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Internet of Things thread (IoT)

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Renegade:
I suppose that it's about time to start this thread. We can all see it coming anyways.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/nikolas-badminton/home-gadget_b_6567044.html

The Useless Home Gadgets That Tell Us Not to Think For Ourselves

X-ray specs, Sea Monkeys, Crypto-rings, Whoopee Cushions, Black Eye Telescopes. I loved the comic ads that were used to entice children to part with their pocket money back in the day. They were fun, they were gimmicks, and most importantly, they were cheap and throw away. These days we have the equivalent in a much more adult form in the shape of consumer goods that are billed as wearables or the Internet of Things (or 'Everything' as some people like to say to evoke epic visions of the world seamlessly interconnected).

Well, it seems like the Internet of Things is really gaining momentum thanks to the simple things for the home like Nest Thermostats and Smoke Detectors and the suchlike. It's not just going to be a fad, it will be HUGE. Intel estimates over 200 billion connected devices by 2020 and this will usher in some real uses that aid us in healthcare, business, retail security and transportation.

That's all worth waiting for but right now we have many manufacturers creating gimmicky, nonsensical and seemingly useless gadgets, that are connected to our smartphones and tablets, and portrayed as helping our lives.
--- End quote ---

More at the link.

It's mostly a rant about crappy gadgets, but the author seems to miss what IoT is about, or perhaps he's just romanticising it as some sort of techno-wonder to solve all our problems. I think he'll be surprised when it happens (and not pleasantly so), and realises what it really is.

Stoic Joker:
Perhaps, but the hard sell isn't always necessary. So just because the IoT is staged to groom the human race for painlessly transparent subjugation by making them weak minded and dependent on technology. Doesn't mean it's a bad idea to occasionally try soft selling a baseline of the stuff being totally pointless crap.

Since back in the beginning of time when the first important message was handed of to a second party for delivery, security has been based on a modicum of trust. Back then you would look a man in the eyes, and decide if he was lying to you...but did you really know?? And now - thousand of years later - We're all looking at a screen, hoping against all hope...that it isn't lying to us.

40hz:
Dunno. There are specific situations where an IoT would be a godsend. Unfortunately, I don't think it will stop there.

In my head I keep hearing the words to the Alan Parsons song To One in Paradise where they go:

I believed in my dreams...
Nothing could change my mind.
Till I found what they mean.
Nothing can save me now.

ewemoa:
All your dirts are belong to us.

40hz:
"This will end badly." - Jorilynn ap Maredudd

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