5 October 2006
The pervasive Internet
By Jim Pinto
The decades-old science fiction vision of “smart things” is finally coming to fruition. Within the next few years, literally billions of Internet-enabled microprocessors will provide digital intelligence and connectivity for almost every commercial and industrial product and appliance, extending the Internet into most aspects of our lives.
Imagine any product or appliance you know being Internet-enabled—your home appliances, your automobile, your office coffeepot—with all key characteristics and diagnostics available for review and adjustment online. Your cell phone is already Internet enabled, and you could use it to check whether your car is secure, your garage door is closed, or your coffeepot is still on. And you could correct any problems remotely.
Skeptics think this kind of “gadgetry” has few practical applications. (Do I really need to talk to my washing machine?) But, beyond the cute perks for techo-geeks, it’s not consumers or end-users that have the most to gain from device networking, it’s the manufacturers and service providers. What has already become commonplace with connected computers will soon emerge as an important service extension for most industrial (and high-end consumer) products and equipment. Everything will be on a network, not just as a cute feature, but as an important part of operating characteristics.
The convergence of smart devices with the Internet is creating a profound shift in the development of the digital revolution, creating a global “digital nervous system.” The exponential growth of device networking technology is changing the landscape quickly. Products and companies that fail to exploit this next wave of the digital revolution will simply obsolete themselves. Huge opportunities will arise from the convergence of device networking, wireless sensors, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, and the Internet.
The eventual goal will be to network devices that are self-sensing, self-controlling, and self-optimizing automatically, without human intervention. This represents new applications for information technology and telecom, which will totally subsume previous business models.
The availability of real-time, networked equipment data brings new meaning to the term “disintermediation.” When a company makes networked product that send real-time information, the company owns access owns access to the product and a primary link to the customer. Now, no third party can sell profitable services to that customer without access to the diagnostic or status data coming from the networked product. There will be a bypass of the human link and a new rule will come into force: “The one with the most networked equipment wins.”
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Behind the byline
Jim Pinto is an industry analyst and founder of Action Instruments. You can e-mail him at jim@jimpinto.com or view his writings at www.JimPinto.com. Read the Table of Contents of his new book, Pinto’s Points at www.jimpinto.com/writings/points.html.
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