
“Governmental actions aside, the most interesting aspect in the growth of Internet of Things harks back to that base human desire to bring to life the inanimate. With a vibrant open-source DIY community, fueled by tools and software such as Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Processing, 3D Printing and DIY drones, some of the most innovative connective platforms are coming not from nations or corporations, but enterprising people’s bedrooms. It’s inevitable that with the technological capacity and the curious human nature that my seemingly impossible dream of standing in the middle of a completely interconnected public square is soon to be reality.”
Bravo!
It’s a very inspirational argument for the IoT. Read it!
