The Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a fairly young concept companies are grappling with. The IoT includes your mobile phones, computers, broadband, wearable devices, WiFi and most modern devices.

Essentially, IoT is the concept of connecting a device with an on and off switch to the Internet (and/or to each other). The future would operate by this rule, "Anything that can be connected, will be connected." (Jacob Morgan, 2014).

Due to it's new concept, there has been many debates surrounding IoT. Is it beneficial for us or will it ultimately turn out to be dysfunctional?

Let's look at the arguments.

Pros:

1. Comfort and efficiency

Imagine the convenience of your calendar being connected to your alarm and your car. Your alarm clock wakes you for the event on your calendar, and your car automatically sets the GPS for the event location that you are headed towards by checking the weather and road news for the shortest route available.

High machine to machine interactions allows us to enjoy comfort and efficiency. All these time and cost savings could be better used on other activities. Humans no longer have to manually operate each device individually, and this reduces human error. No more running late for appointments because you set the wrong time, or you were caught in a jam.

2. Enhanced situational awareness

When you are in possession of more information at the tip of your fingers, you make informed decisions. This is enhanced situational awareness, where you come to a decision with all information present.

In making major decisions, it would means assumptions are off the equation, and data-backed visibility in decisions. This radically shortens and lowers the costs to optimize any process relating to decision-making (AtlanticBT, 2018).

3. Connection & Communication

Ubiquitous networks promotes connection and communication. High connectivity bolsters high communication, which builds up a society where we are all closely connected to one another.

Cons:

1. Safety & Security

Our safety and security are easily jeopardized if our devices are hacked. Since all devices are linked, it takes only one device to be hacked for all remaining devices to be hacked. Especially in cases where the device consists of information relating to credit card and bank details, or highly classified company information, the entire system becomes highly susceptible to hackers. There is a need to constantly guard, check, and update the security system. Burglars hacking our home security systems could be a very real issue in the future.

2. Privacy

Continuing from the point above, our privacy could be compromised if hacked. We are highly vulnerable to getting our identities stolen. Information relating to who we are, what we do, where we stay, our habits, our likes and dislikes and our occupations, could all be snitched with ease.

Cases of stolen identities, and hackers publishing personal information of others online are already rampant in our society. With the development of IoT, it could potentially get worse. One day, your information could be out there on the Internet.

3. Data Complexity

There remains further development regarding Machine-To-Machine (M2M) interaction. IoT generates and analyses countless bytes of data, and involves plenty of data complexity. The IoT is a vast network of systems that requires a lot of connection and compatibility between systems, and currently, there is no international standard of compatibility for it.

Additionally, with all complex systems, there is a possibility of failure (PixelCrayons, 2018). Failures would be disastrous. Essentially, when one fails, all fails.

Conclusion

The truth is majority of high-technology are akin to a double-edged sword. It is an undeniable fact that technology is a powerful tool that has played a crucial role in modern human progress, and evolved to become a necessity in modern-day society. Ironically, this same technology that has improved humans' lives have been abused to bring destruction. A knife left alone can't kill. Instead of judging if a particular technological advancement is good or bad, we should consider legislating and restricting how we as a species use this technology.

"With great power comes great responsibility."

So from today on, how are we going to use IoT to our advantage, and what are we going to do to stop those who use IoT to our disadvantage?

Sources:

https://www.keyinfo.com/pros-and-cons-of-the-internet-of-things-iot/

https://mapr.com/blog/14-benefits-and-forces-are-driving-internet-things/

https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-the-internet-of-things-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-iot-right-now/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2014/05/13/simple-explanation-internet-things-that-anyone-can-understand/#27dce8321d09

Hey there! I am an undergraduate marketing student, I do not claim to have any great knowledge or foresight in this area, as I still have a great deal to learn. These posts are part of an assignment I am doing, and they solely reflect my personal opinions and thoughts. If you have any take on this, please do comment below to let me know! Thank you!

#digitalmarketing #iot #internetofthings