Living in the 21st century, Our planet has more connected devices than people. The Internet of things is transforming the way “we” as humans, businesses and governments, interact with the rest of the connected world, we are becoming closer we can have friends with all around the world, talk to them and even see them daily without having to travel the world, with one click we can be wherever we want whenever we want. So what is exactly Iot is it a good or dangerous thing and why is it so important?
What is the Internet of Things?
The internet of things is simply the billion of computing devices, people, objects and animals with biochip transponder around the world that are now connected to the internet, provided by a unique identifier (UID) that enables the collection and sharing of data without the requirement of any human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.
How the Internet of Things works?
As mentioned before the internet of things is connected devices collecting and sharing Data without human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. it consists of smart devices using embedded systems like communication hardware, processors and sensors to send and collect data from their environments. These smart devices like for example a farm animal with a biochip transponder, a person with a heart monitor implant, a smart house or even an automobile that has built-in sensors to alert drivers when the tire pressure share the sensor data collected by connecting to a gateway or other edge devices that analyzes data by either sending it to the cloud or by locally analyzing it. These devices sometimes communicate with other devices and act on the received information without human intervention they do most of the work however people are able to interact with these smart devices by setting them up or accessing the data or even giving them instructions.
Why IoT is important ?
The internet of things can be very beneficiary to us humans, it helps people work and live smarter by gaining complete control over their day to day lives. It is offering smart devices to automate homes, vehicles, to help raise pets, babies … In addition to all of this the internet of things is essential to business, By delivering insights about pretty much everything from the supply chain and logistics operation to the performance of the machines, it provides them with a real time look and control into details of how their system is really working. it also gives ability to companies to reduce labor costs and automate processes. the internet of things helps cut down on wast and improve the quality and service delivery. by cutting down on waste LoT is guaranteeing better quality with less expenses as well as offering transparency into customer transactions.
So in conclusion here are some examples of how The Internet Of thing is being helpful to humans and businesses :
Businesses :
- monitoring the overall business processes
- improving the customer experience
- saving time and money
- enhancing employee productivity
- integrating and adapting business models
- making better business decisions
- generating more revenue
Humans :
- Smarter cities
- Cleaner air and water
- Smarter agriculture
- Cutting food waste
- Connecting patients
- Fighting cancer
- etc …
Pros and cons of IoT :
Like any other man made intervention the Internet of things have advantages and disadvantages :
Even though we already mentioned some of the advantages of the internet of things the following are more pros of the IoT :
- improving communication between connected electronic devices
- Saving time and money by transferring data packets over a connected network
- By automating tasks the internet of the things helps to improve the quality of a business’s services also the reduction the need for human intervention.
- the ability of accessing information from anywhere at any time on any device.
some of the disadvantages of the internet of things are the following :
- Since the number of connected devices is increasing and the more information is being shared between devices, the potential of confidential information being stolen by hackers is increasing as well.
- with the increase of the number of the internet of things devices, Eventually collecting and managing data by Enterprises will become very challenging
- the possibility of the corruption of every connected device in the system if a bug exists.
- Since our lives are becoming more and more dependent on technology, basic human interactions skills will be reduced across society.
- As the internet of things is bringing in more consistent automation, we could see a decline in the need for unskilled employees in the workplace and eventually the increasing of unemployment.
Conclusion and the future of IoT :
Ever since 1980 and when Carnegie Mellon University students created and developed the first ever internet-connected device ( a coke vending machine that displays information about the temperature of the soda) , the internet of things has exploded and we started living in a more connected world where you don’t need to be in America to watch the American election or have an American friend, or you don’t have to miss the new launch of the spaceX since you can watch it live from your phone. It’s not science fiction it’s our day to day lives and I’m glad it is. Now what about the future? well, the number of connected devices is growing fast they’re becoming smaller and smarter. Eventually, everything from our toothbrush to our toaster might become connected to the internet 24x7. Our gadgets will become household aides, working to serve you better by chatting with one another . And with the raise of AI technology the internet of things could be either the best thing that happened to humanity or the end of it until then we just have to sit and enjoy it.
