Issue Overview: The Internet of things

TOP: Smart Home at the 2015 Mobile World Congress Conference on July 15, 2015 in Shanghai, China.

Some look forward to the day when their sleeping baby's diaper will tell them when it's wet before the wetness wakes the baby. Others dread the day when a hacker or the government can learn everything about them that their car, appliances and even internal organs can divulge. Either way, that day is coming. A wave of cheap sensors connected to the Internet is beginning to invade objects all around the world. Linked by wireless technology, they will make up what's been dubbed the Internet of Things.

Altogether, the network of connected objects is expected to eventually dwarf the Internet of people. Some researchers predict that by 2020, as many as 20 billion devices will be connected. Compare that to just more than 6 billion now. For consumers, that could mean coffeemakers that delay grinding when a person hits their alarm’s snooze button. For businesses, it could mean gigantic savings when pipes report their own leaks or warehouses place their own orders. Cows that need milking could communicate through something more direct than mooing.

The Situation

Tech giants like Samsung, Apple and Google have been connecting all kinds of devices — from thermostats to smart watches — to the Internet. In 2015, Amazon introduced Dash Buttons. These devices attach to washing machines and pantry doors and, when pressed, reorder supplies like detergent and Kraft Mac & Cheese. This year, GE put out a washer that can automatically reorder detergent if it’s running out, and makers of devices ranging from printers to glucose meters are following suit.

In February, Cisco acquired Jasper Technologies for $1.4 billion to help customers connect and manage devices wirelessly. Companies ranging from Microsoft to IBM have launched new tools to make it easier for smaller companies to manage Internet-connected devices. In February, the Linux Foundation said it would build an operating system for the Internet of Things, an effort supported by chipmakers Intel and NXP. One challenge continues to be getting devices to talk to each other. For example, a homeowner may need one mobile app to turn up the heat and another to turn on a home alarm system. An even bigger question — security — is vividly illustrated by a video a hacker titled “Weaponizing Your Coffee Pot.”

The Background

In 1982, computer science students at Carnegie-Mellon University put sensors in a Coca-Cola vending machine. They connected it to an early version of the Internet so they could tell if it was empty without having to walk all the way there. The term “Internet of Things” was coined in 1999, by Kevin Ashton, the co-founder of an MIT center that helped develop the radio chips that businesses now use to track goods and materials. But for the most part, web-connected gadgets remained out of consumers’ reach until the rise of smartphones led to a steep drop in prices for sensors. Smartphones use sensors to track everything from motion to eye movement. Sensors typically connect to an at-home hub through a Wi-Fi network or connect to other devices through Bluetooth technologies.

The Argument

More data, more problems. The data collected, monitored and transferred by wireless devices can include names, addresses, credit card numbers or even health information. Doors and electrical systems can provide clues to whether a house is empty. And while technology companies confidently power ahead, U.S. officials are moving more slowly, trying to fashion rules that could keep the Internet of Things from becoming a vast feeding ground for hackers who could turn devices against their owners as well as steal information. Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said last year that he disabled the wireless feature on his defibrillator in 2007, because he feared terrorists could use it to kill him. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission last year brought charges against the maker of web-enabled security cameras for leaving the devices accessible to hackers. Hardware companies are also struggling to figure out which devices mainstream consumers will be willing to pay to connect to the web. Nest says its $249 thermostat will pay for itself by lowering heating and cooling bills. But wireless diapers may have to be a lot cheaper before consumers regard them as anything more than a novelty. ]]>