Internet of Things: EXPLAINED




Every aspect of a modern home is turning smart. Be it your refrigerator recommending you a diet plan or your vacuum cleaner cleaning your house by itself or lights turning on by themselves as soon as you step in (Thanks to Philips HUE).

Machines around us are getting smart and proactive than ever before. Every possible gadget around us is getting an ability to get itself connected to the internet. This in-turn allows it to access unlimited relevant information from the web and make our lives convenient. From Smart Tv to a smart weight machine, we have it all.

Out of thousands of new jargons and buzz words you hear every day, you might have come across ‘IOT’.



So, what the heck is IOT?

IOT stands for Internet of Things. It’s the connection of devices (other than typical fare such as computers and smartphones) to the Internet.

Cars, kitchen appliances, and even heart monitors can all be connected through the IOT. And as the Internet of Things grows in the next few years, more devices will join that list.



So what’s the point of these devices talking to each other?

When these devices are connected to each other through the internet, they are able to learn more about you and your requirements by accessing each other’s data that they have collected about you, analyse it and then they serve you in a better way.



How is it useful to an Individual?



With IOT in your home, you can expect your refrigerator to send you a text message informing you to buy eggs for tomorrow morning’s breakfast which you tend to forget or your car could text you that fuel level is low and traffic on the road is more than usual so you must leave 15 minutes early to reach on time. Sounds too futuristic? But believe us! It is happening right now!

Check out this video to see how IOT is actually transforming our lives-





How is it useful to the society?



On a broader scale, the IOT can be applied to things like transportation networks: "Smart Cities" which can help us reduce waste and improve efficiency for things such as energy use; this helping us understand and improve how we work and live.

This might seem to be too complex to understand but this 1-minute videobelow would give you a bird’s eye view about how IOT is being applied on a macro level.






Here are the top IOT Stats that would blow you away-



1. Research firm Gartner says that IOT devices have increased 31% from 2016 to 2017, hitting 8.4 billion connected "things" this year, and that the number will surge to 20.4 billion by 2020.

2. To help put the amount of IOT devices into context, consider that Ericsson predicts that the amount of IOT devices will surpass mobile devices by next year.

3. To help put the amount of IOT devices into context, consider that Ericsson predicts that the amount of IOT devices will surpass mobile devices by next year.

4. Manufacturing will be the biggest IOT platform by 2021, reaching $438 million as the Industrial Internet of Things increases efficiency and decreases downtime for manufacturing companies. A separate study by Accenture says the IOT could help reduce machinery breakdowns by 70% and reduce overall maintenance costs by 30%.

5. Consumers are still driving IOT device growth right now, and will account for 5.2 billion IOT devices this year, which represents 63% of the market.



Food For Thought:

“I believe that IOT is completely transforming the way we interact with our environment and helping us concentrate on things which ‘matter’ by taking care of not-so-important yet essential aspects of our lives. This century is the century of smart humans and IOT is making us much more productive and efficient due to its pro-activeness and data analytical capabilities. However, I am still worried about the situations when we will be completely dependent on IOT and AI; Damages could be substantial and irreversible in case of cyber-attacks or system breakdown.”

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