Come 2020 and millions or even billions of smart electronic devices, linked by the Internet, would interact with each other independent of human intervention. This network of interacting electronic devices is named as the Internet of Things (IoT). Looking at it from our times (2013), one could expect the IoT to consist of PCs, tablet computers, digital cameras, e-Book readers, mobile phones, robots, private and public computer networks and whatever new smart electronic devices that would be developed between now and 2020.
What would that mean to you and me? Here are some of the key benefits... and costs.
BENEFITS
Automation: Automation will have reached such high levels as to cause a paradigm shift in our lifestyles. One of the most significant changes, that we can expect to see is that our lives will become far more comfortable than now. Physically, we would have to travel less. There will be even more time to dedicate to our primary occupations and of course, to vacations, rest and relaxation.
Here are a few examples to help one appreciate what life would be like in the IoT age. You can, for example, expect your PC to automatically order groceries when their stocks fall below set levels. If you had a specialised robot at home, you can set it to open the door to a visitor after verifying his/her identity. So, if you have both a PC and robot at home, when the grocery store's delivery person arrives at the door and rings the bell (assuming that his/her identity info. (information) has been stored in the robot), you can expect your robot to verify his/her identity info. and open the door, check in your purchases, send an electronic acknowledgement to the store, say "Bye!" to the delivery person, close the door and then deposit the purchases at a places you have taught it to. Devices using high-tech sensors can then be expected to notify your PC that fresh stocks have arrived (as well as their quantities) and the PC, in turn, will automatically update stock balances and pay off the store by issuing an instruction to your bank/credit card account. So you could have been out fishing or working and all this would still happen correctly without the need for your being at home! Sounds good? Your PC can also remind you when maintenance of your oven, fridge or car is next due and optionally, call or SMS the technician to fix an appointment. If the technicians' identity info. is stored in your robot, then, clearly, you don't need to be at home when he/she calls. This means you can plan to do something else during the technician's visit, even if that will take you away from home! And, on a day when you returned home, tired, and went to off to sleep, won't it be a pleasant surprise to wake up and discover that your mobile phone sent birthday greetings to some friends automatically, even when you had forgotten and were sleeping? With the IoT, the possibilities of automating tasks are seemingly endless.
Cost Savings: Due to the inherent efficiency of electronic networks as well as elimination of many intermediate jobs/processes involved in trade, there would be a marked, positive impact on the economy so that prices of goods and/or services may fall.
