top of page
Search
  • Revilo Vipercall

The Internet of Things prediction back in 2014

An article described below found my attention in early September 2014 and offered a glimpse into a new way of life that was reported to be coming our way in the near future. Namely The Internet of Things (IoT) .

The Internet of Things according to research specialist Gartner, would see around 26 billion of these things connected to the Internet by 2020.

What do we mean by ‘Things’ well we mean literally anything and everything. Things around us at home and work which we encounter in our daily lives. So imagine for example, after pouring milk into your coffee in the morning and returning the carton to the fridge, your smart fridge has discovered the carton is now half empty and has effortlessly ordered you a new one. Or the moment you step out of bed in the morning and walk towards the bathroom, your smart-shower turns on and warms up to the precise temperature of your liking ready for you to step right in...

This however was just the tip of the ioT iceberg. The power of The Internet of Things promised to reach far beyond ensuring you can enjoy a white coffee each morning.  It predicted such things as deciding for you when to start appliances based on a predefined energy price at any particular time which is connected to the national grid. And your smart home knowing the daily habits for each person living there and offering lifestyle and entertainment advice and choices based on current trends.

So by 2020 (oh, that's now) we will be able to connect and interact with devices and learn about them in a completely new way, but would we live in a technological utopia where our lives were made much easier and more productive? Or would our willingness as humans to delegate control to a network of artificial intelligence have a more perilous consequence?

Whatever our estimations we were told we better get used to it. It’s already happening we were told. Have my Carrot and Coriander soup with a toasted flatbread ready for 6pm!


I re-read this info on 5th March 2020 and low and behold from what I can see looking around me, these IOT’s have no more materialised than flying cars have. Electric vehicles are making their way onto the market in decent quantities but that’s about it.

So as I sit at my office desk under a grey skied Clacton-On-Sea, I am no more able to summon a Carrot and Coriander soup with a toasted Flatbread for when I arrive home than I was able to back in September 7, 2014 when I first read this article (That’s around 5 and a half years ago!)

But…. What I was able to do today was a potential large step in that direction. I ordered for me (and my colleagues) a Subway food order from an Android tablet which was ready for collection at the nearby outlet a couple of hours later… Would this have been just a fanciful idea of the future back in September 2014?

2 views0 comments
Post: Blog2_Post
bottom of page